New members welcome: the Croydon Male Voice Choir’s annual open evening is on Oct 15
Have you ever felt like joining a choir but didn’t know to go about it?
Your opportunity is coming. On Thursday October 15, the Croydon Male* Voice Choir is holding an Open Evening at its Sandilands headquarters which will showcase the choir and invite newcomers to give it a try.
As the choir’s poster for the evening states, “no experience needed – just a love of singing”. The invitation is also for those who may already have sung elsewhere and are looking to join a new choir.
The evening will start with a welcome from choir chair Peter Gillman and an explanation of the choir’s four voice parts: top tenor, second tenor, baritone, bass. Then will come a warm-up sing together.
Next, guests will be able to join the choir as it rehearses a new song, Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, which will give a feel for how it learns new pieces.
The choir will then sing a selection from its eclectic repertoire, which includes folk songs, show stoppers from stage musicals, opera and oratorio classics, as well as popular songs, old and new. Afterwards the assembled company will retire to the Sandilands bar for a chat and some informal singing.
Gillman says: “The evening should give guests a good idea of who we are and how we go about singing.” Anyone deciding to join should be able to take part in the choir’s Christmas concert on December 13.
The 60-strong choir, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, has built a strong reputation for the quality of its singing. It performs around 10 concerts a year, mostly in and around Croydon. Its appearance at Fairfield Halls on September 19, part of the Open House Festival, won accolades, the organiser praising its “amazing performance” which “blew the roof off”.
The choir recently sang at Southwark Cathedral, when it received a standing ovation. It also undertakes an annual weekend tour.
It stages “Beer and Ditties” sessions in local pubs on Friday nights, and has a devoted walking group which undertakes outings in the Surrey and Kent countryside every three weeks or so.
Gillman, who was elected as choir chair last month, adds: “We enjoy our singing and work hard at it too. We have a great spirit of friendship and a shared social life outside the formal singing and rehearsals. It’s a brilliant choir and I am proud to part of it.”
The choir’s music director, Andrew Moore, has been with CMVC for four years, and is credited with improving its technical and performing skills. Moore recently took over as music director of the Croydon Philharmonic Choir.
Several CMVC members sing with the Croydon Philharmonic, too, among them Gillman. He has also temporarily joined a third choir, Regents Opera, which is performing Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem at Fairfield Halls this Sunday, October 4.
“I’ve had the ambition to sing the War Requiem for a long time,” Gillman says, “and I am thrilled to have the chance.”
*Apologies: the invitation is for men only. Women interested in joining a choir can attend a rehearsal of the excellent Croydon Philharmonic Choir, held on Tuesdays (from 7pm to 9pm) at St Matthew’s Church.
- The Croydon Male Voice Choir Open Evening, Sandilands Sports Club, Sandilands CR0 5DB, Thursday October 15. Start 7.30 for 8pm. Ends 10pm.
- For more information, visit the website www.croydonmalevoicechoir.co.uk
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