The Choir Activities
The choir at Bath
Here are three evocative group photos from the Bath tour, all taken by JWT at Prior Park College on June 3.
The gents, plus Lana
The ladies
All together
Martin & Cathy & Friends
Martin and Cathy, the new Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, were welcomed by their friends and members of Croydon Male Voice Choir at the Royal Standard on May 28 in celebration of their marriage.
Friends and choir members with Martin and Cathy outside the Royal Standard (photo by JWT)
CROYDON CHOIR TO SING AT PRIOR PARK
Press release sent to local media ahead of our tour to Bath: Croydon Male Voice Choir, known throughout the Home Counties for choral excellence, will be holding a concert in the beautiful chapel of Prior Park College in Ralph Allen Drive, Bath on June 3rd at 7.30pm. CMVC, singing under the baton of Musical Director Richard Hoyle, will be over 50 members strong and will sing an eclectic selection from the wide repertoire of music for which the choir is noted. Founded in Croydon in South London more than 35 years ago it has grown from small beginnings to a well balanced choir of some 60 voices. They have performed in venues ranging from village halls and country churches up to some of the best concert halls in the country such as London’s Festival and Albert Halls and the Fairfield Halls in their native Croydon. Venturing further afield, CMVC has competed in Cornwall and Yorkshire as well as touring in Europe.
The concert will also feature the delightful soloist Lana Bode whose fine piano playing will add an extra dimension to the evening’s enjoyment. Lana, a particular favourite with the choir, was born in the United States of America and grew up in North Virginia. She attended the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music before crossing the Atlantic to finish her musical education with the Royal Academy of Music in London. Lana has already won a number of competitions and is well regarded for her work in concerts, recitals and master classes with orchestras and ensembles of many kinds.
The Concert on 3rd June promises to be a grand evening’s musical entertainment and for those of you have not seen Prior Park College the Chapel, with its plastered barrel roof and beautifully colonnaded nave, is worth a visit for its own sake. The College is a Roman Catholic boarding and day school catering for some 500 pupils of both sexes.
The chapel at Prior Park
Fairfield Spring Fair
Croydon Male Voice Choir entertained stallholders and visitors in the Arnhem Gallery of the Fairfield Halls on Sunday 27 March as part of the celebrations of the Fairfield Spring Fair.
A full day of activities and entertainment was organized for the public, which included singers, pianists and clog dancers, as well as demonstrations by Croydon Lacemakers and The Cheam Woodturners Association.
The Choir performed an interesting and varied selection of songs from its repertoire in two twenty-minute sessions, conducted by its Musical Director Richard Hoyle and accompanied by the choir’s pianist Lana Bode.
Judging by the spontaneous and enthusiastic applause the singing was greatly appreciated.
Back to the music: this audience member shows his appreciation
Singing with the women
Croydon MVC had another successful evening when it staged a joint concert with the Swift Singers in Coulsdon on March 13, 2010.
The two choirs performed seven pieces each, then came together for a finale of Baby It's Cold Outside followed by I Believe combined with Ave Maria. They were greeted with rapturous applause.
The Swift Singers are a ladies choir from South Woodham Ferrers, near Chelmsford in Essex. They previously shared a concert with CMVC at John's, Coulsdon, in February 2007.
Solos were performed by soprano Ann-Louise Straker, a long-time friend of Croydon MVC.
The two choirs were generous in singing each other's praise after the concert. The Croydon men hailed their counterparts for a spirited and uplifting performance.
The Swifts' secretary, Jean Chasmer, said the men "made a magnificent sound - the tone and quality of your singing was wonderful".
Afterwards the two choirs repaired for an apres sing to the John Fisher rugby club, where the informal singing continued beyond midnight. The Swifts have invited Croydon to take part in a return match in Chelmsford in 2011 or 2012.
Croydon's Dick Diplock gets it on with Swifts' Jean Chasmer at Coulsdon apres. Home page photo shows musical directors Richard Hoyle (CMVC) and Clive Smith (Swifts) taking applause after the final numbers. Photos by Phil Talmage
Della's masterclass
Choir president Della Jones thrilled and delighted the choir with a singing masterclass at choir rehearsal on Thursday, November 12. Della, a distinguished mezzo-soprano, took two members, bass Jon Evans and second tenor Trevor Watkins, through their vocal paces.
Della encouraged the pair to start breathing in the rhythm of the piece, to emphasise their vowels, and to decide which words from the lyric were important. She was both a stern and encouraging tutor who praised the two singers for the progress they made during their 10-minute ordeal. The choir responded with rousing applause for both Della and her pupils.
Della, who sat in on the entire evening rehearsal, praised the choir’s “fantastic” singing and said she was “proud and honoured” to be its president. The choir staged an après performance in the Sandilands bar after the rehearsal and Della joined in the singing of the Welsh piece Calon Lan.
Afterwards Jon Evans said Della’s tutoring had been “inspiring and humbling” – adding that he had learned “there was a lot more to singing than you realised”. He particularly valued her advice to “sing the vowels”.
Della has a wealth of prestigious international appearances and recordings to her name. In February she is to due to take the part of Adelaide in a production of Strauss's opera Arabella in Innsbruck.
Della confirmed that she would be appearing at the choir's patrons' concert in July 2010. She will take two solo spots and will also be accompanied by the choir when she sings Habanera from Carmen's Bizet, in a arrangement by choir musical director Richard Hoyle.
Richard will accompany Della when she sings in her solo spots. "I'm looking forward very much to rehearsing with her in June," Richard said.
Della with pupils Jon Evans (left) and Trevor Watkins
Royal Festival Hall
On November 2nd 2008, the Croydon choir took the stage at London's Royal Festival Hall. The occasion was one of the innovative Sunday afternoon foyer concerts, introduced at the RFH in June 2008. Some of Britain's finest choirs have appeared on the foyer stage and in November it was Croydon's turn.
The choir sang for an hour, selecting show-stopping songs from its extensive and eclectic repertoire. At the start, there were some 200 people listening; by the end, the audience had grown to around 500, according to reliable choir estimates. After rapturous applause, the choir performed a rousing encore.
Following its performance, the choir took to the river in the historic pleasure craft Kingwood, a veteran of Dunkirk. We spent four hours cruising between Chelsea and Greenwich; many songs were sung and much refreshment was imbibed. Afterwards the South Bank Centre management said it was delighted by Croydon's performance and has already made enquiries about booking a return date.
Choir Dinner
Choir night dinner - always a convivial occasion
Croydon Male Voice Choir recently enjoyed a most convivial Annual Dinner at Shirley Park Golf Club, a venue new to the Choir. More than 80 members, wives and girlfriends were greeted with champagne cocktails at the reception before sitting down to an excellent three-course meal with a menu that included a particularly memorable apple and mango crumble.
After dinner Kim Ormond rose and very graciously thanked the ladies for their continued support for and patience with choir members and then presented the Alan Roberson Shield to John Dale for his outstanding contribution to the choir during the year, a well deserved award that was loudly applauded.
Needless to say the choir members spontaneously and unanimously burst into song as soon as they reached the bar and the rafters at Shirley Park continued to ring for several hours. The whole evening was a great success and the Golf Club has already been booked for next year’s CMVC Dinner.
Recording
In June 2008, the choir recorded its latest CD in the church of St Marks in Woodcote (photo left). The CD, entitled Voicemale, was recorded over two long sessions on successive Saturdays. During the first, the choir recorded ten songs, with accompaniment from Richard Mander - one of the choir's life patrons - on the church's magnificent organ. During the second, the choir performed eleven songs, accompanied by pianist Elspeth Wyllie, who was playing with the choir for the last time before she moved on in her career.
The CD, the fifth recording the CMVC has made, is now on sale. (See CD Recordings On Sale section of website). Several of our previous recordings can be purchased at our concerts and at our annual pre-Christmas performances at Croydon's Whitgift Centre.
The Apres Sing
After most concerts, the choir retires to a nearby hostelry to wind down and relax. But the singing is not ended - far from it. The choir follows a long-established ritual known as the apres, when it sings pieces from an informal repertoire, bringing pleasure to itself, its camp followers, and the other occupants of the bar. The session traditionally starts with the Whiffenpoof Song - the Yale university lyric, based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling, which is a favourite of glee clubs and was recorded by Elvis Presley. The sessions are usually led by bass Neville Clark, who exhorts the singers to greater efforts if he feels their energies are wavering. One of the best recent apres sessions was held at a pub in Redruth, Cornwall, at the end of the Cornwall tour, when the choirs of Croydon, Wadebridge and Weybridge competed with each other to hold the stage. The result was considered an honourable draw. Photo (above) of a recent apres by Phil Talmage.
The Alan Shield
Chairman Kim Ormond (left) presents bass John Dale with the Alan Robertshaw Shield
John Dale, a member of the bass section, is the 2011 winner of the Alan Robertshaw Shield. He was presented with the shield by choir chair Kimball Ormond at the annual dinner held on January 8 at the new venue of Shirley Golf Club. John, who joined the choir in 1998, received the award for his hard work behind the scenes at the annual Patrons Concert and his enthusiasm in laying out and clearing away the chairs at rehearsals each week. The Alan Shield was originally presented to Croydon Male Voice Choir by former member Alan Robertshaw, and is awarded to the choir member adjudged to have made the greatest contribution to the choir's activities and management in the previous 12 months. Recent winners include:
2008 Brian Cantrell
2009 John Ward Turner
2010 Phil Talmage
The choir in Yorkshire
The Croydon choir poses before its performance at St George's, Brockholes
In May 2008, the choir embarked on a tour of Yorkshire, performing at two venues: St Mary's, the parish church of Barnsley, and St George's in Brockholes. The tour marked a home-coming for musical director Richard Hoyle, who grew up in Huddersfield, renowned as a centre of choral singing. Richard's father attended the Brockholes concert, where local choir-members were lavish in their praise of Croydon's performance.
Between concerts the choir visited Holmfirth, home of the BBCtv series "Last of the Summer Wine". It posed for photos outside Sid's Cafe, a celebrated location in the series, and serenaded visitors with songs. The choir travelled from Croydon by coach, staying in Brighouse for two nights and lunching at the the Haycock Hotel in Wansford during the journey north and at the Ferry Boat in Holywell on the River Ouse during the return.
The choir normally makes one tour each year. Other recent venues include South Wales, Cornwall, and Lille - where it performed at concerts in both France and Belgium.
The Croydon choir sings its stuff outside Sid's Cafe, Holmfiirth, celebrated venue in Last of the Summer Wi
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The Choir Activities
