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W.A Shearings Featherstone Male Voice Choir is very lucky to be served by some excellent musicians.

Our Musical Director is Paul Rhodes.

 
  Deputy Musical Director Geoff Trigg.          Accompanist Colin Malpass.        

 
   Deputy accompanist Elaine Oakley.

  
 There are over sixty members in the choir with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. We will be publishing short profiles about many of our members in order to illustrate the diversity of interests and talents brought together through the common love of singing.

We offer a warm welcome to our newest member, Maurice M. who has joined the baritone section. Maurice is a spring chicken by choir standards and with his wife lives in Byram. Maurice plays the guitar and keyboards but his real interest is motorcycling. He is a senior IT technician at a local university and has been married to Wendy for 26 years. His 2 chidren are grown up but he is still left with 4 dogs and three motorcycles at home!

 Derek W.

I joined the baritone section of the choir eleven years ago when I was sixty-one. I travel from Knottingley twice a week for practices and my favourite song is the Russian hymn, ‘Ti-Byem Pieom.’ I’m a retired quarry manager and have many pastimes to keep me active. Walking, camping and ornithology provide me with lots of fresh air and making bird tables and boxes keep me busy. My wife and I sing in the local church choir. We have two sons. Our elder son is interested in amateur dramatics and our younger son is a church organist in Bath.

Peter M.
I’ve been a member of the choir for forty-six years being one of the original twelve members. I’m sixty-five and worked for the National Health Service as an administrator. I can read music when I’m singing but my talent on the piano consists of one finger at a time! My main hobby these days is organising group holidays but music has always been a large part of my life. My father was organist at the Featherstone Methodist Church and he and my mother sang in the local choral society. In addition to founding the Featherstone Male Voice Choir, my father founded a girls’ choir in Featherstone and that was how I met the girl who was to become my wife. I love Choral singing and music in general, and have made many friends through music, which I find a most relaxing hobby. I have been secretary of the choir for over thirty-five years.

Richard H.

I’m one of the younger members of the choir, which I joined eight years ago when I was thirty-seven. I sing in the first tenor section and recently became the choir treasurer. I live in Darrington with my wife and three children and work locally as an engineer for Npower. My favourite song from the choir’s repertoire is ‘Fly me to the Moon’. I play the piano but my favourite pastimes involve sport: motor cycling, cycling and rugby league being the main ones.

Ken S.

I’ve always loved singing and I attempt to play the electric guitar. I joined the baritone section of the choir two and a half years ago and have enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone is friendly and there is an enormous amount of work goes into producing a high standard of performance. I’m sixty-seven, a retired barrister and surveyor, and live in Ackworth. Although I still do some part time consultancy, my main activities these days are golf and watercolour painting. I am a widower with two sons and three granddaughters and my family is very important to me. My favourite song is ‘Softly as I Leave You.’

David B.

Singing is my passion and I’ve been a member of the choir for thirty-five years. I’m a second tenor and at sixty-one am still one of the youngest in the section. I live in Featherstone and am a delivery driver and television extra. I enjoy both my home life and hobbies, which include playing guitar and harmonica and painting in watercolour. I couldn’t pick a favourite song because I enjoy so many.

Ted R.
I joined the choir when I was forty-nine and have now been a member for twenty-eight years. I sing in the baritone section and singing is my major interest. I am a retired decorator and live in Byram, Knottingley with my wife Eileen. We both take a very active role in the organisation of the choir but if I have any spare time I enjoy photography. My favourite choir song is, ‘All in the April Evening’.

Cecil L.
I’ve been a member of the choir around thirteen years and I’m now eighty. I sing in the second tenors and have three favourite songs, ‘Take me Home’, ‘She’ and ‘Somewhere’. I was a miner for twenty-eight years and then became a training officer. I live in Airedale and in addition to singing my main interests are T.V., gardening and a little walking. At one time my only passion was tug-of-war and I travelled the country judging competitions. Today I am very close to my family and I wish them the very happy life I have been allowed and will do everything possible to make that happen.

David S.
I’m chairman of the choir and sing in the second tenors. I joined in 1992 and travel from Thorpe Hesley, near Rotherham to practice. I’m seventy-one and a retired school teacher although I keep busy as a volunteer driver for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and also sing in a mixed choir in Thorpe Hesley. My favourite song is ‘The Lost Chord’. Other interests include walking and reading and for thirty-eight years I owned a caravan.

Brian G.
I’ve been a member at Featherstone for two years but have sung in male voice choirs for over forty years. I was born in Gateshead sixty years ago but live in Crofton and am married with three daughters. I’m a first tenor and also sing solo. My favourite song is ‘American Trilogy’. I’m a works manager for an electroplating company and my hobbies include, cooking, making wine and reading.

Len B.

I’m a first tenor and also, when asked, sing solo. I’m seventy-two and have been a member at Featherstone for three years. I live in Pontefract and before retiring was an insurance broker. In my youth I played professional rugby for Featherstone Rovers. I can read music and can play the piano. (Right hand only!) As well as singing my hobbies include gardening and watching rugby league.

David O.

I joined the choir when I was fifty-six and have now been a member of the bass section for five years. I was born in Featherstone and have lived here all my life, working at Linpac Plastics for thirty-one years before retiring on ill health. Music has been an important part of my life since the age of seven, when I began to learn to play the cornet in the Salvation Army Band. I was taught to play by my father who was also a member of the choir. I have an eclectic taste in music and at various times have been a member of a gospel and amateur dramatics group. I enjoy listening to choirs, brass bands and going to the theatre and my favourite choir song is ‘Morte Christe’. I met my wife at the Salvation Army and this August we will have been married forty years. I’m lucky that we share the same interests but our greatest delight is our first grandchild. A gorgeous grandson of whom we are immensely proud.

Frank C.

I’ve sung in the Baritone section of the choir for eighteen years and I’m now sixty-one. I live in Brotherton and work as an electrician. My favourite choir song is ‘Ti-Byem Pieom’ and I’m pleased that my family always enjoy the concerts we give. My hobbies include crown green bowls and pigeon keeping and racing.

Eddie D.

I’m eighty-two and have been in the baritone section for sixteen years. I live in Pontefract and my hobby is gardening. Singing is more than a hobby. It is my life. Before I retired I was a signalman and was qualified to work in any signal box in the country. Prior to that I played professional rugby league for Featherstone Rovers. I signed for Rovers in 1946 for a fee of £100.

Jack S.

I travel from York for practices and have done so for fifteen years. I’m seventy and sing in the second tenors. One of my favourite songs is ‘Take Me Home’ and in addition to singing my other hobbies are DIY and cooking. Before I retired I drove a Heavy Goods Vehicle for M&S.

Terry S.

I joined the choir only thirteen months ago and for a short time was the new boy. I sing with the second tenors and my favourite song is ‘An American Trilogy’. I’m sixty-two, live in Bradford and have my own business as a self-employed HGV instructor. I can read music but not brilliantly and can play the guitar. I also work as a background artist in television programmes such as Emmerdale and enjoy flying (I have a private pilot’s license.) and reading factual books. I have a daughter and son who is also a HGV instructor and three grandchildren.

Brian R.

I’m sixty-seven years old and have been singing in the second tenors since 1995. I live in York and before I retired I was a professional civil servant. Today my hobbies and interests include, gardening, DIY, watching sport on TV, dog walking and puzzles (crosswords & sudoku). I enjoy reading non-fiction involving current affairs, politics and history. I spend a lot of time with my family and particularly my six grandchildren.

Dick D.

I’ve been singing in the second tenors’ section for nearly three years and am almost sixty-three. Before I retired, I was the Principal of an Arts and Community College and have lived in Ackworth for the past twenty-five years. In addition to singing, my hobbies include writing books and short stories, golf and swimming. Along with others I have spent the last twenty-three years organising the annual Christmas Party for the Senior Citizens of Ackworth. In two years I shall be eligible to attend!! My wife and I are ‘tea shop’ addicts. A cup of tea and a good crossword and we are content. I have two daughters and three grandchildren and any spare time is spent with them. My favourite song is ‘Speed Your Journey.’

Eric W. 

I’ve sang in the baritone section of the choir for a good number of years now but I first sang with Knottingly Male Voice Choir in 1954. I can read music, which is a  help when learning new songs and I enjoy all types of music, including singing in mixed choirs. I live in Thorpe Adlin and enjoy snooker and model making in my spare time. I’m a seventy-two year old retired Primary Headmaster and my favourite song is ‘American Trilogy.’

John P.

I’ve been a second tenor for 6 years and live in Purston Jaglin. I enjoy singing and could read music before I joined the choir, although I don’t play a musical instrument.  I’m sixty-nine and have been married to Mavis for forty-nine years. My favourite songs are, ‘Bring him Home’ and ‘What would I do without my Music’. My other hobbies include caravanning, golf, fishing and walking. I served in the REME for twelve years, then the T/A. I was a multi-skilled maintenance technician at LIN-PAC Plastics for thirty-two years before I retired.

James W.

 Featherstone is Jim’s, fourth choir and although he has been a member of Sharlston since 1958, he only joined us in April 2010. James is from Altofts and is a baritone. His hobbies include gardening, reading and writing and his favourite song is Calon Lan. At 77 James is retired but was a mining electrician in younger day.