Aims
Harrogate Male Voice Choir has two principal aims –
- To offer a meaningful and rewarding experience to male singers in Harrogate and the North Yorkshire region by rehearsing regularly and giving performances as and when requested by charitable organisations or members of the general public.
- To raise funds for local and national charities and local community projects by performing wherever and whenever invited.
Rehearsals are held on a weekly basis (Tuesday evenings) at Woodlands Methodist Church Hall on the Wetherby Road in Harrogate, since 23rd April 1986. The members rehearse and perform around 10 – 12 concerts per year between late August and the end of the following May. The choir is organised and administered by a main committee of seven members as well as a small number of sub-committees, created mostly for specific occasions or activities.
The President of the choir is Marilynne Davies BA, MEd, LRAM, PGCA, FRSA
Musical Team
The current professional musical team which leads the choir is made up of Musical Director Richard Kay and Pianists/Accompanists David Mawson and David Ward Campbell.
Accompanist
David Ward-Campbell
David has lived in Harrogate for most of his life and has been involved in the local music world since about 1980, when he joined Junior Strings as a young violinist (at Harrogate Music Centre) and St Robert’s Church choir in Pannal. He was Organist at St Robert’s Church, Pannal in the 90’s/00’s while also holding organist positions at Beckwithshaw and Killinghall Parish Churches.
David studied Music, Organ and Singing at Liverpool University and then went on to enjoy almost 15 years of expat life – in Bangkok, Prague and southern Spain. He was accompanist for the Bangkok Music Society and has also accompanied various choral groups in Spain. He has taught piano and singing for many years, mainly for the International School circuit abroad, and he continues to do so after returning to the UK.
David became an accompanist with HMVC in April 2018 and has also recently taken up a new appointment as Organist/Director of Music at Ripley.
Musical Director
Richard Kay
Richard trained in Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham, whilst also studying ancillary music and singing with the Birmingham University Liturgical Choir. He spent 15 years on the Musical Team of York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir, as Assistant then Deputy MD, before joining HMVC in the summer of 2021.
Richard has been a regular soloist around the Yorkshire music scene for many years and also incorporates music into his professional performance work: Richard is an actor, writer, composer and Associate Artist with Badapple Theatre Company. For more information about the range of his work visit www.richardkay.net
“I am incredibly proud to be the MD of such a warm and welcoming choir. For me, the enjoyment of singing together and the conveying of that joy, through performance, to our audiences is every bit as important as striving for musical perfection.”
Accompanist
David Mawson
PhD, LRSM, LTCL, LMusA
Born in New Zealand, David holds a MusB Hons and MMus degree from the University of Otago, a PGDipMus in piano performance from the RSAMD and a PhD in practice-led performance research from the University of Leeds. He has been awarded numerous music prizes and scholarships and as a pianist has broadcast on New Zealand radio and television. He has taught piano and music history at the University of Otago and the University of Leeds and has served as Administrator and Trustee of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition and as Coordinator of the AHRC Research Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice (CMPCP) based at the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge. David has been an accompanist with HMVC since October 2015.
