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Southwark Sept 21 2024 report

Welcome to the website of Croydon Male Voice Choir

Southern England's most exciting male voice choir!

Registered charity number: 1112732

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Stirring Southwark debut for MD Andrew

Dave Bannister writes:  The choir, led by its new music director Andrew Moore, performed a triumphant concert in Southwark Cathedral on Saturday September 21.  A resounding standing ovation from a packed audience brought a fitting climax to Andrew’s CMVC concert debut.

CMVC at Southwark - Andrew Moore in dark jacket  (photo JWT)

CMVC has entertained Saturday lunchtime visitors in its own diocesan cathedral for many years. This time, as is traditional, the choir began with songs in the adjacent Borough Market, followed by a warm-up song in the cathedral courtyard, designed to lure watchers into the performance.  So there was already a crowded audience to greet the choir as Andrew launched into the first song, Anthem from the musical Chess.

The first set continued with Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water and Sibelius’ Finlandia. It concluded with the traditional round Dona Nobis Pacem, for which the choir split into side-aisle groups to thrill the audience with true surround-sound.

Banners leads warm-up for choir and audience in Borough Market (photo JWT)

While the choir took a break, CMVC accompanist and experienced cathedral organist Sam Prouse delighted everyone with two Elgar classics, including the haunting Nimrod. He stayed at the organ console for the choir’s next set which exercised the stunning Southwark acoustics with traditional male voice hymns and the dramatic Hallelujah Chorus.

The last hymn was Gwahoddiad, which the choir often sings in memory of departed choristers. Andrew poignantly dedicated it to fellow Northern Irishman and Southwark Cathedral Director of Music Ian Keatley, who had suddenly died last month, aged  42.  During the ensuing break Sam Prouse played a further tribute, a piece by celebrated Irish composer Charles Stanford. 

The final set started with the gentle Ashokan Farewell before the choir let rip with Puccini’s Nessun Dorma. Then came the introspective Steal Away, bringing the most moving moments of the day as Andrew led the choir in drawing out the best of the cathedral acoustic with its quiet and sensitive performance. The audience was then treated to the rollicking When the Saints Go Marching In, to which they responded with thundering applause. 

There was more to come, as many choir members retired to the Mudlark pub next door, where lunchtime diners and passing tourists showed their appreciation as they were serenaded into the late afternoon.

 

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