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The ancient parish of Audley lies on the Staffordshire/ Cheshire border and is described as "an out of the way, quiet place" by local historians.
Audley Male Voice Choir, which was founded in the 1950's by William Bowers, has strong links with non-conformist and mining traditions of North Staffordshire. Membership has been built up over the years and now ninety or so men from all walks of liife enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie that the choir affords. The present conductor, Philip Broadhurst MBE, took over the baton in 1976 and it is largely due to his commitment and dedication that the choir has reached its present strength and quality. Ian Riddle, a local music teacher, who displays his skill at the organ and piano keyboards with consummate ease is the choir's accompanist, and the choir is most grateful for his contributions to its musical life.
The choir has competed in many musical festivals, with enviable success, winning prizes at Biddulph, Blackpool, Freckleton, Huddersfield, Macclesfield, Morecambe, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and most notably at the International Festival of Malta where it was successful in the Male Voice section in 1990.
Each year sees the choir performing in many local venues and raising money for charity. Our sell out Celebrity Concerts in the Victoria Hall Hanley brings artistes of international calibre to the locality. Such artistes have included Dennis O'Neill, Amanda Roocroft, Guang Yang, Jason Howard, Rebecca Evans, Cara O'Sullivan, Kate McCarney, Bryn Terfel, Donald Maxwell, John Hudson, Jeffrey Lawton, Arthur Davies, Paul Charles Clarke, Rita Cullis, Helen Field, Tim Richards, John Hudson Sir Willard White, Deborah Norman, Christopher Maltman,Sara Fulgoni Julian Gavin Sally Matthews David Kempster Claire Bradshaw, Arwel Hugh Morgan Shan Cothi, Gwyn Hughes Jones'Susannah Glanville , Seung Wook Seong,Yvonne Howard and Bonaventura Bottone
The celebrated accompanist Ingrid Surgenor MBE is the choir's patron and her appearance at the annual celebrity concerts is eagerly anticipated.
Gala Concerts held in the Autumn sees the choir performing with brass ensembles of high quality such as the Grimethorpe, Brighouse and Rastrick ,Foden Richardson, Black Dyke Mills, YBS, Staffordshire and Leyland Bands.These concerts have raised in excess of £80,000 for charity.Appearances at 1000 voice concerts at the Royal Albert Hall include two with English Voices ,one with Welsh Voices and one 1000 Yorkshire Voices. In addition in November 2000 the choir was invited to take part in a Festival of 2000 Yorkshire Voices in the Sheffield Area to raise funds for Cancer research. In 2004 a concert with Biddulph Male Voice Choir and the Birmingham Salvation Army Band raised in excess of £8000 for a Rotary Centenary Appeal.
The choir has been pleased to give financial help to Audley Theatre and Audley Brass Band to enable them to refurbish the Theatre and Bandroom respectively.
The choir visited Cornwall in 2004 and was hosted by the St Stythians MVC and gave concerts in Newquay and St Stythians as well as a short recital in Exeter Cathedral. In 2006 the choir paid a visit to the West Coast of Scotland where concerts were given in Dunoon and Rothesay.Large audiences were very appreciative of the choir's singing and in excess of £2000 was raised for local charities.On the return journey the choir gave a half hour recital in Glasgow Cathedral.
St Styhians MVC made a visit to AUDLEY in May 2007 and together the choirs enjoyed a weekend of fellowship and singing.
Five recordings of the choir have been made, the most recent being "live" in 2006 at the 20th Celebrity Concert.. Sounds of a Male Voice Choir" joins "In Concert","With a Voice of Singing" and "Musical Treasures" in our discography. The first recording "Audley and District Male Voice Choir" is sold out. Please click on the link to view the contents of all recordings.
Recent commissions have included "SLEEPY HEAD" and "SHORT LEG, LONG LEG AND SILLY MID OFF" by Alan Simmons and PSALM 150 by Alan Bullard. A Goff Richards work with words by David Dearlove entitled CHINA connects the Chinese Dynasties to our local Pottery Industry and in particular to Josiah Wedgwood.The latter was premiered at the Celebrity Concert in 2008. These follow "Let the Peoples Praise Thee" by Antonin Tucapsky which was commissioned for our twenty fifth anniversary-sometime ago.
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The choir provides a bursary for a music student at Keele University and supports Biddulph Musical Festival on an Annual Basis..
The choir was privileged to "christen" the refurbished Victoria Hall (part of the new cultural quarter) in 1998 when the soloist was Denise Leigh who subsequently shot to national fame by becoming a joint winner of Operatunity on Channel 4.
The choir is a registered charity No 514488
The choir is a member of the National Association of Choirs
The choir features First Class Soloists in its local concerts, and include Lynne Bradbury, Pamela Clarke and Denise Leigh as well as our local Audley Brass. A sell out concert in October 2003 at the Victoria Hall with these artistes celebrated our 50th Anniversary
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