music.wikisort.org - Group

The City of Bath Male Choir[1] is a male voice choir from Bath, Somerset. They came to national prominence in the UK when they came 5th in the Last Choir Standing[2] competition run by BBC television, appearing live on BBC TV on three successive Saturday nights on prime-time television during July and August 2008. They have sung with a host of other choirs, bands and well-known stars in UK and overseas and have raised thousands of pounds for charities.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (August 2022) This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (September 2022) This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (September 2022) This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. (September 2022) This article has an unclear citation style. (September 2022)

Overview

This amateur choir was formed in January 2006 by Grenville Jones[3] 15 singers joined in that first rehearsal and its first concert was held in the Guildhall, Bath, in November 2006. The Choir then appeared on stage at the 2007 Bath Showcase charity concert, in front of an audience of 1500 people with guest appearances from jazz singers Clare Teal[4] and Jamie Cullum.[5]

In July 2007 the Choir performed with Aled Jones, who was 'knocked out' by the fresh sound of England's newest Male Choir.[6] A memorable trip to Germany took place in 2007 and the second packed annual concert was held at the Guildhall early in November.2007. Since then, the choir has performed within UK, Europe, North America and Asia to standing ovations from audiences.

Dr. Grenville Jones

For work developing this choir and many others, as well as creating and developing the charity Golden Oldies[7]',[8] Grenville was declared in April 2009 The Mayor of Bath's Citizen of The Year and in 2012 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Bath Spa University.[9]

Patron – The Mayor of Bath

The Patron of Bath Male Choir is The Mayor of Bath. In June 2008, the then Mayor, Councillor Tim Ball, toured with the choir to Bath's Dutch twin city of Alkmaar and in 2009 the choir sang at the Mayor of Bath's Call to Prayer[10] in The Guildhall, Bath. Since then the choir and the Mayor have maintained close links.

BBC – Last Choir Standing

When Grenville Jones entered the choir for a new BBC series called Last Choir Standing,[2] he little knew what was to come. On 14.07.2008, the BBC Press Office stated, "The final 15 choirs in Last Choir Standing, BBC One's new Saturday night search for the nation's favourite choir, have been chosen."[6] [11] It is history now that from the hundreds of Choirs that entered, the 'Boys from Bath' reached the last five in the finals and gained the support of thousands of new fans across the whole of the UK.

Invitations after Last Choir Standing

In August 2008, immediately following Last Choir Standing, the choir sang at a Bath and North East Somerset Council civic reception for The UK School Games[12] and on 8 December 2008, they performed in an TV advertisement for Cadbury's Wispa chocolate bar.[13] Thereafter they performed at the rate of one concert a month throughout South-West England, including a tour of Cornwall in September 2009, where the choir performed at the Stert Theatre, the Eden Project and in Truro Methodist Church.[14] In December 2009 and February 2010 the choir also sang for two national charity events: on 11 December 2010 at a concert for The Prostate Cancer Society in St. John's Church, Smiths' Square, Westminster and 27 February at Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral for the Help for Heroes[15] charity for servicemen.[16] On 7 March 2010, forty members of the choir ran for charity in the Bath Half Marathon[17][18] They were judged to be 2nd out of 31 corporate entries[19] and raised just over £14,000 shared to be shared between the Prostate Cancer Charity[20] and The Golden-Oldies Charitable Trust, a charity created by Grenville Jones, in partnership with local authorities and businesses in the south west of England and beyond. December 2010 saw the Choir sing at Bath Abbey for the National Osteoporosis Society[21] with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.[22]

Shared Stages With

As well as those named above, Bath Male Choir has performed with great male voice choirs, such as The Treorchy Male Voice Choir and The Morriston Orpheus Male Voice Choir and with two choirs from Last Choir Standing – on 11 July 2009 with ACM Gospel Choir at The Forum in Bath and on 24 April 2010 with the Belfast Open Arts Community Choir,[23] at Bangor International Choral Festival,[24] Northern Ireland. They have also performed alongside bands such as the Royal Marines Band and the RAF Central Band and stars including Alfie Boe and Rhiannon Lambert,[25] Aled Jones,[6] Lee Mead,[26] Susan Hampshire[27] and Clive Anderson. Grenville is closely associated with the Welsh male choir guru, Dr. Alwyn Humphries,[6] who is a not only a trustee of the Goldies Cymru Charity[28] but also writes arrangements for Bath Male Choir.

Overseas Tours

Since their first overseas tour, to Germany in 2007, Bath Male Choir have since  toured in The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Canada, USA and Japan. "The Bath Male Choir received a standing ovation when they sang as guests of the 16th Annual Bacchus Choir Festival in Itami City, Japan on Monday 3 November 2014. There were over 50 choirs taking part in the one day festival and Bath Male Choir were the last to appear on stage at 5pm, at which time there were over 1500 people in the packed concert hall."[29] In October 2022 the Choir will be visiting Nashville, Tennessee, USA.[30]

Accompanists and Deputy Conductor

The choir has had two much respected accompanists, Mr. Philip Évry, from the choir's birth in 2006 until 2015 and Mr. Philip Ridgers who took over and accompanied the Choir from 2016 until July 2022. Grenville's son, Mr. Laurie Jones, who sang with the choir from its inception, re-joined as Deputy Conductor in 2020. Laurie runs the Malmesbury Community Choir[31] and is also Assistant Musical Director for the Bath Welcome Chorus Choir,[32] another one of Grenville's choirs.[22]

External links

• Last Choir Standing

---