CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH LADIES CHOIR
It is now just short of thirty years since Chapel-en-le-Frith Ladies Choir made its debut on the local musical scene. Its early steps were somewhat shaky, but eventually the choir became more stable and it has now reached a stage where it is probably one of the most widely travelled and experienced ladies choirs in the North West of England.
The choir began in 1974 with a meeting called by a local shopkeeper, Eva Salt, and a local bandsman/publican, Ray Holden, who in fact became the first Musical Director of the group. Sadly, when Ray died suddenly the following July, the choir's future looked bleak, but they struggled on, the baton being taken over by Victor Handforth, conductor of the local Male Voice Choir at that time and Roy Orritt of the Town Band. Eventually George Jacobs, another brass band conductor took over for a period, but as ill-health took its toll, the choir pianist, Kath Naden, approached Norma Clough, a soprano form Buxton with a lot of amateur stage, choral and solo experience and set up a trial period for a month!
Almost twenty-six years later, Norma Clough was still the choir's M.D. and during this time the choir has expanded from a group of twenty plus, to one of forty plus. Its musical expertise has also developed and the choir maintains a constantly high standard of changing programme, which attempts to cater for all tastes. The choir are also fortunate to have as their accompanist Alison Wheeldon who began to play for them when still a teenager, when she was discovered playing in a school concert by Norma Clough. Alison has been with the choir now for more than twenty years and has helped, in some major part, to give the choir its stability.
The choir has a fairly short, but nonetheless illustrious, past. They have been twinned for over 20 years with the Gesangverein Schwalheim, a German mixed choir from the Bad Nauheim area of the Wetteraukreis and have made several visits to sing in the region. They have visited Southern Holland at Valkenburg and have sung in Spa, Belgium, and Bad Neuenahr, Germany as well as in Valkenburg itself. While on this trip they sang with Holland's famous Paluda mixed voice choir.
Closer to home concerts have taken place in such auspicious venues as Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral; the Firth Hall, Sheffield; the Painted Hall, Chatsworth and the choir has sung at Corby Festival Hall as guests of Rutland Sinfonia. Visits have been made to the Lake District to sing at Windermere; to North Yorkshire to sing in Scarborough, and to Llandudno in North Wales when the choir struck up friendships with two local Welsh choirs, one a Male Voice and the other a Ladies Choir, with whom regular return visits are made.
In September 2004 the baton was taken up by Lucy Crew, B.Mus.(Hon.), a young woman from Bridgend, South Wales, who is steeped in choral work as well as being a fine soloist, and who trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and currently teaches locally.
Eunice Stark
eunicestark1@yahoo.co.uk
01298-23768
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The National Federation of Music Societies
