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hiteshill
Male Voice Choir
Whiteshill Male Voice Choir 2002 (Missing: Rex
Hollister, Brian Lloyd)
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There has been a male voice
singing group at Whiteshill for many years, although for a time it was of an informal
nature with the men only getting together for special church events. There were also
several male voice quartets during these earlier times who would, for example, be the
special guests of the mixed voice Church Choir when they went out on a special occasion.
These were the days of the fifties and sixties when harmony singing was popular and most
churches of all the mainstream denominations boasted a good quality choir.
On 19th January 1972
the minister, Rev Alec Hutchings, invited 22 men from the church to form an official male
voice choir under the leadership of Douglas Fitz. From that day and for several years
Whiteshill had two quality choirs.
On 8th March 1972 the
choir was invited to become affiliated with the Bristol and West of England Area of the
Festivals of Male Voice Praise (FMVP) by the Area Organiser Mr John Willis. This
invitation was accepted. We have since regularly supported the Bristol area of FMVP,
especially at the annual Festival in the Colston Hall, Bristol, on the last Saturday of
September each year when we help to form a united choir of some 130 men. We are, however,
proud of the fact that we are primarily a church choir – something which is unique
within the Festivals of Male Voice Praise. Time has taken its toll and we now have only a
small group of 10 men who remain as faithful as ever to the choir, which attempts to take
part in church services as far as is practically possible. It is a pity that we cannot
encourage more men from the church to join us but, regretfully, harmony singing is no
longer as popular as it was when we were first formed.
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On Sunday 27th January 2002 we hosted a
Male Voice Praise evening to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. We were pleased to
welcome local FMVP men and other friends from various parts of the UK who came and
augmented our choir to temporarily increase it to around 35 voices for the evening –
plenty enough for our small building. We had a splendid evening of praise to the Lord to
thank Him for making all this possible and who has been so good to us over the years. The
epilogue was provided by our minister, Martin Moore, who is just about beginning to get
used to male voice singing although, so far in his short ministry, he has declined to
assist! It was pleasing to welcome back as our special guests two of our former young
people, Rebecca Berrow (trumpet/fugal horn) and her brother Peter Lloyd who is an
accomplished pianist and actively involved in the musical life of the Bristol Easton Corps
of the Salvation Army. Rebecca's and Peter’s father, Brian is our choir pianist.
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More Pictures in 'Past Events'
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As we enter 30 years of male voice singing at
Whiteshill a special note of thanks should made to Douglas Fitz our founder conductor who,
along with Pastor Hutchings, had the vision to form the choir. Doug has been heavily
involved in all the musical aspects of Whiteshill down through the years. He relinquished
his leadership in 1994 although remaining as a singing member of the choir despite having
entered his 80s not too long ago. Our current leader is Paul Davies who in 1998, following
the sudden death of John Willis, also took over the position of Musical Director of the
Bristol Area of the Festivals of Male Voice Praise. Cyril Lowe, who has been the
choir’s Secretary since its inception, and also Win Watkins, Treasurer, ably supports
him. None of us know how long this little choir will be able to keep going but while we
can, it is our aim to support the Lord’s work here in Whiteshill to the best of our
limited ability.
Link to
The Festivals of Male Voice Praise
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