Stithians St. Stythians Male Voice Choir Cornwall, UK

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Review of 2005 ......................BACK TO PRESENT
The season started not with a concert but with an Open Practice on 1st February. We took this opportunity to present a cheque for £500 to Mr. Rex Trethewey of the Merlin Project. This project supports sufferers of MS in Cornwall and was the Choir's 'nominated charity' for 2004. Our nominated charity collection for 2005 has been split two ways - between Friends of Treliske and the on-going 3R Appeal for upkeep of Stithians Methodist Church. Our first concert of the year was at Truro Methodist Church with Nankersey and Treverva MVCs and The Goonvrea Singers. This event was organised by Dr. Roy Wales to support the Second Cornwall International Male Choral Festival held in April/May. Some 150 singers performed both as separate and combined choirs to a large audience.
Things then settled back to the more usual with concerts at St. Elwyn's Church (Hayle), Launceston Central Methodist Church (with the Launceston Town Band) and at Threemilestone Methodist Church. During this period we were also practising hard for the International Festival. The Festival was held between 28 April and 2 May. The Choir participated in two events in the Hall for Cornwall. The first was the competition for choirs of 40 and fewer singers. We were delighted to gain overall fifth place of thirteen choirs and to be the leading Cornish choir in this group. We were beaten by superb German and Swiss choirs, another excellent German choir and the choir of Imperial College, London. We came ahead of choirs from Jersey, Slovenia, Italy, England and Wales. The hard work was worthwhile, including learning Mozart's The Priests Chorus in German. Our second major event of the Festival was the final Gala Concert on 2 May. It was wonderful to be singing to a capacity crowd in the Hall for Cornwall.
So ~ back to the real world with concerts at Carbis Bay Methodist Church and St. Mary's R.C. Church in Falmouth (for Westover Surgery). There followed three appearances on the patio at the Princess Pavilion in Falmouth. These concerts tend to be a bit informal but they are very popular with the locals and with visitors to the town. Some of these visitors, of course, live 'in exile' and love to hear a male voice choir when they 'come home'. We performed at Ruan Minor in late August. This is always a pleasant trip because we seem to be appreciated down in Lizard outback country. In September we hosted the Rame Peninsula MVC at Stithians and were hosted by the Torpoint Ladies Choir up-county. One was a return visit and we hope to have a return visit from the Torpoint Ladies in 2006. An afternoon concert at The Flambards Experience was interesting. October found the Choir at Redruth (Choir Sunday), Richmond Methodist Church, Penzance (our 2005 charity concert for SCOPE West Cornwall) and hosting the Cavender Singers from Essex at St. Agnes. Guests at our Gala Concert at All Saints Church, Falmouth were the ever-popular Champagne Cornwall. We were also pleased to welcome back Claire Churcher (tenor horn soloist) from the St. Keverne Band. She had been our soloist, at short notice, at Flambards - it was good to have her perform to a larger, appreciative audience at the Gala Concert. The Sunday Carol service at Stithians Methodist Church with Stithians Ladies Choir on 4 December kicked off our Christmas season. Three choir/band carol concerts completed the year: Perranarworthal Village Hall (Stithians Band), Falmouth Methodist Church (Pendennis Brass) and Stithians Village Hall (Stithians Band). The Falmouth Carolare is one of Falmouth's main carol concerts. We were joined by the Church Choir augmented with a generous number of Mabe Ladies.
The joint Male Voice and Ladies Choirs were nominated for a Gospel Entertainment Music (GEM) Award in 2005 for our recording, Sankey the Fifth Album. Our music teams attended the awards ceremony in Birmingham. Though we did not win it was good to be acknowledged in this way.

It is again a pleasure to thank our visiting soloists: Karen Hurn, John Hitchens, Angela Thomas, Alison Harvey, Claire Churcher, Andy Christophers, Laura Nicholas, Lizzie Hughes and Hannah Robinson and John and Rosemary Heard. We also thank our loyal supporters and our Ladies Committee for their constant support.

Summary of 2005 Concert Programme
Pre-Festival Concert, Truro
St. Elwyn's Church, Hayle
Launceston Methodist Church
Threemilestone Methodist Church
International Festival, Truro (2)
Carbis Bay Methodist Church
St. Mary's RC Church, Falmouth
Princess Pavilion, Falmouth (3)
Ruan Minor Methodist Church
Stithians Methodist (with Rame)

Flambards
Torpoint St. James' Church (with Torpoint Ladies)
Redruth Methodist Church
Richmond Methodist, Penzance
St. Agnes Methodist (with Cavender)
All Saints', Falmouth (Gala Concert)
Stithians Methodist (carols)
Perranarworthal Village Hall (Carols)
Falmouth Methodist (Carols)
Stithians Village Hall (Carols)

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