Golden concert in store as Mansfield Choral Society celebrates 50th anniversary year

The concert is called Gloria! – A Choral Celebration and is to be held on Saturday, May 4, in the spectacular surroundings of Southwell Minster.

The anniversary concert will feature several choral favourites and also some newer pieces, including the UK premiere of Glorify!, a new work by American composer Roydon Tse.

For this concert Mansfield Choral Society will be joined by Bingham Choral Society, the Nottingham based-brass ensemble Essentially Brass and former society MD Peter Siepmann (organ).

Other pieces to be played in the concert will include John Rutter’s joyous Gloria, for brass, percussion, organ and voices, plus excerpts from Handel’s Messiah and works by the likes of Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen.

The choir owes its conception to two well-known Mansfield music personalities: David Chamberlain, its original musical director, and renowned singer and music teacher Ethel Houseley.

​The Ethel Houseley Choir closed in early 1973 but a new phoenix rose from the ashes in September of that year under the leadership of David Chamberlain, who was head of music at Shirebrook Comprehensive School, a former organist at St Lawrence’s Church, Mansfield, and a music critic for the CHAD.

For the past 50 years, the society has been performing a variety of different styles of music at local venues in Mansfield and further afield, including Southwell Minster and the Albert Hall, Nottingham.

MCS has a culture of inclusivity and invites singers of all ages and abilities to join its ranks. It prides itself on being a friendly and welcoming choir.

Rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings during term time and on some occasions the choir teams up with other choral societies across the area to perform larger-scale works in the repertoire, sometimes with orchestral accompaniment.

Under current musical director, Diane Haslam and pianist Stephen Wall, the choir will be showcasing a variety of wonderful music its anniversary year.

Diane Haslam said: “Gloria! will be an uplifting celebration of the power of music, particularly choral music, and will represent all aspects from the history of Mansfield Choral Society in this their Golden Anniversary year.

"It has something for everyone, choral music old and new, familiar and unfamiliar, exuberant and contemplative, joyful and reflective, with a few moments of audience participation thrown in!

"Joined by Bingham Choral Society and the wonderful ensemble Essentially Brass in the beautiful setting of Southwell Minster, this will be an evening of music to remember."

Tickets for the May 4 concert can be purchased on the Mansfield Choral Society website by going to https://www.mansfieldchoral.org.uk/ where full details of all forthcoming events and information about the choir can be found.

The choir’s second golden anniversary concert will be held later in the year on November 9 and celebrates past performances with a selection of music from MCS concerts over the last 50 years.

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