Warrington Male Voice Choir
Encyclopedia
Warrington Male Voice Choir is one of Great Britain’s oldest choirs, tracing its formation to 1898. During its long history the choir has travelled widely and has performed in many famous concert halls and cathedrals throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe and Canada. A century of musical excellence has brought numerous festival honours including, most recently, National Champions of Great Britain, several times prize winners at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, and premier male choir at both the Sligo
and Bangor International Choral Festivals.
The choir has a full strength of ninety voices and an age range of seventy years. The choir enjoys an international reputation as one of England’s foremost choirs - and as a ‘Choir for Peace’.
Following the IRA
bomb attacks
on Warrington
town centre in 1993, the choir became involved in promoting peace and an end to violence in Northern Ireland. Links were forged with Irish peace groups and, for more than a decade, cross-community concerts for Peace and Reconciliation were performed throughout the island of Ireland, to help break down sectarian divisions. The fostering and financing of ‘grass roots’ reconciliation activities with young people in the interface area
s of West Belfast contributed to the choir’s initiatives being acknowledged at the highest level by the Irish, British and United States governments. In 1996 Terry Waite
CBE became Patron in tribute to the choir’s humanitarian role, and now frequently supports the choir’s performances in British and Irish prisons, assisting rehabilitation programmes.
Harmony in Blue is the young men’s section of the Warrington Male Voice Choir. The four-part vocal group was formed in January 2008 to give greater prominence to the Male Voice Choir’s younger members and to encourage the recruitment of others. The ensemble currently comprises fourteen voices and several of the singers were former members of the Warrington Boys’ Choir during the 1990s. The group is building a diverse repertoire representing the broad range of male choral music and complimenting the rich repertoire of the full choir.
The choir and Harmony in Blue are currently directed by Russell Paterson and accompanied by Anthony Whittaker
.
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
and Bangor International Choral Festivals.
The choir has a full strength of ninety voices and an age range of seventy years. The choir enjoys an international reputation as one of England’s foremost choirs - and as a ‘Choir for Peace’.
Following the IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
bomb attacks
Warrington bomb attacks
The Warrington bombings were two separate bombing attacks that happened during early 1993 in Warrington, England. The first attack happened in February when a bomb exploded at a district pressure gas storage facility. It caused extensive damage but no injuries; however, a police officer was shot...
on Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
town centre in 1993, the choir became involved in promoting peace and an end to violence in Northern Ireland. Links were forged with Irish peace groups and, for more than a decade, cross-community concerts for Peace and Reconciliation were performed throughout the island of Ireland, to help break down sectarian divisions. The fostering and financing of ‘grass roots’ reconciliation activities with young people in the interface area
Interface area
Interface area is the name given to areas where segregated nationalist and unionist residential areas meet in Northern Ireland. They have been defined as "the intersection of segregated and polarised working class residential zones, in areas with a strong link betweenterritory and ethno-political...
s of West Belfast contributed to the choir’s initiatives being acknowledged at the highest level by the Irish, British and United States governments. In 1996 Terry Waite
Terry Waite
Terry Waite CBE is an English humanitarian and author.Waite was Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie's Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he travelled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages including journalist John...
CBE became Patron in tribute to the choir’s humanitarian role, and now frequently supports the choir’s performances in British and Irish prisons, assisting rehabilitation programmes.
Harmony in Blue is the young men’s section of the Warrington Male Voice Choir. The four-part vocal group was formed in January 2008 to give greater prominence to the Male Voice Choir’s younger members and to encourage the recruitment of others. The ensemble currently comprises fourteen voices and several of the singers were former members of the Warrington Boys’ Choir during the 1990s. The group is building a diverse repertoire representing the broad range of male choral music and complimenting the rich repertoire of the full choir.
The choir and Harmony in Blue are currently directed by Russell Paterson and accompanied by Anthony Whittaker
Anthony Whittaker
Anthony John Whittaker is an English composer. His first musical experiences were in the local church choir age 7 and as a tenor recorder player; he did not begin formal study of the piano until 1982 with Peter Wild. Lessons with Ann Bond on the organ followed in 1986...
.