Singing promotes mental wellbeing, and is a natural stress or anxiety reliever. Hormones like oxytocin that help increase our feeling of bonding and reduce loneliness and depression. Overall, singing can help significantly with our quality of life too. Cheadle & District Coral Society have been practising this strategy and much more for many years, we spoke with President Roy Hedges to find out more.
"Cheadle and District Choral Society is a well-known musical organisation in North Staffordshire with roots going back almost 120 years. The society has a proud history of making music in the Moorlands, whilst making money for local charities." Roy told COGNEWS.
Now they need your help to enable them to continue for another 120 years.
Cheadle Choral Society - From 1905 until the Second World War
On the 11th of January 1905 the Cheadle & District Choral Society was formed. Local preacher, Mr Elijah Hurst, wanted to “Improve the singing in various non-conformist places of worship in Cheadle". The first performance included excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, and the society began performing concerts and operettas nearly every year since this time. Going from strength to strength, they gave various charity concerts. One such concert was in aid of Titanic Disaster Fund in 1912, and another during the First World War, for the benefit of Belgian refugees who were housed in Cheadle. There was Military Hospital at Sandon, and funds were raised for that too. After fading away in the 1930’s, Cheadle Choral society was reformed in 1940 by John Fenna and Lucy Shenton, performing Handel’s Messiah at the Parish Church. Church and Chapel concerts have continued to be performed at intervals ever since.
Gilbert & Sullivan Heritage
In 1948, as part of one concert, the Society performed the short Gilbert & Sullivan operetta – Trial By Jury, and in 1949 their first full blown Gilbert & Sullivan show – H.M.S. Pinafore at the Carlos Institute. Stage shows, mostly Gilbert & Sullivan, continued to be performed until 1991. Many local people will remember Arthur Gilbert as the producer during that time.
Recent History
In 1990 John Fenna retired and Ken Lovatt took over as Musical Director. Ken is well remembered for bringing together the choral society, and his concert orchestra, for the memorable “Glamorous Nights” concerts from 1992 to 2009, raising money for local charities, including Home Link, First Responders, and Douglas Macmillan Nurses at Home. The society continues to give an Easter concert and a Christmas concert each year from 2010 under the musical direction of Barry Berks (2010-2017) and David Windsor (2018-2023)
A granddaughter of the founder, Elijah Hurst, sings with the society to this day. The society currently has about 20 members and meets on Wednesday evenings for 10 weeks in Autumn and 10 weeks in Winter. Music is generally chosen by the musical director and the committee, for the Christmas & Easter concerts.
In the last few years, the society has lost several male members of the choir, and also the musical Musical Director. The society desperately wants the show to go on and is appealing for male singers in particular, and a musical director to continue the tradition and bring their own personality to the society. Without a director, this historical Cheadle organisation may well cease to exist, which would be a great loss to Cheadle, the Choral Society Members, and the local Charities who have benefited from their activities for over a century. They are now making an appeal to the people Staffordshire to help us find a new director so that we can continue bringing music to the Moorlands.
If you can help, or think you might know someone, please contact Roy Hedges on e-mail at roythedges@hotmail.com.
Roy Hedges
President
Cheadle Choral Society
Cheadle Choral Society - The Show Must Go On! last updated 22.11.24
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