Mansfield and District Male Voice Choir's Minster concert is a must-see

The concert gets under way at 7.30pm and will feature special guest appearances by a number of music ensembles from across Nottinghamshire: Bestwood Male Voice Choir, Eastwood Collieries’ Male Voice Choir, and Ravenshead Swing Band.

Also appearing in this eagerly-awaited feast of music will be the Suffolk-based St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir.

It was back in 1944 that the amalgamation of Rainworth Male Voice Choir, Stanton Hill MVC and Mansfield Orpheus took place, with musical director Arthur Henshaw at the helm of the new choir.

In the intervening decades, Mansfield and District Male Voice Choir, which holds its rehearsals on Tuesdays at St Augustine’s Church in Mansfield, has performed concerts – winning acclaim and friends – up and down the country, while raising countless thousands of pounds for good causes.

Ian Grice has been the current musical director since 2018, although he has been with the choir in various roles since the mid-80s. The long-serving accompanist is Margaret Ball, who has filled the key role longer than anyone in the choir’s history.

The Reverend Frances Finn will be compere for the concert at Southwell Minster, having a wide experience as an award-winning radio and TV presenter, which has including broadcasting in Nottingham for 20 years.

The Southwell concert offers a wide range of music in a variety of styles and will feature seven new choristers appearing with the choir in concert for the first time. They are bass singers Philip Millns and Philip Hurt; baritones Steve Cree, Terry Northern and Barry Robinson; second tenor Paul Bennett and firs tenor Dave Evans.

Choir publicity officer Geoff Mansfield said: “They have been training with the choir for some months and are excited and somewhat anxious to be appearing at such a prestigious concert as a debut.

"We are confident in their abilities and welcome them wholeheartedly into our choir family."

Other highlights so far from this 80th anniversary year have included a performance at The Royal Albert Hall in April as one of only two English choirs invited to join the Festival of Male Voice staged by the Welsh Association of Male Choirs.

Then the choir performed on July 25 in a service to support the fourth International Bomber Command Day, which pays a fitting tribute to the extraordinary achievements of so many young men and women over the 32 years it was in operation around the world.

Chosen charities for the Southwell concert are Mansfield-based Hetty's and the Nottinghamshire Blood Bikes, with both set to receive a donation.

Tickets to attend this 80th anniversary celebratory concert are £20, available from www.mansfieldmvc.co.uk or by calling choir secretary Eileen Lawrence on 01623 455373.

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