WANTED: MEN! To be more specific, it’s your voice that Skelmanthorpe Male Voice Choir is after.
The choir has been singing in the Huddersfield area for the last 75 years and has also spread its singing talents to venues nationally and internationally.
Their vocal talents have been rewarded with many prizes and awards. But the singers like to use their skills not just to compete but to entertain and to raise money for charity. And on that score, they’ve raised thousands of pounds.
These days, the choir draws its singers from way beyond its Skelmanthorpe base but is keen to expand its home grown appeal.
And that is why they are having an open day to give local people a chance to see if singing with a male voice choir is for them.
The choir says that anyone wanting to join doesn’t have to be an experienced singer. All you need is a desire to sing with a group of like-minded enthusiastic men.
You might have sung at school or in a church choir, or simply like to warble while in the bath. And don’t worry if you don’t read music as not all singers do.
The choir is looking for singers aged between 18 and 80. And virtually every profession you could think of is represented in its ranks, that’s former miners, accountants, firemen, policemen, prison officers, teachers, railway workers, electricians, carpenters or builders. As Gareth Malone (of BBC Choir fame) says singing is ‘cool’.
This year has been one for the singers to celebrate.
They’ve notched up the group’s 75th anniversary, taken on a new director, singer Jane Hobson, who has brought a new energy and vigour to the choir.
Now they want another 10-15 singers to help. If this sounds like something that you’d like to try, then go along to Pilling Lane Methodist Church schoolroom in Skelmanthorpe next Saturday between 10am and 2pm to meet and have a cup of tea or coffee. A real Yorkshire welcome awaits you.
