About Stannington Mixed Choir

A Potted History of the Choir

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Stannington Mixed Choir has a long history, dating back nearly 40 years. It began its journey as the Stannington Singers way back in 1987, with 17 women and 3 men, raising funds with craft stalls and a weekly raffle. The first performance was at Lomas Hall, Stannington, on 3rd October, with guest performers, Thurlstone Bell Ringers. Tickets were £1.00.

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The choir, under the direction of Alvin Tipple, moved to Knowle Top Chapel for its practice home, and began performing two public concerts a year, as well as other events, such as weddings and carol concerts, sometimes including guest performers.

 

In October 1991, the highlight for Stannington Singers was a concert at the Crucible with Grimethorpe Colliery Band and compared by the late Bobby Knutt. The title of the concert – Stannington Singers presents An Autumn Serenade – was sponsored by many local businesses and the proceeds from that concert were donated to Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

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In January 1992, the choir was renamed ‘Stannington Mixed Choir’ under a new conductor – Mark Rotchell and a new pianist Sheila Mettham. The choir’s objective was to ‘enjoy singing’ and most of the concert profits were donated to local charities.

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By 2012, one of the choir’s founder members, Hilary Osborn, returned to us as our Musical Director. Under Hilary’s leadership, the choir’s weekly rehearsals have worked towards public concerts on two or more occasions during the year. The choir has also undertaken several major works and performed at the Victoria Hall in Sheffield with other local choirs.

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We have won 3 awards at the Ecclesfield Music Festival, and performed local carols for BBC Look North. We’ve had to overseas tours, one in Tuscany in 2017, and another in Sorento in 2024, where we performed Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D, and we are currently planning another tour to Malta in 2027.

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The choir has come a long way, and in spite of the inevitable rupture during covid, we have come back, stronger than ever, and go from strength to strength with every performance.   We are now approximately 60 members, with two excellent pianists, Martin Thistleton and Claire MacCauley, and under the continued outstanding direction of Hilary Osborn.

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We are very fortunate to have a strong male voice section, as well as our wonderful ladies. Our age range is from talented teens to retired folk, with tons of experience, and Hilary gives individuals the opportunity to perform solos, duets or small ensembles in every concert.

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We are a very friendly, welcoming and fun-loving group of people, who care for each other.  We have an outstanding committee, who are friends as well as colleagues and our joint goal is always what is best for our members and the highest musical standard we can achieve.  Added to which, we support a different local charity every year.

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Our Chairman is David Cartwright, our Treasurer  is Steve Wood, our Secretary is Sue Mason, our Librarians are Wendy and Rebecca Cartwright, and our Social Secretary is Lizzie Summers.  We all work hard to keep everyone happy, and Hilary works tirelessly, teaching, stretching us and giving us the opportunity to perform to the best of our ability. 

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We enjoy social times together, as well as singing, which include quizzes, and karaoke, as well as a refreshing beverage at one of the local taverns after the concerts.

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Our rehearsal space is Underbank Schoolrooms, Stannington, which has the beautiful view you can see in the photo on this page.   We practice every Thursday evening, from 7.30 to 9.30pm.  Anyone is welcome to come and listen to a practice session, meet everyone and see if it is your cup of tea.  We offer newcomers 3 taster sessions free, and if you want to join, the subscription is £15 pcm.  We don't hold auditions and you don't need to be a proficient music reader, although some knowledge is always helpful.

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We always start the evening with a cup of tea and a chat, followed by a warm-up session.   You will be made most welcome, if you just want to pop along and say hello.

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We don't have uniforms, but we usually wear all black for Christmas performances, and we have red scarves for the women and red ties for the gents.  For the summer, performances, we usually wear black bottoms and white tops.  We sometimes add a turquoise scarf for the ladies, if the weather is not too hot.  Rehearsals are very relaxed, as you can see below.

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