Added 10th Jan 2012

From 'The Cornishman', December 29th:
There was something special at Mousehole this Christmas.  A cluster of emotions, the 30th anniversary of the loss of the lifeboat Solomon Browne with all hands, the glory of the glittering lights around the picturesque old harbour, the voices with a galaxy of carols.  Thousands visited the village ~ the roads through Newlyn and Paul were crowded with traffic ~ and Tom Bawcock and his inspirational cat were celebrated.
The famed Mousehole Male Voice Choir told of the Saviour's birth at their annual charity carol concert at the historic St Paul de Leon Church.
Hundreds packed the church to make it a record attendance and hear the choir, with its 75 members, the largest in its 102 year history.  The traditional Cornish carol composers provided many of the highlights, from Hark What Music Fills Creation to The Star Of Bethlehem, and from Merritt to Ninnis, and songs from the mists of Christmas past, with several arranged by the conductor Stephen Lawry.
There were contemporary carols including The Christmas Lights Of Mousehole by Sheridan Tongue and an entertaining highlight was the feature of fisherman Bawcock and cat, with a flavourful poem written and read by chorister Jon Pender, telling of the night of December 23rd when a successful catch of 'seven sorts of fish' fed the community during hard times.  The Lantern Song and Tom Bawcock's Eve by the choir, accompanied by Annette Turton, also delighted the audience.
The angel voice at the top of the carol cake was soprano Laura Nicholas, a local girl now studying music at Cardiff.  Accompanied by Sheila Farmer, her sweet, clear voice charmed with In The Bleak Mid-Winter and The Candlelight Carol, and in the finale with the choir of the Adam classic O Holy Night.
There were also readings by the conductor, Rodney Ward, Colin Lawry and choir chairman Reg Osborne, who also thanked all those taking part ~ with a welcome and a blessing by the vicar, Rev. Tim Heaney.
Presentations were made by secretary Tim James and the organist was John Harry.
The charities to benefit are Cornwall Hospice Care and the Deborah Rendle Memorial Fund.
A retiring collection in aid of the Children's Hospice raised over £400, taking the total by Alfie Steggles for this fund at choir concerts during recent years to more than £5,000.   

 

 

Outdoor Harbourside Concert

 

The Choir have changed the date for one of their outdoor concerts on the Harbourside at Mousehole to fit in with the plans of the Mousehole Carnival Committee, so the next concert has been brought forward a day, and will now be on Sunday 14th August 2011 at 7.30pm

 

Added 6th July 2011

Prestigious Royal Invitation

 

Representatives of Mousehole Male Voice Choir were presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on June 3rd 2011 when she arrived at Penzance Station. This was in recognition of the many thousands of pounds the choir has collected for various charities during its one hundred and two year existence. The choir President, Mr. Douglas Williams, M.B.E. introduced the Chairman, Mr. Reg Osborne, and choir Secretary, Mr. Tim James, to the Queen.  A gift of the choir book, “Century of Song” was presented to Her Majesty.

The choir were honoured to be invited to attend on the recommendation of the Mayor of Penzance, Councillor Jan Ruhrmund.

 

 

 

 

A Hectic Bank Holiday weekend.

 

The choir has a busy weekend planned for the Bank Holiday at the end of May with a trip to Bristol where they will stay at the harbourside Bristol Hotel.  The first event will be a joint concert with the Mendip Male Voice Choir in the futuristic Clifton Cathedral on the evening of Saturday 28th.  After the concert, a supper has been arranged in the Premier Room at Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City Football Club.

 

On Sunday, there will be an opportunity to explore the Roman City of Bath en route to and evening Songs of Praise and concert in the Methodist Church in Midsomer Norton where we can renew the friendships made on previous visits to the town.

 

On Monday the choir will present a lunchtime concert in Wells Cathedral and then return to Penzance in the evening.  There will be no let-up and a rehearsal will be held on Tuesday evening in preparation for the next batch of concerts including the annual Mid-summer concert in Paul Church on Sunday 26th June.

 

 

 

Two ends of Cornwall unite in song.

 

There was a double treat for the audience in Penzance Roman Catholic Church, Rosevean Road, Penzance  on Saturday, 14th May 2011 when Torpoint Lady Singers joined with Mousehole Male Voice Choir in concert;  those present had wonderful value for their £5 admission price.  The concert had an early start at 7.00pm, having regard for our visitors' long journey home to the other end of Cornwall.

 

The R.C. church has acquired a new significance as a Penzance concert venue since the closure of the nearby Richmond Methodist Church and provides good acoustic properties for singers and an excellent organ.  The only drawback is the narrowness of Rosevean Road which makes difficulties for vehicle traffic; fortunately there is plenty of off-road parking space within reasonable walking distance.

 

The Torpoint Lady Singers was formed in 1987 by 8 ladies all living in Torpoint who decided they would like to form a choir.  From those small beginnings the numbers have increased to 36 members this year, a tribute to the expertise and patience of their Musical Director, Sylvia Fraser, enhanced by the quality of their Accompanist, Sue Westwell.  They have performed in Hereford and Cheltenham and have crossed the Channel twice to sing in Quimper and Benodet, 'flying the flag' with their gold and black uniforms which are a testimony to our County of Cornwall. 

 

The Torpoint choir has developed a unique style of singing which takes in arrangements of songs from popular shows, spirituals, as well as works by composers such as Eric Thiman and Michael Head.  Through the joy of singing, they have brought enjoyment and entertainment to raise money for various charities using their extensive repertoire.  Last year the choir’s Singathon raised £3,375 for Shelterbox and this year the choir’s 19th Annual 12 hour Singathon will be for the charity CLIC (Sargent).

 

Sylvia Fraser and Sue Westwell were also impressive with their four-handed piano duets of classical pieces; quite remarkable as they were playing 'close-hauled' on a single electronic keyboard!

 

The ladies lighter voices made a pleasing contrast with the sound of Mousehole Male Voice Choir and the ladies, in their turn, were impressed with the sheer power, clear diction and breath control of the men's singing.  Indeed, a visiting member of Rame Peninsula Male Voice Choir paid compliments to our

Musical Director, Stephen Lawry, and Accompanist, Annette Turton, saying that the quality of our performance made his hair stand on end; praise indeed.

 

The idea of an early return to Torpoint went by the board when the ladies joined us for an 'after-glow' social gathering at the Astro Park and enjoyed the informal singing which always happens when the men have a pint in their hand.  The Mousehole Male Voice Choir Ladies Committee did us all proud with a wonderful spread of refreshments.

 

A most enjoyable evening all round!

Torpoint Lady Singers

Mousehole Male Voice Choir Loses "Father of the House", Garfield Matthews.

 

Mousehole MVC regrets to announce the death of a very loyal and long-serving member, Garfield Matthews, who first joined the choir in 1939. 

Only war service and some years of shift work kept him away from the choir, he would otherwise have created an even greater record for length of membership.  Despite that break, Garfield could rightly be regarded as the "father of the house"

Garfield was still singing with the choir at the age of 87 and the Choir's President, Douglas Williams took pleasure in awarding Life Membership to Garfield Matthews at the choir’s 78th Summer Festival Concert in St. Mary’s Church, Penzance, on Sunday, 1st August, 2010.  Douglas remarked that singing, like Guiness, must be good for you.

Garfield made the choir a real family affair with his son, John, also a member; Garfield’s wife, Betty,  and John’s wife, Kath, are the keenest of supporters for the choir and grand-daughters, Jenna and Morwenna, are regular guest duettists with the choir.  And, outside of the male voice ambit, Garfield and the whole family were to be found in church choirs and a wide range of other musical activities which had the aim of benefitting others and, no doubt, these will be continued by his family.

 

Updated 24th Mar 2011

 

Gans Kerensa:  it's Cornish for "with love".

 

On Saturday evening, 12th March, the audience in St. Keverne Chapel  thrilled to the sounds of Cornwall's singing ambassadors when the Mousehole Male Voice Choir presented a joint concert with their special guests Gans Kerensa.  The building already nearly filled with listeners, the choir had some difficulty in finding room to stand after making their singing entrance with Come And Go With Me To That Land.  This recent innovation of a song on the move, rather than the usual entry to clapping which fades into weariness as the size of the choir becomes realised, makes a better start to concerts and seems to make the audience more receptive to the main programme.

The choir gave a varied and well received concert with songs which ranged from traditional pieces such as Gwahoddiad and Christus Salvator to the lighter Blue Moon and a medley of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra.  Several of the audience commented on how refreshing it was to hear some different songs than those normally associated with male voice choirs.

Gans Kerensa is the group title chosen by three very talented young students from Helston Community College, Alice, Caitlin, and Shannon, where Caitlin is Head Girl.  These three good friends are all members of Helston School Jazz Orchestra with Caitlin on trumpet, Alice on tenor saxophone and Shannon on electric guitar.  They also play in other groups, and play other instruments between them. 

And they have another great gift which brought them to the notice of Mousehole's Musical Director, Stephen Lawry; they sing, unaccompanied, in three-part harmony, and delighted the audience with numbers like The Longest Time; Takin' A Chance On Love; Amazing Grace; Lean On Me; particularly enjoyable was their rendition of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.  The members of the choir were really taken with their lively and professional performance and it is to be hoped these young ladies will again be guest artistes in future concerts.

The choir will take part in the Fifth Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival from 27th April to 2nd May, 2011, when 60 choirs from around the world will perform in thirty different venues around the Duchy. The men led by Stephen Lawry, with his deputy David Williams, and accompanist, Annette Turton, will have the singular honour of representing Cornwall in the final Gala Concert in the Hall for Cornwall

'Gans Kerensa: (LtoR), Alice; Caitlin; Shannon'

                                                                                     

A lift for Mousehole Male Voice Choir

If you would like more details of the Felix Portable Risers, please contact

Mousehole Male Voice Choir’s Press Officer, Trevor Walker, on 01736 731096 or e-mail:-

twpzchoral1@btconnect.com

Mousehole Male Voice Choir has no commercial connections or arrangements with Felix Design Limited

 

When a small group of men gathered in a net loft in the tiny Cornish fishing village of Mousehole to practice carols for Christmas 1909, they can scarcely have imagined that, a century later, the name of Mousehole MaleVoice Choir would be known around the world. Those founding fathers have long gone but there are several men today who have served in the ranks of the choir for over sixty years and even they have been astonished by the growth of the choir which now has over 80 members.

The choir performs around 30 concerts a year and raises many thousands of pounds for various charities in Cornwall and far beyond. The present size of the choir often makes for staging difficulties in some of the venues where they are asked to perform and the rear ranks of the choir find themselves singing into the backs of the heads of their colleagues in front. Apart from the loss of acoustic focus, it is often a problem for the men to see their Musical Director, Stephen Lawry, clearly.

 

The choir has conducted a 12-month experiment using a batch of plastic step stools to raise the two back rows in various venues where they were singing on a flat floor and this made a big improvement in sound and sightline factors. Armed with the proof that the elevation made a big difference, the choir has been looking for a staging system which would have both the flexibility needed for the wide range of venues where they perform and the lightness and compactness needed for storage and transportability; it also had to be reasonably priced.

 

After looking at several systems which fell down on one or other of the three criteria, the choir heard about Felix Design Limited of Tiverton Devon. The company has a range of Portable Choir Risers which, on paper, appeared to have the needed properties. Four of the choir’s committee members, including the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, visited the Tiverton factory for a meeting with Damon Kirby, Felix Sales Director and were delighted to find that the system did everything claimed. A minor modification was needed for the Mousehole choir’s concerts at their home base in Paul Parish Church and Damon agreed to expedite delivery for the annual Mid-summer concert on Sunday 27th June.

 

An order was placed on the spot and the system was delivered on time (as shown in the accompanying picture. The staging allowed the choir to form up in a five rank arc with three levels raised at 6"; 12", 18" respectively and the focussed sound was remarkable, delighting the audience and the Musical Director, Stephen Lawry. .

 

 

 

 Portable risers in place at Paul Church

Views of the Portable risers in use

If you would like more details of the Felix Portable Risers, please contact

Mousehole Male Voice Choir’s Press Officer, Trevor Walker, on 01736

731096 or e-mail:-

twpzchoral1@btconnect.com

Mousehole Male Voice Choir has no commercial connections

or arrangements with Felix Design Limited

 

Editorial submission on behalf of Mousehole Male Voice Choir

 

By Trevor Walker: Choir Press Officer

2 Trungle Terrace, Paul, PENZANCE.  TR19 6UE.  Tel: [01736] 731096

 

Request for inclusion in 'Choir News' column; Thursday 3rd March 2011

 

 

As guests of Four Lane Male Voice Choir, Mousehole Male Voice Choir, under their Musical Director, Stephen Lawry, and with accompanist, Annette Turton, shared a joint concert, chaired by Douglas Williams, in Redruth Methodist Church on Sunday 27th February. A further special guest was the Cornish born Soprano, Laura Nicholas, who is celebrating her 21st birthday; her voice has developed to a mature star quality since she first made her award winning appearances as a child singer from Gulval in local musical contests and concerts.

 

It was a concert which brought the large audience to its feet in tribute for an evening of musical brilliance.  The two large choirs, and Laura, each had their separate spots in the first half of the programme and all presented widely varying repertoires which demonstrated both their power and their ability to sing softly in a most moving way.                       

Alastair Taylor, the Four Lanes Musical Director, who had provided the accompaniments for Laura, closed the first half with two organ solos, the first a beautiful setting of Amazing Grace, the second a demonstration of breathtaking dexterity in an arrangement of The Comedians from Smetana's Bartered Bride.

 

The special magic came when the two choirs combined for the entire second half, jointly directed by Stephen and Alastair, generating the tremendous power of nearly 150 male voices for four pieces but still that moving quiet singing for The Old Woman and The Night Has A Thousand Eyes. Yet Laura's voice soared over all that power in a setting of You'll Never Walk Alone, from Carousel, and it was a spine-chilling moment.