The Croydon Male Voice Choir at their recent performance at St George’s Church near Ypres in France
The Croydon Male Voice Choir is rehearsing hard for its final concert of the 2015-2016 season – its annual Patrons’ Concert, to be held this year at Croydon High School on Saturday July 9.
The choir considers the concert, so-named because it acknowledges the important role of its patrons, to be one of the highlight performances of the year.
The choir will be singing a selection from its current repertoire, including several which it sang during its visit to Ypres last month to commemorate the centenary anniversaries of World War I. These include a setting of Wilfred Owen’s poem “Futility”, composed by choir music director Richard Hoyle, and a medley of WWI songs which finishes with Ivor Novello’s “Keep the Home Fires Burning”.
Soprano Sofia Troncoso, a rising star in the recital and opera world, will be performing two solo spots.
Tickets for the concert, which starts at 7.30pm, cost just £10, and include a glass of wine or a soft drink. They can be purchased on the door.
The choir has around four dozen patrons who each donate £25 a year – or £200 for life membership. These contributions assist both the choir (a registered charity) and the other charities its concerts support.
The choir raises money for a range of local and national charities, including Deptford Reach, an advice and respite centre in South London, which received more than £300 from the choir’s most recent concert, at St Mark’s in Biggin Hill on June 18. It also collects for charities at its Christmas appearances at the Whitgift Centre.
The choir reckons that the current season has been one of its best ever. Its visit to Ypres, when it sang at the Menin Gate Last Post ceremony and at St George’s Memorial Church, proved both successful and affecting. It also sang at the inauguration dinner for the new Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Wayne Trakas-Lawlor, at Fairfield Halls on May 26.
Choir chair Kimball Ormond said: “We feel we are going from strength to strength. This has been a great year and we are already looking forward to next season.”
The choir takes a break in July and August. Its first performance of the new season will be at Rochester Cathedral on September 24, followed by a concert at St Barnabas in Beckenham on October 22.
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