Steeton members on Songs of Praise
Palm Sunday 2014
When BBC’s Songs Of Praise came to Bradford Cathedral recently, they asked, in the normal way, for local church choirs to come and swell the congregation. The BBC also asked if Steeton MVC could also provide some of our singers to come along and swell the singing (church choirs are nearly always short of men!).
The service from Bradford was spread over two separate programmes; the second of which was shown on Palm Sunday.
The choir has also been asked to come along to another recording in the near future, this time in Leeds.
Here is a small photo gallery taken from the Palm Sunday programme,
-
- Steeton men highlighted
-
- Allan Hainsworth (Bass)
-
- (l-r) Richard Hartley, John Dowlan, Keith Drake, Arnold Sheriff
-
- Steeton men among the congregation
SMVC sings for Leeds Lord Mayor’s LOFFTY appeal
Saturday, 12th April.
SMVC at Leeds Civic Hall
Loffty - Charity mascot
The choir was delighted to be asked to give a concert at Leeds Civic Hall to support the Lord Mayor’s Charity for 2014: LOFFTY. The concert was to raise funds for this worthy cause (full title: Leeds Offers Fun For The Young) – the aim of which is to provide additional activities for children in the city during and after school, at weekends and throughout the school holidays.
The banqueting Hall was the impressive setting for the concert and we sang to a full and enthusiastic audience, which included the Lord Mayor himself, Cllr Thomas Murray, and the Lady Mayoress, Mrs Edna Murray.
Soloist Ann Wilkes
We were also overjoyed that soprano Ann Wilkes was able to be with us and provide a number of solo items, which both entranced and impressed everyone present. Ann is a former winner of the Arthur Wilson prize at the Wharfedale festival - an award instigated by the choir in memory of its one-time MD and later President.
It was a hugely memorable evening for all concerned.
Picture gallery of the event:
-
- Leeds Civic Hall
-
- Pre-concert - Ark Royal room
-
- Lining-up - Ark Royal room
-
- Photo shoot
-
- SMVC in performance
-
- The Lord Mayor & Lady Mayoress draw the raffle
-
- SMVC in performance
When Cornwall came to Yorkshire
On Saturday, 5th April, we were delighted to share the stage at Shipley St Peter’s church with the wonderful Penzance Orpheus Ladies Choir who had come all the way from the extreme south-west of the country to be with us. Their Musical Director, Stephen Lawry, is an old friend of ours as he is also the MD of the renowned Mousehole Male Voice Choir with whom we have shared the stage both in Cornwall and here in Yorkshire.
The large church of Shipley St Peter provided an excellent venue for this much-anticipated concert and the large audience responded enthusiastically to the wide range of music provided by both choirs. The evening ended with both choirs singing together in joint performances of the the two hymns Deep Harmony and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Morte Christe). 
New look for SMVC website
You cannot have failed to notice that the website has undergone a major change. This has been a long time in the planning, but we hope you will appreciate the new look.
The old website (pre April 2014)
The old website was what is now referred to as a static HTML site. The advantage of such a set-up is that there is complete freedom in design and presentation, the downside is that they are quite difficult to administer and to update (which is why so many websites have a neglected air about them!).
For those interested in the technicalities, the new website is powered by a content management system (or CMS). The CMS used is the wonderful (and open-source) WordPress, and the theme (which gives it its “look”) is a modified version of Academica by WPZoom, which we have customised to our requirements.
The new website will be far easier to keep up-to-date and like most WordPress installations is also designed to work well on smartphones and tablets, as well as on large screens.
It is still early days, so there MAY be teething troubles, so please bear with us if something not working as expected – every issue will be addressed.