Category: News

Afternoon Tea – Saturday 1 July 2017- Sherwood Forest Community Church, Blidworth

It was nice to see a good turnout for this event and even nicer to see so many who clearly enjoyed both the tea and the concert. Although this was a fund raising event for the Choir it is gratifying also that, in raising needed finance, we can entertain and bring pleasure by sharing music with all sections of our community. It was nice also that Josh Reynolds was able to perform his party piece after missing out last week. Well done Josh!

Grateful thanks, once again, are due to our fabulous Supporters’ Group for all their hard work in putting on the event. Being served by such cheery ladies with a lovely tea (and it really was a beautiful tea) is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these events.

We would be extremely remiss not to offer some words of appreciation for Marilyn and the team for all the hard work in in terms of planning, preparation and, not to mention the clearing up afterwards – all necessary to put the show on.

The event raised £501; it was the third most lucrative event which the Group has put on. The total financial contribution of these wonderful ladies now stands at £11394 since the inception of the Supporters’ Group in November 2012. Our choir is very much the envy of many other Male voice Choirs across the country to have such wonderful supporters and that’s a fact!

The total raised by last week’s event at St Augustine’s raised approximately £700 for church finances. Mansfield & District Male Voice Choir have now contributed to the raising of a total of £5124 for charitable organisations for the calendar year 2017 and, over  the last four years, our contribution has helped raise approximately £17,600 for charitable work.

Our next concert will be the “Thank you for the Music 3” concert in September ( full details as always on the Events page).

Have a great summer everybody!

Midsummer Music – St Augustine’s Church, Abbott Road, Mansfield.

24 June 2017

“Facet” – any of the surfaces of a cut gemstone ( Collins Concise English dictionary)

We have mentioned many times before of the variety which is very often the characteristic of many, if not all, of our concerts.

This concert was certainly varied and I was struck by a comment made by our compere on this particular evening, Ian Bartle, second tenor in the Mansfield & District Male Voice Choir and part of the ever popular nonet, The GentleMen. Ian mentioned the term “multi -faceted” to describe the talent in our midst. It was certainly on display at St Augustine’s.

But first thing’s first, many congratulations to Kevin Bradley (second tenor) who made his debut at this event. Well done Kevin – we wish you many years ahead of singing enjoyment.

Back to multi-faceted theme, the The GentleMen are a polished gem themselves despite being reduced to a being only a seven-sided jewel on this occasion. Thanks to TheGuys (their less formal monicker) for Help Me Rhonda, the old Beach Boys classic and the ever-popular Robbie Williams crowd-pleaser, Angels. Both of these items were included on their programme.

Thanks also to Harold Huxtable and Howard Lawrence for their poetry items which dealt with similar themes around ageing and the capacity we have to raise a smile despite the frustrations of life which we all come across, whatever our age.

Thanks also to Meryl and Margaret for a piano duet which we have heard before but enjoyed thoroughly hearing again nevertheless; the charming Rondeau Militaire  (Anton Diabelli).

Our choir performed a varied programme ending with I’m Goin’ Up A Yonder as a fitting finale. The programme also included numerous items which are part of all the work in preparation for the Royal Albert Hall next year including Stout Hearted Men, There is No Death and Cwm Rhonda.  Our audience were entertained with Help Me Rhonda and Cwm Rhonda on the same evening- I told you it was varied!

We have to mention especially our young talent  which is much appreciated for their contribution to our Choir. On this particular evening the audience enjoyed Joe Higgins (soloist on Make You Feel My Love) and  Jonno Lee for his own  Irish Waters composition. All of our  talented young singers are the jewel in the crown as far as Mansfield & District Male Voice Choir are concerned( including first tenor Tim Bexon and baritone Josh Reynolds, who was not able to get out of work commitments on the evening to perform his piano solo).

The star of this show was, however, first tenor  Dan Hayes who shone like a diamond polished beyond his years, singing with great maturity and control with his rendition of Close Every Door To Me from the musical “Joseph and The Amazing technicolour Dreamcoat “ Well done, Dan!

Final thanks go to  Reverend Caroline Phillips and all the members of St Augustine’s Church for their hard work in organising the event and for their wonderful hospitality.

Our next concert will be “Midsummer Music” on Saturday 24 June 2017 at St Augustine’s Church, Mansfield. Full details are on the Events page.

The following is a copy of an article published in our local newspaper, the Chad, on 14 June 2017 following the trip to East Yorkshire:

“A local choir have just completed a very busy early summer period and, in the process, helped to raise over £4000 for various charities.

Mansfield & District  Male Voice Choir are very well known in the Mansfield and Ashfield area but recently embarked on a “mini-tour” of  East Yorkshire and shared the stage for two very successful  concerts with Beverley MVC and with Hull MVC.

The concert with Hull MVC took place at the Hull Guildhall and was part of the many activities which form part of the programme for the Hull UK City of Culture 2017.

Chairman of the Mansfield choir  Gordon Blanc said: “We were out to prove ourselves but were welcomed by Hull and Beverley with open arms. One of the things that pleased me most was the unity of our choir which showed in our performances.”

“We showed great purpose and focus.”