Description
On an Autumn evening in the year 1919, a group of colliery officials sat around a fireside in the bar of the newly opened Officials Institute at Eastwood and hatched the idea of forming a male voice choir for employees of local colliery owners Barber, Walker & Co Ltd. This album commemorates the centenary of the Eastwood Collieries’ Male Voice Choir but, far from being an album which takes a retrospective look through the history books, these 15 tracks celebrate the choir’s achievements by showcasing items from its most recent repertoire.
Musical Director, Liz Moulder, set out to achieve in this CD a cross section of pieces from the latter part of the 20th and early 21st century which highlight the new music that the choir is now performing. Liz says, “Being an MD of any music group is a privilege, but being in charge of a male voice choir with an incredible pedigree, which is celebrating a hundred years of singing, is extra special. ECMVC are an amazing group of men who love singing, enjoy a challenge and want to move the choir forward.”
Much has changed since ECMVC started singing in 1919. What has not changed, however, is the fundamental joy members feel when performing to an audience, or their commitment to the choir, or the cameraderie they demonstrate at practice nights, or the undeniable fun and great satisfaction they get from keeping ECMVC such a vibrant group of music-makers.
