Haydock Male Voice Choir is one of the oldest choirs in Northwest England having been founded in 1923 in the village of Haydock. Since the main industry in Haydock, at that time, was coal-mining, it is not surprising that a large number of the original members were coal miners. The choir now draws its membership from a variety of backgrounds, mostly from the local area though many make a round trip of up to 50 miles to attend rehearsals and concerts. Over the years Haydock Male Voice Choir has become known for its high standard of performance both on concert stages and in choral competition. This is due both to the hard work put in by members but also to the lead set by a succession of very talented musicians.

Our Constitution declares that the primary aim of Haydock MVC is "to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in the appreciation of the art and science of music and in particular choral music by the presentation of public concerts". Our secondary aim is to assist and support charitable institutions. Despite such lofty aspirations, we also have a lot of fun. What do we do?

Concerts
We perform about 18-20 concerts a year in all types of venue from churches to Concert Halls, between September and June. We are self-contained with our own soloists, but we frequently share the concert stage with Brass Bands and other choirs. In recent years, we have held very successful, pre-Christmas concerts with a local primary school-Bleak Hill School- which gives pupils the experience of performing to a wider audience, as well as providing additional finance for their school funds.

Touring
Since the mid 1970s, touring has become a regular and pleasurable feature of choir life - in fact a real perk for all members and their wives. We have travelled widely throughout the UK and to many countries abroad. We have visited Germany 9 times and developed friendships in California and Chicago as a result of 3 trips. In 2003, one of our members David Dunbavin with wife, Gael, re-located to the south of France. He was able to arrange a week-long tour for a party of 45 singers and 40 wives. We sang at 4 concerts but had plenty of free time for sightseeing and enjoying the glorious weather. May 2007, saw us enjoying a long weekend in Douglas, Isle of Man participating in the Isle of Man Music Festival. In September 2008, we travelled to Plymouth for a weekend away to take part in a joint concert with the Laira Youth Band which was founded and is still run by our accompanist, Ruth's father, Tony Hollick. We also staged an impromptu sing-out the following day, at Plymouth Barbican in glorious sunshine.

Television
We have made a number of TV appearances over the years. Since 2000, we have made two appearances on Granada Television's,'My Favourite Hymns'; on Sky television preceding the Rugby League Internationals; on BBC2 at the opening ceremony of the Womens' football European Cup Finals. These have been interesting experiences for the choir giving us an insight at what goes on behind the scenes during recordings.

Recordings
We have recorded in the last 30 years or so, a total of 9 music albums, featuring the wide range of music learnt by the choir and sung at concerts. In earlier years, all the albums were recorded onto vinyl records or audio-cassettes and once sold out there was virtually impossible for them to be reproduced. Now with advances in technology, we have been able to 'recover' them in a digital format to bring them out as CDs. In late 2007, we recorded a new album, entitled "Let There be Music!" We are delighted with the quality of the recording and varied selection of pieces. A rota of choir members' wives runs our sales desk at concerts with the complete selection of our recordings for sale.

Competitions and Festivals
Competitions are very useful in allowing us to compare our standards with other choirs. We have over the years enjoyed a tremendous run of success taking first place several times in both the Northern and later, the National Male Voice championships. We have competed in the "Radio Wales" Male Voice Choir Competition where we reached the semi finals on two occasions. In September 2000, we participated in the famous Elgar Festival held at Worcester Cathedral. This was a new experience as we came into direct competition with not only male voice choirs but with ladies' choirs and mixed choirs. Winning the Male Voice Class gave us the opportunity to take part in the evening concert at the Cathedral. After a break of a few years, we returned to the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen in 2001 and 2002, achieving on both occasions a creditable fourth place. We have participated in the International Male Voice Competition in Cornwall in 2003 and in 2005 and taken first place at the Isle of Man Festival in May 2007. More recently we competed at the Golden Nightingale Competition in Bournemouth, achieving fourth place against a very strong field.

We have a lot of fun in pursuing our hobby. We do hope that you will come to see us perform at any of our concerts and share in our joy of singing.