ROYAL SEAL OF APPROVAL FOR CHESTER CHOIR AS BELLS RING OUT AHEAD OF ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

One of Chester’s top Choirs has received the Royal seal of approval as it celebrates its 80th anniversary.

Members of Chester Male Voice who are staging a special celebration concert at Chester Cathedral with special guests the world-renowned Foden's Band on Saturday 16th July at 7.30pm were surprised and delighted to receive a message of good wishes and congratulations from Her Majesty The Queen after they wrote to her to offer their best wishes for her Platinum Jubilee and sent her a special gift - a copy of their CD, appropriately named "Celebration".

In the letter received from Buckingham Palace written on behalf of Her Majesty, The Queen thanked the choir for their best wishes and their kind gift and in return, sent her best wishes to the members of the choir on the occasion of their 80th Anniversary. 

Speaking about receiving the letter from the Palace, Chairman of Chester Male Voice Choir, Blair Wilson said “It was suggested by one of our choir members, Ian Belton that I should write to Her Majesty to offer our congratulations on her Platinum Jubilee and send with our best wishes, our Celebration CD. In my letter I explained to Her Majesty that we are celebrating our 80^thAnniversary with a concert at Chester Cathedral and will be performing with the Foden’s Band. We were absolutely delighted to receive a reply from Buckingham Palace on behalf of The Queen thanking the choir for our good wishes and the CD. In the letter, Her Majesty sent her best wishes to us all in this significant year in the history of the Chester Male Voice Choir. To receive this letter with such kind comments from Her Majesty the Queen is a great Honour for all associated with the Choir.”

In addition to receiving recognition from Her Majesty and ahead of their special concert, the Choir has also received the honour of the bells of Chester Cathedral being rung in celebration of their milestone anniversary. A Cathedral Band of 8 ringers rang a special Quarter Peal, lasting 50 minutes, to recognise the anniversary and to commemorate the many concerts the choir has performed in the Cathedral since its formation as The Cestrian Male Voice Choir in 1941. The special Peal, “Little Bob Major” was conducted by Peter Barker with ringers from the Cathedral and St Mary’s Church, Handbridge

Speaking about the bells being rung to mark the choir’s special anniversary, choir member Martin Hine, whose Wife Lynda was one of the bell ringing team, said "We are grateful to the Cathedral and the enthusiastic Cathedral Band of Ringers for their support in our anniversary year. We have worked successfully with the Cathedral staff several times, to promote charitable events which have raised funds to help local organisations in the Chester area and so were delighted to be honoured in this special way.”

The Cathedral concert, entitled "Male Voices and Brass" will feature a varied selection of popular music from both the choir and the band including "There is Nothing Like A Dame" from South Pacific, "Anthem" from  Chess, the march from "The Pines of Rome", Adele classic "Someone Like You", "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables and the smash hit rock anthem "Bohemian Rhapsody". The choir and band will also be joining forces for some very special performances during the evening which promises to be one of the highlights of the Chester concert season. 

The choir is always looking to welcome new members to swell its ranks and full details of how to get involved can be found at:

www.chestermalevoice.com 

...where tickets for the 80^th Anniversary concert can be booked online.

Tickets can also be booked in person at Chester Cathedral.

Alternatively, contact the Box Office on:

01244 500959

Pictured - Chester Male Voice Choir, who are staging a celebratory 80^th Anniversary concert at Chester Cathedral.