HISTORY

Bristol Male Voice Choir is one of the largest male voice choirs in the West Country with around 80 members. It is a registered charity and has raised thousands of pounds for good causes over the last four decades and established a reputation for musical excellence. Its music is drawn from around the world and its wide repertoire includes operatic choruses, sacred music, spirituals and songs from stage and screen.

It all began when the Filton Glee Club was formed within the Filton Community Association in August 1968. Initially, there was no conductor, just half a dozen men singing around a piano played by Kathy Langdon who produced copies of the words of well known songs. One of those men, Roy Blanning, is still an active chorister.

Jim ‘the Hymn’ Davies, who joined as a tenor but was foolish enough to reveal that he could play the violin and read music, was promptly appointed as the first conductor! He was succeeded in 1973 by Graham ‘Og’ Organ. Following Graham Organ’s sudden death in 1974, Brian Sinclair, a dance band man and trombone player, took over and the Choir, which had grown in numbers and reputation, left the Community Association to become the Filton Male Voice Choir. Many of the choristers at this time worked in the aircraft industry at British Aerospace or Rolls Royce in Filton.

In 1981, Brian Sinclair relinquished his position and a young Welshman was asked to help out for three weeks during the search for a successor. Several prospective musical directors were auditioned, including Ken Dinham, who impressed, joined as a Bass and was appointed Deputy Conductor. The stand-in, Morris Pearson, was an instant hit with the choristers and went on to serve as Musical Director until his death in 2000. Under his leadership, the Choir went on to new heights. His enthusiasm was demonstrated by the fact that for five years he commuted from Kidderminster to Filton, never missing a practice or concert. On his untimely death, Elaine Smith, the Accompanist and a graduate of Trinity College of Music, London was appointed Musical Director and Joan Quick succeeded her as Accompanist.

The current Musical Director is Steve Daykin who took over from Elaine Smith in January 2007 at which time she returned to her role as Accompanist. Steve Daykin studied Clarinet and Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Having completed a BMus (Hons) and PgDip in performance, he was awarded the Principal’s Prize for Music in 2002 as he embarked on a career in performance and teaching.

There have been a number of fine accompanists over the years. In addition to Elaine Smith and Joan Quick, these include Kathy Langdon, Nora Jewell, Elizabeth Crockitt, Sheila Rice, Ian Dodds, Michael Watson and Steve Bedell.

The Choir was an original member of the English Association of Male Voice Choirs which was formed after several choirs in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire had performed together at various venues. The Association’s founder chairman was the late Dennis Isherwood, subsequently succeeded by Ray Troughton.

In the early years, rehearsals were held at the Filton Folk Centre, at Shields Road School and subsequently at ‘Self Help Enterprise Bristol 7’ or ‘She 7’ as it became known. By 1983, the Choir had outgrown this venue and relocated to the social club at St.Teresa’s Roman Catholic Church, Filton. In 2005, it moved its rehearsals to Filton College and adopted its new name, Bristol Male Voice Choir. This recognised its position as the City of Bristol’s only male voice choir and the widening of its membership base drawn from across Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and South Wales.

The Choir has performed with many distinguished artistes including singers Bryn Terfel and Aled Jones, organist Nigel Ogden, jazz musician Acker Bilk and the winner of TV’s Operatunity, Jane Gilchrist. It has performed with choirs from Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, the USA and Wales and with orchestras and military bands including the Chamber Orchestra of Wales, the Band of the Royal Marines, the Band of the Gloucestershire Regiment, the Western Band of the RAF, the Band of the Welsh Guards, the Band of the RAF Regiment and the Band of the White Russian Army. It celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 1993 with a concert of massed choirs at the Colston Hall, Bristol. In 2004, it was honoured to receive an invitation to participate in the London Welsh Festival of Male Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall conducted by Alwyn Humphries, then Musical Director of the Morriston Orpheus Choir.

Performances have been given at many of the country’s most prestigious venues. In addition to the Royal Albert Hall and the Colston Hall, these include the Birmingham Symphony Hall, St. Mary Redcliffe and St. George’s Brandon Hill in Bristol, the Pavilion Theatre, Rhyl, the Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare, Cheltenham Town Hall, Devizes Town Hall, Bristols Christ Church Clifton, the Cathedrals of Bristol, Clifton, Coventry, Gloucester, Hereford, Wells and Worcester, and the Abbeys of Bath, Buckfastleigh, Pershore, Romsey, Shrewsbury and Tewkesbury. There have also been appearances at Cardiff Arms Park, Southampton dockside with the QE2, the Arts and Culture Center, St.John’s, Newfoundland, and the Carnegie Hall, New York.

The Choir has made a number of recordings including ‘Tribute to the Task Force’ with the English Association of Male Choirs made at Hereford Cathedral after the Falklands war, ‘Stout Hearted Men’ made at Romsey Abbey, ‘Men in Harmony’ made at St.George’s Church, Bristol, ‘Horizons’ made at the Chapel of St.Monica, Bristol and ‘Out of the Blue’, its latest CD made at Thornbury in 2008. It has also featured on BBC Television, including and episode of ‘Casualty’, S4C, Classic FM and BBC Radio, including assisting with model army songs from the English Civil War for a Radio 4 play about Oliver Cromwell’s army.

It has entered a number of choral competitions. In the early years, it participated in eisteddfodau at Maesteg and Rhymney in Wales, finishing second on both occasions; a competition at Bath where it was placed second; and the Gosport Music Festival in 1979 where it won its section. At the 2009 International Male Voice Choral Festival held in Cornwall, it was placed fourth in the closely contested International Male Voice Choir Competition for choirs of 41 voices and over.

In 1984, an exchange relationship was established with Mannerchor 1868 Witzenhausen in Germany, which led to the signing of a Deed of Friendship and regular exchange visits which continue to the present day. The Choir has also toured internationally in Canada twice and in Poland. In 1997, it sang in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Ministers of Canada, Italy and Ireland in Newfoundland when welcoming the arrival of the Matthew from Bristol to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Canada by John Cabot. In 2003, it toured Poland performing concerts at Warsaw, Lodz, Wroclaw and Krakow. As part of its 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2008, it toured the U.S.A. flying the flag for the City of Bristol performing at Bristol, Connecticut; Bristol, Pennsylvania; and Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia. The highlight of the tour was a performance at a Gala Concert with massed choirs and Bryn Terfel at the Carnegie Hall, New York.

The history of Bristol Male Voice Choir stretches over forty glorious years of male voice singing and lifelong friendships. It looks forward to the next forty years confident that it will maintain its valued heritage, build on its successful past and go on to yet greater heights.