Previous events
2024
Open Rehearsal – Saturday 20th April
On Saturday, 20th April, we held another of our popular open rehearsals in Dulverton Town Hall from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
What is an open rehearsal, you may ask? For the choir, it is just a normal rehearsal. The only difference is that it is held on a Saturday morning and we open the doors to the public. Anyone is welcome to drop in, have a cup of coffee and sit and listen to the rehearsal. Over the years, we have also found that this is a good way of generating new members.
So, fortified by delicious scones, jam and cream made by a member of the choir, we made a start on new songs that we will perfect in time for our next concert in Dulverton in July.
St. John the Baptist Church, Witheridge – Saturday 13th April
The day had arrived – Saturday 13 April – and, after weeks of rehearsals, our first concert of 2024. We had been invited to perform as part of the Witheridge Concert Season in the beautiful Church of St. John the Baptist. It was such an enjoyable evening for both the choir and audience who sang along with the choir for three of the songs – ‘Oom pah pah,’ ‘Grandfather’s Clock’ and ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’
2023
Christmas…at last! – Saturday 9th December
Yes, at last we were able to perform a Christmas concert!
Having had to cancel the last 2 years, due to Covid and the weather, we were very excited to make it third time lucky at Dulverton Town Hall on Saturday 9th December. The programme consisted of some old favourites, as well as some new additions to the choir’s repertoire.
Christmas…at last! It was a real pleasure to hear the Voices of Exmoor perform their Christmas concert on 9 December after the previous three Christmas concerts had to be cancelled (all for well-known reasons!). And what a joyous concert it was, attended by a packed audience at the Dulverton Town Hall. Musical Director Amanda Taylor has a knack of presenting really interesting and enjoyable programmes and this year was no exception. The choir were on fine form and opened the concert by processing in singing the rousing 16thC carol Gaudete. This was followed by John Rutter’s arrangement of “We wish you a merry Christmas”, his own “Nativity Carol” and an arrangement of a 15thC carol by Hubert Parry, all beautifully sung by the choir with real feeling for the music. The audience were invited to join in with three well known carols which tested our own singing abilities! Interspersed with the choir items were readings, John Betjeman’s “Christmas” and “Remembrance of Christmas Past” by Judith Viorst, both beautifully read by members of the choir. As well as traditional carols, the choir showed their versatility and enjoyment of singing with renditions of “I believe in Father Christmas” and “Let it be Christmas”. The whole programme was thoroughly enjoyed by a very enthusiastic audience who demanded an encore – and we got one in the form of Slade’s classic hit “Merry Christmas Everybody” which had everyone rocking in their seats! Supporting Amanda’s musical direction throughout was the wonderful and expert piano accompaniment of Joke Routledge and her sensitive playing is a real asset to the choir. We look forward to hearing the Voices of Exmoor perform in 2024.
JS December 2023
Dulverton Live! – Saturday 14th October
We took part in the Dulverton Live! event in Dulverton Town Hall to encourage new members to join the choir. We handed out flyers about the choir and our Christmas concert.
Woolhanger: The Reprise – Saturday 16th September
We were finally able to perform our highly successful Woolhanger concert to our loyal ‘home crowd’ in Dulverton.
A wonderful evening was had on Saturday 16th September when Voices of Exmoor took to the stage in Dulverton Town Hall.
It was such a joyous and, at times, emotional event, as the choir performed their Woolhanger the Reprise concert, following the highly successful show which they performed for the very first time at Woolhanger Estate in September of last year.
The performance included many of my favourite songs – the beautiful and touching Seal Lullaby, by Eric Whitacre and Rudyard Kipling, sung with such sensitivity and grace. Their wonderful and uplifting rendition of the music of MGM, is always one to get my toes tapping and my shoulders swaying, much to the annoyance of the person sat behind me, I’m sure!
With delightful humour from their musical director Amanda Taylor and beautiful music from accomplished pianist Joke Routledge, assisted by Arwen Lewis on the recorder for two songs, it was most definitely another successful concert from the Voices of Exmoor and one that I’d happily attend again. I am very much looking forward to their Christmas concert in Dulverton on December 9th
Maria Lloyd
Workshop – Saturday 24th June
On Saturday 24th June, we held our first choir workshop at Dulverton Town Hall.
In the morning, we worked in groups to learn more about the technology we use to help choir members to learn new music.
After a fantastic shared lunch, we were honoured to work with a local singing teacher, who showed us some excellent techniques to help us to improve our performance.
Singalong – Saturday 29th April
Our Singalong on Saturday 29th April was a great success. We had a steady stream of visitors throughout the morning and we have gained some new members as a result. We were also able to celebrate the 30th wedding anniversary of two of our members.
2022
Our Musical Journey – Saturday 17th September
The big day had finally arrived! Not just our first concert for two and a half years, but the world premiere of our original song written as part of Making Music’s ‘Adopt A Music Creator 2022’.
On Friday, 16th September, choir members started to arrive at The Music Room on Woolhanger Estate for our final rehearsal. What a stunning venue! The room was filled with chairs; our marvellous front of house team had begun to organise everything necessary to greet the audience; the sound engineer from Making Music was in the process of setting up the microphones needed to record our song. After months of preparation, the realisation of the importance of the task ahead of us had finally registered.
Friday’s rehearsal didn’t go terribly well, but, with the old theatrical tradition that ‘a terrible dress rehearsal means a great first night’ ringing in our ears, we arrived on Saturday, 17th September with even greater enthusiasm and determination. We warmed up using some of our usual exercises and built confidence by singing through parts of some of the songs in the programme. Then we retired to the ‘Red Room’ to allow the audience to gather, buy plenty of raffle tickets and find their seats. Amanda gave us a few last-minute words of motivation and we were ready to go.
As we walked into The Music Room, the applause of the audience was extremely welcoming and strangely comforting – it felt good to be performing together once again. The Barry Manilow classic ‘One Voice’ was the first item in our programme and we could feel the emotion building as we sang our way through it; this was going so much better than the rehearsal already. Every song we sang was followed by enthusiastic applause and, before we knew it, the interval had arrived and we returned to the Red Room feeling very happy.
However, we needed to keep the momentum going for the second half which included a real mixture of songs, both gentle and poignant as well as lively and fun. And, of course, our world premiere. Amanda gave a brief introduction to ‘Adopt A Music Creator’ and then invited Lynne Plowman, our mentor, and Hannah Fredsgaard-Jones, our music creator, to say a few words about the whole process. It was a real privilege to finally be able to perform our song, ‘Over the Moor’, to an audience of people who are so familiar with the beauty and uniqueness of Exmoor.
The concert came full circle with a final rendition of ‘One Voice’, in which we were joined by Hannah and Lynne, and the audience joined us in a rousing encore of ‘When the Saints go marching in’.
It felt absolutely fantastic to hear the clapping and cheering of the audience and to know that we had all pulled together to create such an enjoyable occasion for everyone. We would like to sincerely thank everyone who came to support us for ‘Our Musical Journey’ and all those people who helped to make the whole evening such a success.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
On 3rd June 2022 we sang at Exmoor Gardens, Dulverton as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations – our first public performance for two and a half years.
We were given an extremely warm reception by the audience and were quite (pleasantly) surprised to hear shouts of “More! More!” at the end of our short programme.
Such a delightful concert yesterday – well done to you all.
Look At The World was a great song to start the concert and I heard every single word! The diction continued to be excellent throughout the concert.
Adiemus was wonderful with so many of the choir showing their joy of singing it. The new anthem, A Life Lived with Grace, was sung with passion.
Audience member, june 2022
2019
They sang not just with their voices, but with every ounce of their being, adding facial expression, body language, gesture and movement to a kaleidoscope of aural delight.
Songs we love to sing, 2019
Diction throughout the concert was excellent, with nicely enunciated final consonants giving both lift and suspense, apparent right from the start as in ‘a grand night’.
proms at pixton, 2019
Every verse featured a beautiful entry, thrillingly warm in tone and perfectly together.
christmas concert of songs and carols, 2019
2018
Well placed in the programme, and nicely chosen, were the solos. Varying from the intimate Someday at Christmas to the rumbustious Thank You Very Much, from the world of pop to J S Bach, they were all skilfully sung and gave much pleasure.
christmas concert of songs and carols, 2018
PRIOR TO 2018
