- City of Bath Male Choir
-
Origin: Bath, Somerset, England
Genre: Choral Music
Occupations: Choir
Years active: 2006 to the present
Website: http://www.bathmalechoir.com
The City of Bath Male Choir is a male voice choir from Bath, Somerset. The choir came to national prominence in the UK when they came 5th in the Last Choir Standing [1] competition run by BBC television, appearing live on BBC TV on three successive Saturday nights on prime time television during July and August 2008. They have sung with Aled Jones(twice)[2], Jamie Cullum [3], Clare Teal [4], Alfie Boe and Rhiannon Lambert [5] and on 11 December 2009, performed with Clive Anderson, Max Clifford, Rudolph Walker and Barrie Rutter for the Prostate Cancer Charity in St. John's Church, Westminster [6]
Contents
Overview
This amateur choir was formed in January, 2006 by Mr. Grenville Jones [7], then conductor of Bath Silver Ring Choir, who advertised for anyone interested to walk in off the street and sing, with no need for auditions. 15 singers joined in that first rehearsal [8] and by 2010 the choir had 90 members. For work with this choir, with three other choirs he has formed, namely The Bath Chorus, The Stockingtops and The Good Afternoon Choir, and for work creating and developing local charites, Grenville Jones was declared the Bath Chronicle Man of Bath 2008 [9] and The Mayor of Bath’s Citizen of The Year in April 2009 [10] in April 2009. The Patron of Bath Male Choir is The Mayor of Bath. In June 2008, the then Mayor, Councillor Tim Ball, toured with the Choir to Bath's Dutch twin city of Alkmaar and also Amsterdam in June 2008, on their second European tour, the choir having visited Germany in 2007[11].
In August, 2008, immediately following Last Choir Standing, the choir sang at a Bath and North East Somerset Council civic reception for The UK School Games [12] and on 8 December 2008, they performed in an advertisement for Cadbury's Wispa chocolate bar [13].
In 2009 the choir sang at the Mayor of Bath’s Call to Prayer [14] in The Guildhall, Bath and thereafter at the rate of one concert a month throughout South West England, including a tour of Cornwall [15] in September, where the choir performed at the Stert Theatre, The Eden Project and in Truro Methodist Church. In December 2009 and February 2010 the choir also sang for two national charity events: on 11 December at a concert for The Prostate Cancer Society in St. John’s Church, Smiths’ Square, Westminster and 27 February at Wells Cathedral [16] for the Help for Heroes charity for servicemen. On 7 March 2010, forty members of the choir ran for charity in the Bath Half Marathon[17] They were judged to be 2nd out of 31 corporate entries [18] and raised just over £14,000 shared to be shared between the Prostate Cancer Charity and The Golden-Oldies Charitable Trust [19], the latter being a charity created by Grenville Jones, in partnership with local authorities and businesses in the south west of England and beyond.
Bath Male Choir has sung with two other choirs from the BBC Last Choir Standing competition. On 11 July 2009 they held a joint concert with ACM Gospel Choir at The Forum in Bath and on 24 April 2010 the choir sang with the Belfast Open Arts Community Choir, at Bangor International Choral Festival, Northern Ireland [20]
The Choir's Conductor is Mr. Grenville Jones and its accompanist is Mr. Phillip Evry. Trevor Brice, a second tenor with the choir, was lead singer with the original 1960’s rock group Vanity Fare [21].
Discography
1. Anthem: June 2007 Recorded at Beechen Cliff Methodist Church, Bath
2. Last Choir Standing Album: November 2008: Featured artist: City of Bath Male Choir: Songs performed ... Can’t Take My Eyes Off You; Something
3. Standing Ovation: July 2009: Recorded before a 1200 audience,Bath Forum,11 July 2009
Sources
[BBC Choir Profile http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchoirstanding/choirs/bathmale/]
References
- ^ Last Choir Standing http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchoirstanding/news/show_reviews/show7.html
- ^ Aled Jones http://www.classicalx.com/ftopic-3439-0-days0-orderasc-.html
- ^ Jamie Cullen http://www.bathmalechoir.org/about-us.html
- ^ Clare Teal http://www.bathmalechoir.org/about-us.html
- ^ Alfie Boe and Rhiannon Lambert http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/2289432.rhiannon_to_sing_with_top_tenor/
- ^ Prostate Cancer Charity Carol Concert 2009 http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/help/specialevents.asp
- ^ Mr. Grenville Jones www.bathmalechoir.com
- ^ First rehearsal www.bathmalechoir.com
- ^ Bath Chronicle Man of Bath 2008 http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/topics/company/thebathchronicle
- ^ The Mayor of Bath’s Citizen of The Year http://www.bathmalechoir.org/our-conductor.html
- ^ German tour www.bathmalechoir.com
- ^ Bath and North East Somerset Council civic reception for UK School Games http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/media/news/2008/August/OlympicGoldmedalliststarsatUKSchoolGames.htm
- ^ an advertisement for Cadbury's Wispa chocolate bar http://www.visit4info.com/restricted.cfm?id=67241&Redirect=www.visit4info.com/advert/The-love-of-Wispa-from-Cadburys-Panda-parade-Cadburys-Chocolate-Range/67241/2
- ^ The Mayor of Bath’s Call to Prayer http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/media/news/2008/December/Themayorscalltoprayer.htm http://www.bathtv.tv/?video=mayor-call-to-prayer-2009-mayor
- ^ tour of Cornwall http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/article-1339844-detail/article.html
- ^ Wells Cathedral ttp://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/events/events.php
- ^ Bath Half Marathon http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/11-000-runner-complete-Bath-half-marathon/article-1890643-detail/article.html
- ^ Bath Half Marathon Corporate Entry result http://www.runninghigh.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ne153102
- ^ The Golden-Oldies Charitable Trust http://www.golden-oldies.org.uk/about-us.html
- ^ Bangor International Choral Festival, Northern Ireland http://www.bicf.co.uk/index.php?SPECIAL_COMPETITION_FOR_2011:Results_of_Competitions_2010.html
- ^ Vanity Fare http://www.vanityfare.co.uk/vfstory.htm
External links
Categories:- English choirs
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