Harrogate Male Voice Choir

Harrogate Male Voice Choir

Founded 1969

Reviews

Annual Concert - 16 October 2010 (with guests Dinnington Colliery Band)

Although last year the Harrogate Male Voice Choir celebrated its 40th anniversary, this concert was officially the choir's 35th Anniversary Concert which featured the Dinnington Colliery Band which was recently featured in the BBC TV series A Band for Britain.

The concert was as promised in the programme a "tour de force" and included many old favourites such as Arthur Sullivan's ballad The Lost Chord, one of the choir's best pieces of the evening.

The choir, conducted by Bernard White, accompanied on the piano by Avril Leeming, opened the concert with a selection of six songs beginning with a rather restrained performance of Bring Me Sunshine and ended with a vigorous rendering of Rhythm of Life in which the diction was excellent and the modulations towards the end of the piece were well managed.

The spiritual element in the choir's final group of songs was quite uplifting and included the haunting melody of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and the spiritual "I'm Gonna Walk".

To end the concert the choir and band combined to perform a timeless favourite Morte Criste, a setting of the hymn When I survey the wondrous Cross, arranged by Emrys Jones.

The encore was Parry's Jerusalem which the audience very much appreciated.

The band items were introduced by their conductor Jonathan Beatty and the choir items by John Dawson, baritone.

(from the Harrogate Advertiser)

40th Anniversary Concert - 24 October 2009

Annual Concert 2009

Saturday evening, 7.15pm in the elegant and packed Royal Hall, I found myself part of the audience along with Harrogate Mayor Pat Jones and the President of the choir, Simon Theakston, gathered to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Harrogate Male Voice Choir.

The nearly 50 strong choir very smart and all wearing poppies with pride, sang a varied and sensitive programme without music copies under the direction of their musical director Bernard White. Their warm tones and sensitive dynamics were complimented by the undeniable skill of their accompanist Avril Leeming. The audience were guided through the evening by the amusing compere John Corrin. The very slick opening number, the spiritual Ride the Chariot set the high standard for the evening, along with a very convincing solo by Mike Boland as the milkman in Polly Perkins.

Rapturous applause for the Harrogate Male Voice Choir continued with the Glenn Miller Orchestra UK under the light touch direction of Ray McVay. A relaxed journey of wartime memories and anecdotes plus the old favourites were performed by highly skilled musicians with great gusto ans clear enjoyment.

Neil Duncan, who had invested months of planning, and Mike Clipston, chairman of the HMVC could only be very proud of the success of the evening, making all their hard work worthwhile.

The end came too soon on a night of undeniable enjoyment and success for the Male Voice Choir, confirnming their place on the entertainment map of Harrogate.

(from the Harrogate Advertiser)

Ripley Castle 700 & 40 Concert - 23 April 2009

The concert at Ripley Castle celebrated the 40th year of the Harrogate Male Voice Choir and the 700th year of the Ingleby family at Ripley Castle. And what a venue it was, with comfortable seats, beautiful surroundings and excellent acoustics, as well as the generous hospitality of Sir Thomas and Lady Ingleby.

The concert consisted of a wide selection of choral pieces, interspersed with solos and humorous monologues.

The choir was accompanied by Avril Leeming at the piano. Good accompanists are few and far between, but Avril Leeming is certainly one of the few and complemented the superb singing perfectly.

The musical director Bernard White had complete control over the choir, and every eye was on him all the time. This allowed him to bring out every nuance in the music to perfection. The balance was very good, all parts being heard equally, and the tuning was spot on.

There were two solos: Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, sung beautifully by Len Caine, and The Barber of Turin, sung by Peter Leeming. Both were very testing songs well executed. The monologues, adding a bit of humour, were given by Mike Boland, John Ellen and Malcolm Roberts.

The MC, John Corrin, introduced the various sections and entertained us with many jokes.

The concert was attended by the choir's president Simon Theakston, as well as Sir Thomas and Lady Ingleby.

(from the Harrogate Advertiser)

Annual Concert - 12 May 2007

Mayoral party Choir 2007

Norman Williams Coun Geoff Webber Bernard White Jane Reeve & Jack Kent
Jane Reeve Pat Webber Avril Leeming Kay Bromhead

Harrogate Male Voice Choir gave an excellent programme under the direction of Musical Director Bernard White. The concert was attended by Harrogate's Mayor and Mayoress at the time Coun Geoff Webber and Mrs Pat Webber.
This popular choir has performed 12 public concerts in the last year and for the first time recorded this concert for a CD.
The choir gave us a memorable musical evening. The master of ceremonies, Ian Ibbotson, introduced the choir, its piano accompanist Avril Leeming, the soprano guest soloist Jane Reeve and her accompanist Kay Bromhead.
The programme comprised many attractive songs, including an amusing duet (Jane Reeve and Jack Kent) and rousing numbers from Wagner and Gounod.
We also heard Welsh hymns, some love songs and a spiritual,
The highlight of the evening was the performance of the Holy City featuring the choir and Jane Reeve.
This was a very impressive concert in front of a most appreciative and full audience.
(From the Harrogate Advertiser)

Annual Concert - 6 May 2006

Jane etc

The 2006 Annual Concert was held at Harrogate Baptist Church on Saturday 6 May. This proved to be an ideal venue with its excellent acoustics, which enabled the choir to be fully appreciated by an enthusiastic capacity audience, helping to make the evening a resounding success.

The choir gave an excellent performance, singing a varied selection from their repertoire, including a number of items which will be sung by the massed choirs at the Royal Albert Hall in November.

The choir was delighted to welcome as their guest soloist Jane Reeve, who sings with Treble Clef female vocal ensemble and with St Peter’s Church Choir. Jane gave a most delightful performance which received resounding applause. In the first half she sang ‘The man I love’, ‘Fly home little heart’, ‘Till there was you’. This was followed after the interval with ‘I could have danced all night’, and the amusing Victoria Wood song ‘Freda and Barry’. For these numbers she was accompanied by Kay Bromhead on piano. However for many in the choir and audience alike, the highlight of the evening came when Jane joined the choir to sing the solo part in ‘The Holy City’.

Not to be outdone the choir’s soloist Mike Boland shone in his rendition of ‘Polly Perkins’, suitably attired as the ‘broken hearted milkman’!! John Corrin compered the concert providing interesting details on the music and many humorous asides.

Musical Director Bernard White conducted the choir while Avril Leeming provided the piano accompaniment in her usual highly professional manner.