TOP CHESTER CHOIR APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT AS PART OF 80TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

One of Chester's top Choirs has a new President as it continues to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

Chester Male Voice Choir, founded 80 years ago as The Cestrian Male Voice Choir recently announced that well known Chester based choir leader and musical director Matt Baker BEM has accepted an invitation to be its new President. Matt succeeds Her Grace The Duchess of Westminster in the role. 

Well known for his work with local community groups and choirs in Chester, Matt has composed for many theatre productions around the UK, including several cycles of the Chester Mystery Plays, and Chester City Passion. He is artistic director for Theatre in the Quarter which has created exciting projects with people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, taking place in a range of settings, from palaces to railway stations, regional theatres to village halls.  He is musical director for the women’s choir A Handbag of Harmonies, Chester’s LGBTQ choir Proud Marys and is director of music at the University of Chester.  

Matt’s work as musical director with young people has taken him to all corners of the world including Australia, India, Malaysia and Germany. During the pandemic, his work with the International Schools Theatre Association involved creating film and music with students from all across the globe. Matt and his neighbours created a lockdown ‘musical’ to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of V.E. Day. Entitled We’ll Meet Again, the film was viewed over 400,000 times and was featured on television both nationally and across the world in May 2020. 

For his commitment to the arts in Cheshire over the years, Matt received an honorary Master of Music Degree from the University of Chester as well as the Outstanding Achievement award from the Cheshire Community and Voluntary Arts. Matt's dedication was recognised in The Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2021, with the award of a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his services to music and communities in Chester and beyond. 

Speaking about Matt taking on the role of President, choir Chairman John Walsh said "We are delighted to announce that Matt has accepted our invitation to succeed the Duchess of Westminster as President of the choir. Matt is a great friend of the choir and will be a brilliant ambassador for us. We couldn't be more pleased. The Duchess of Westminster retired as President at the end of 2021 after giving unstinting support over many years and we are immensely proud of her association. We wish her the very best in her retirement and look forward with excitement to a new era with Matt”

Speaking about the Choir's invitation, Matt Said " I am honoured to have been asked to be president of the tour de force that is Chester Male Voice Choir. I recently took a group of teenagers to interview the men for a project. Seeing how blown away the teenagers were at the choir's singing reminded me why they have been so well loved through the years, and assured me that this is a choir which ought to have a bright future. If I can do anything to direct audiences to hear this choir, and encourage new members to join, then I feel I will be playing my role."

Chester Male Voice Choir will be joining forces with one of Matt's choirs, the flamboyant female choir A Handbag of Harmonies for "Bow Ties and Boas", a concert which celebrates both choirs clocking up an impressive 100 years of music making between them. The concert, postponed for two years as a result of the pandemic finally takes place at St Columba's Church in Plas Newton, Chester on Friday 8^th April at 7.30pm. Full details of the concert can be found at:

www.chestermalevoice.com 

...where tickets can be booked online.

Tickets are also available from:

The Visitor Information Centre at the Town Hall in Chester.

Pictured - Chester Male Voice Choir