THE GENTLEMEN SONGSTERS MALE VOICE CHOIR
"Singing from the heart of the Black Country"
HOT OFF THE PRESS
To those of who watch "Songs of Praise" on BBC1, or listen to "Good Morning Sunday" on Radio2, Aled Jones will be a familiar face and voice.
We are able to offer our supporters an opportunity to see the face and hear the voice in "close quarters" when Aled will be our Special Guest at our Autumn Concert on September 25th in Dudley Concert Hall.
We understand that Aled was so impressed by our reputation that he just had to cross the border from the Principality to witness for himself how good English Male Voice Singing really is!
ALED JONES - Singer, actor, radio and TV presenter - loved by the nation originally for his pure treble voice has just celebrated his 25th year/silver jubilee as a household name and his career is going from strength to strength.
Aled has been a regular on Songs of Praise for circa 7
years and is also the youngest presenter to appear on the show.
After studying at the Royal Academy of Music and Bristol's Old Vic Theatre
School, Aled has played Joseph in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Joseph and the
Technicolour Dreamcoat' and last year performed as Caractacus Potts in
'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' at the Welsh Millenium Centre.
Aled has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 every Sunday morning from 7-9am called 'Good Morning Sunday with Aled Jones'. He is a firm favourite on Radio 2's 'Friday Night is Music Night' as well as a regular stand-in for Sarah Kennedy, Ken Bruce and Steve Wright as well as standing in for Sir Terry Wogan when needed.
He also appears on BBC Radio 3's 'The Choir' as well as
having his own chat show on BBC Radio Wales.
Aled currently has 27 albums to his name - selling over 6 million to date
and in 2008 completed a hugely successful tour of Australia. He will be
recording a carols album in 2010 with a view to touring Australia/New
Zealand in September and the UK next Christmas. He will also be releasing a
book on carols to accompany it. He has recently released a book called 'Aled's
Favourite 40 Hymns'.
He has been busy filming 'Escape to the Country' and 'Cash in the Attic'
which are due to air soon as well performing and presenting at one off shows
around the country.
He has also recently played the lead role in Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas' - to sell-out audiences in Plymouth and Manchester.
2010 will be another very busy year for Aled and he is forever grateful for all those who have made it possible for him.
A CONCERT IN THE MAKING
We are currently in discussion with the organisers of Musica11 to hopefully participate in the event, which is a "proms in the park" style of concert. The concert is scheduled to take place on Saturday July 30th 2011 in Belbroughton near Stourbridge and is, by popular request, a follow-on to the successful Musica09 which took place last year.
Further information regarding our association with this concert will be published in the near future, but current details of the event may be found on the Musica11 website:- www.musica11.com
DONATIONS TO CHARITY IN 2009
Despite the near-collapse of the banking system, the credit crunch and the high unemployment figures, 2009 has proved to be a record year for the amount of money we have donated to charity.
In total we have given in excess of £9,800 directly from our own fund raising efforts during the year (which includes the concert we organised on behalf of the English Association of Male Voice Choirs at Lichfield Cathedral in June) but in addition, more than £1700 was raised in conjunction with other artists and donated to the Kemp Hospice, Kidderminster, and an anticipated sum of substantially more than £100,000 will be donated to Cancer Research UK as a result of the Festival of Brass and Voices concert in which we participated at the Royal Albert Hall in October.
In summary, we are "over the moon" at being instrumental in this mammoth fund raising effort - but it has to be said that we enjoyed the singing during the process!!
CHARITIES WE ARE SUPPORTING DURING 2010
The main three charities selected to receive support from the Gentlemen Songsters during 2010 are as follows
LEUKAEMIA UNIT APPEAL FUND WEST MIDLANDS
THE RAINBOW BREAST RECONSTRUCTION GROUP
ST THOMAS COMMUNITY NETWORK - DUDLEY
In addition to the above, other charities, both local and national, will no doubt see some benefit from our efforts throughout the year
2009 EVENTS
Details of all of the events held in 2009 have been moved to the appropriate section of our History Page,
OUR MOST RECENT CONCERTS - Click here to review the concerts which have so far taken place in 2010
Our next major concert takes place on Saturday September 25th in Dudley Concert Hall when Aled Jones will be our special guest (for details see above)
FUTURE CONCERTS
Following our appearance at Wordsley on 10th July, we will be singing at a wedding in Kinver at the start of August, and at Dixon's Green Methodist Church at their Young Mens' Bible Class Anniversary in mid September.
OTHER FUTURE CONCERTS - Click Here
We appeared in concert at one of our regular venues - Holy Trinity Church in Wordsley on Saturday 10th July. This concert gave us the opportunity to launch some new repertoire items, and to give some of our choristers a chance to act as soloists - either in song or in the spoken word. An appreciative audience enjoyed the concert in a very warm church - basking in the evening sunlight!
We are pleased to report that the church benefited to the tune of more than £500 profit for the event
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In June we participated in another "on the road" event when we joined the other member choirs of the English Association of Male Voice Choirs in a massed choir event in Cheltenham Town Hall on Saturday 19th June. Last year it was our turn to organise this annual event, and on this occasion it fell upon the Forest of Dean Male Voice Choir to act as hosts
- click here to see the poster for this event
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We appeared with Maggie O'Hara and Annie Hodkinson when we added our support to the Mayor Of Dudley's Charity Fund in a concert at Holy Trinity Church Amblecote on Wednesday 12th May.
The Mayor, Pat Martin chose to support the following three charities during her year of office, and we were delighted to be able to help her in her charitable efforts
Dudley Stroke Association - Dudley Stroke Association was established in 1987 and provides advice, support and information to people who have suffered a stroke and their families and friends. It includes free information packs, a 24-hour helpline and support groups. The charity is based in Pensnett House, Kingswinford and can be contacted on 01384 271982 or email mail@dudleystrokeassociation.org.uk
Dudley Mind - Dudley Mind is a mental health charity that provides emotional, social and therapeutic support to individuals experiencing ill mental health. It offers services ranging from help paying bills and running the home to a drop in centre and trips out. They are based in Hagley Road, Stourbridge and can be contacted on 01384 442 938 or email enquiries@dudley-mind.org.uk
The Open Stage Learning Group – A charity helping people with learning disabilities perform on stage and was established in 1995. The group meets weekly and has around 20 members and volunteers. It is open to anyone over the age of 16, and meets at The Source, Barnett Lane, Wordsley, for rehearsals. For more information call 07913 483476.
- click here to see the poster for this event
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A Welcome In The Hillsides - or, at least by the seaside!
We organised a weekend tour to Wales at the beginning of May, staying at a couple of hotels on the seafront at Tenby. Unfortunately, the weather was not too kind to us, but none the less, we enjoyed our time in the Principality. The highlight of the weekend was our participation in a joint concert with the Tenby Male Voice Choir at St Mary's Church in the centre of the town, which was followed by an "afterglow" hosted by the Tenby choir, who provided us with an excellent buffet. Our sincere thanks go to the choir and their wives for their generous hospitality - and we look forward to an early "return visit" to the Black Country.
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Cry "God for Harry, England and Saint George!"
Once again we participated in Dudley Council's celebrations of St George's Day on Saturday 24th April when we appeared on stage at Dudley Concert Hall with the Band of the Parachute Regiment. We had a fantastic evening celebrating our Patron Saint - with much waving of national flags, and singing of patriotic music. Both the band and the choir were on top form, and were much appreciated by our audience - which included a couple of Parachute Regiment Veterans who had served in "Operation Market Garden" at Arnhem.
Click here to see the poster for this event
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THE "UKES"
Following their recent success when they appeared at the 2009 Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, once again we were pleased to be able to welcome The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain who appeared with us in our Spring Concert in Dudley Concert Hall on Saturday 20th March 2010. Our compère for the evening was Mel Thomas.
The orchestra entertained the audience with a wide selection of their musical talents and dry wit - showcasing their strumming talents, and they demonstrated their versatility by accompanying the choir in two of the items - "Alexander's Rag Time Band" and "Rhythm of Life".
After the concert, we were delighted that they were able to share some "quality time" (and some beer) with us in the bar.
Click here to view their website
Click here to see the poster for this concert
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VISITING MALE VOICE CHOIR
We appeared in a joint concert at the Dormston Theatre in Sedgley with the St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir.The concert took place on Saturday 27th February, and funds raised were in aid of The Beacon Centre for the Blind. Both choirs performed a wide selection of individual items, and blended very well together in five jointly presented songs. Also appearing with us were sisters, Laura and Julia, two very talented musicians from Lower Gornal, who entertained with the aid of voice, flute, guitar and piano.
Needless to say, the choirs congregated in the bar for lubrication after the concert, and true to expectations, the "Tractor Boys" gave us a fine rendition of To Be A Farmer's Boy -- "Oo Arrgh".
Plans are afoot for us to make a return visit to Suffolk in the not too distant future
Click here to see a copy of the poster for this concert
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SALLY ANN's WAR CRY
We were thrilled to have been invited by the Cradley Heath Salvation Army Corps to participate in "An Evening At The Proms" held in Dudley Concert Hall on Saturday 20th February 2010. The entertainment was lead by The Household Troops Band Of The Salvation Army. Also appearing with us were the Canoldier Male Choir and local soloist Hilary Crowhurst.
The evening was a tremendous success - with each of the participants performing at their best, and an enthusiastic audience who contributed with their singing of the popular "Proms" favourites - complete with St George's and Union flags
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Our first concert of the new decade was at St Bernadette's Church in Rennison Drive, Wombourne on Friday 5th February. The concert featured not only a wide selection of items from the Choir's repertoire, but also some varied solo items from individual choristers. Almost £1000 was raised to contribute to the church hall restoration fund.
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Details of our other future concerts will soon be announced on this page (but they are already in summary form on our Future Concerts Page)
CHOIR PUBLICITY PHOTOGRAPHS
The following picture gallery contains recent publicity photographs, which are published with the kind permission of the Express & Star, Wolverhampton and Newsquest (The Stourbridge News and the Dudley News)
Click on the thumbnail image to view in detail
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We're Blowin Our Own Trumpets
(Stourbridge News)
OUR LATEST CD
PRICE £8.00
See below for details
BOOK LAUNCHED
A book titled "With A Song In Their Hearts" was launched at the same time as the choir's third CD.
The book written by Chris Smith delves into the fifty years of the choir's history - as seen through the eyes of an outsider.
Sale proceeds from the book will go towards choir funds, and it can be obtained through any of the choir members, or your usual choir contacts - it is priced at £6.50.
It is also available through all good
booksellers under ISBN reference 978-0-9555484-0-6
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CHOIR CD's
Our most recent CD - "From Puccini To Queen!"
Here are some of photos taken during one of the recording sessions:-
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CLICK ON THIS LINK TO DOWNLOAD OUR CD ADVERT
Below are the track lists from our three CD's
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Do You Hear The Songsters Sing? Track List |
The 60’s & More From The Songsters Track List |
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My Fair Lady Medley |
Sailing |
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The Rose |
Unchained Melody |
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Bring Him Home |
When I Fall In Love |
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Stout-Hearted Men |
She |
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Speed Your Journey |
Bridge Over Troubled Water |
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Some Enchanted Evening |
Do You Hear The People Sing? |
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Younger Than Springtime |
Bring Him Home |
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Pirates Of Penzance Medley |
An American Trilogy |
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Gwahoddiad |
Softly As I Leave You |
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My Lord What A Mornin’ |
I Will |
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Morte Criste |
Yesterday |
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Rhythm Of Life |
You’ll Never Walk Alone |
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Thank You For The Music |
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From Puccini To Queen Track List |
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Comrades in Arms |
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| An Eriskay Love Lilt | ||
| Nessun Dorma | ||
| Tydi A Roddaist | ||
| The Song Of The Jolly Roger | ||
| We Are The Champions | ||
| If Ever I Would Leave You | ||
| Anthem (from Chess) | ||
| Moon River | ||
| You Raise Me Up | ||
| Bohemian Rhapsody | ||
To hear and see " THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC", one of the tracks on "The 60's & More From The Songsters", select one of the two links below
For a low resolution short extract select::-
For a higher resolution, complete version of the
track select:-
To hear "
GWAHODDIAD", one of the tracks on
"Do You Hear The Songsters Sing?" select
the link below
To hear "
AN ERISKAY LOVE LILT", one of the tracks on
"From Puccini To Queen" select
the link below
We have been delighted to work with Reelsound in the production of the above CD's - for further information on Reelsound - visit their website by clicking the link below
Our CD's are available for sale from choir members or from the address below.
We decided to help some of our local charitable organisations with a proportion of the CD's proceeds, so £1.00 is being donated to Mary Stevens Hospice, Stourbridge, for every copy of our first CD sold, and Action Heart will benefit with £1.00 for every copy of our second CD sold
CD's Nos 1 and 2 are priced at £5.00 per copy from choristers (this includes the £1.00 charity donation), or are also available by post at £6.00, including p&p from GSMVC, c/o 55 Orton Lane, Wombourne, South Staffs, WV5 9AP {please make cheques payable to GSMVC}
CD No 3 is available at £8.00 per copy plus £1.00 for p & p
- for further information please email gsmvchoir@googlemail.com
Gentlemen Songsters concerts are arranged in various locations - for full details of all of these events, see our FUTURE CONCERTS page.
Tickets for all of our events are available through Derek Siviter, our Ticket Secretary. For details how to contact Derek see our TICKET SALES page
BERT BISSELL M.B.E. The Bert Bissell Memorial, Coronation Gardens
1902 - 1998 Dudley
"The best is yet to be"