BMVC was warmly welcomed back to All Saints Church, Streetly for a
returning concert.
The choir opened the concert by singing “When the Saints go
Marchin’ in” followed by “Let it be Me” made famous by the Everly
Brothers back in the 1960’s.
Steve O’Malley our choir soloist sang both his solos with some style
and our second soloist of the evening, Adrian Davies Radcliffe made
his debut singing both of his choice of songs to a warm reception
from an appreciative audience.
Chris Walk the choir accompanist along with our MD Steve Roche
gave the audience a wonderful performance playing both piano
duets with gusto much to the delight of all present.
The choir ended their concert performance singing “Love changes
Everything” with Steve O’Malley singing the solo line.
Our thanks to Alan Myatt and team for welcoming the choir to All
Saints and our appreciation to the audience for their warm support

“Best concert we’ve been to” “Superb! Great evening”, “Well planned concert programme”

“Best £10.00 I’ve spent in a long time”

“No, not my comments but those of the audience who came along to BMVC’s concert. They came in
their numbers, expectant of a great evening’s entertainment. They were not disappointed!!
Our music team were in great form with Chris Walk on piano, Clare Ray on drums and our
instrumentalists Francis Moran(bass guitar) and Jobe Baker Sullivan(Organ, violin saxophone etc,)
adding depth when accompanying several of the choir songs, the opener being When the Saints go
Marchin’ in and ending the programme with a firm favourite, American Trilogy with Steve Roche our
MD in full control of the gathered choristers.
Steve O’Malley the choir soloist sang The Star of the County Down while our guest singer of the
evening Lesley Delo, delighted the audience with her rendition of Memory from the musical Cats and
O My Beloved Father amongst others.
The Charleston was played as a piano duet by Chris Walk and Steve Roche always a popular addition
to the concert programme and finally, Lesley Delo, Steve O’Malley and the choir sang Love Changes
Everything, a wonderful choice of song to end the concert with and to much applause.
A big Thank You to the ladies who provided the refreshments, who sold tickets at the door, those
who organised the raffle and finally to those who supervised the bucket collection organised by our
very own centurion chorister, Harold Jones with the proceeds donated to MND.
Finally, another big Thank You to the staff from Emmanuel Parish Church, especially Chris Shaw who
was instrumental in helping make the evening’s concert the big success it turned out to be.
Meirion Bowen.
Concert Secretary, BMVC

​Regretfully, it saddens me to have to inform you of the death of the longest
serving member of the Birmingham Icknield Male voice choir.
Brian joined the choir in 1977 and I first met him when I joined in early 1978.
The conductor of the choir at the time was Mike Adams whose father Ron was
a long serving first tenor. Don Beach was the deputy conductor and his brother
Les was the pianist. Brian and I became friends and we used to meet up
socially outside the choir.
When it became obvious that we needed funds to purchase a uniform for the
choir, Brian volunteered to help and with others we managed to raise the
money to buy our first uniform. For many years after this he continued to raise
funds with his weekly lottery based on the number drawn on the bonus ball of
the National lottery.
Every Tuesday, after rehearsal, we used to head down to the Beaufort pub in
Hamstead village for a couple or three swift halves and some harmony singing.
The leaders of this merry band were Charlie Roberts, our chairman, and his
two brothers Frank and Jack. No sooner than they entered the small “snug” in
the Beaufort, even before they had taken a sip of their beer, they would burst
into song.
Initially, Brian sang with the baritones but when Steve Roche realised how high
his voice was he moved him to first tenor.
In recognition of his long service and his fund raising work for the choir he was
made president, apposition he held until his death on Thursday, 12 th October,
2023. Brian had been ill for some time and his physical illness was exacerbated
by his dementia.
He will be sadly missed by all his friends and fellow choristers in the choir.
Rest in Peace Brian.
Dave Ward.

​The Birmingham Air Raids Remembrance Association

A Service of Remembrance
Saturday, 23 rd September, 2023

Many thanks to all the choristers who took part at this very moving occasion for the
surviving relatives of those whose names are remembered here for all time.
The service was conducted at St. Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, led by Reader Liz
Harris. During the Service the choir, under the leadership of Steve Roche and accompanied
by Chris Wark, sang Ose Shalom( the One who makes Peace) in Hebrew which resonated
with many of the audience members followed by Steal Away later in the service.
Also supporting the service was the Cubbington Silver Band conducted by Kieron Howe.
We would like to thank Brian Wright, Vice Chair of BARRA for inviting the choir to take part
at this annual remembrance service and for making us feel very welcomed.
Meirion Bowen.
Concert Secretary, BMVC.

​Ceremony of Remembrance
At the RoadPeace Wood.
National Memorial Arboretum,
Saturday, 12 th August, 2023, 2.30pm,

Each year in August the above ceremony takes place at the NMA, where guests, who had
lost loved ones due to road traffic collisions, are invited along to commemorate their sad
passing.
Due to the vagaries of the British weather and with some last minute re arrangements this
year’s ceremony had to take place indoors at the Aspects building.
BMVC had been invited to sing at the ceremony and what a privilege it was to be able to
share this moving experience with the gathered audience. Jeremy Allcock, Rector of St.
Martin’s in the Bull Ring led the ceremony and several guests spoke movingly of their sad
loss. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to share conversations with the guests and to
have the time to reflect on the afternoon’s impact on what we has seen and heard.
Our thanks to Sara Dowling and Lucy Harrison of RoadPeace and the Staff at NMA for
their excellent organisation and for their due care and attention during this memorable
event.
Meirion Bowen,
Concert Secretary, BMVC

​On Saturday 15 th July the Birmingham Male Voice Choir, consisting of members of both
Birmingham Canoldir and Birmingham Icknield male voice choirs, performed a concert at
St. Columba’s church Banners Gate. The audience were treated to an excellent varied
programme of songs. They had piano duets performed by our MD Steve Roche and our
accompanist Chris Walk, and as a special treat, an old friend of the choir, Lesley Delo, who
performed two “slots”, much to the delight of the audience, Welcome Back Lesley.

The highlight of the evening was presentation to Harold Jones on reaching his century.

Apart from a certificate and card from the whole choir, he was presented
with a special “one off” gold medal from Canoldir Male Voice Choir for his
achievement, and being a member of the choir for 34 years.

Well done Harold.

We also welcomed a new member John O’Dell

                                                                  Photo: Harold Jones 

17/6/23.
This was our first visit to this parish church, which coincided with its
Centenary year celebration. Our congratulations to Father John
Bridge, Jean Harcourt and the church community on this
achievement>
The welcoming audience thoroughly enjoyed the choir’s varied
repertoire and the newest song to our growing list of songs, “Ose
Shalom” (The One who Makes Peace) sung in Hebrew, proved to be
popular.
The two piano duets played by Chris Walk and Steve Roche were
popular items on the concert programme as were the songs sung by
our soloist Steve O’Malley, “Jeanie with the light brown hair” in the
first half followed by “Summer Time” in the second half, an
appropriate choice reflecting the weather on the evening.
A big thanks to our music team, Clare Ray, on drums, Chris Walk on
piano and our MD Steve Roche for their contribution in making this
evening’s concert such a success.

13/5/23
This concert had been a long time coming. It was booked up pre- pandemic
but as the saying goes “Good things come to those who wait”-and the
audience certainly agreed according to the comments made as the evening’s
programme drew to a close.
The large audience had enjoyed the choir’s varied repertoire starting with
our opening song, When the Saints go Marchin’ in and ending the concert
with one of our favourites, American Trilogy. Our MD, Steve Roche had
managed to work his magic once more!
The two piano duets, Country Garden and a medley of Irving Berlin tunes
were performed with aplomb by Chris Walk and Steve Roche.
Our guest violinist Jody Smith, played a variety of well selected and familiar
music including a medley from West Side Story, expertly accompanied by
Chris Walk on piano, and greatly appreciated by the wonderful audience.
The choir’s first concert of 2023 was a resounding success and our thanks to
Mary Dixon and Nick Revell in particular, members of the Friends of Holy
Trinity for being such good hosts.
Meirion Bowen
Concert Secretary.

​Oh what a night!
For those of you who were lucky enough to be sat watching and listening to the opera as were the
choir, it was a great experience.
After a short practice with the MD and orchestra to fine tune our contribution to the opera, the
choir gathered in the foyer to entertain the large audience gathered. With our MD Steve Roche
and accompanied by Chris Walk, we started our repertoire with When the Saints go Marchin’ in
and ended with American Trilogy. What a wonderful audience reaction!
Back in the auditorium and along with the audience and WNO we sang God save the King and so
on to the opera during which we accompanied the chorus joining in with singing three Welsh
songs in perfect Welsh!!
The standing ovation received from the audience was extraordinary and the choir contribution
was greatly appreciated.
You too could sing with Birmingham Male Voice Choir. Whatever your age or experience enjoy the
exhilaration of singing with male voices.
Contact: www.bimvc.org.uk/canoldirmalevoicechoir.com
Meirion Bowen.
Concert Secretary.

Blaze of Glory

Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre
Saturday May 6 th 7.30pm

The big day is almost here. Have you got your ticket/s yet? The gentlemen in the choir are
performance ready with just one rehearsal to go with the excellent Rachel Maby and Sara Wilander
from the WNO who will put us through our final paces on Tuesday evening at the Welsh Chapel in
Upper Loveday Street, Birmingham. Our thanks also to our MD Steve Roche and accompanist Chris
Walk who have had to master some difficult Welsh words and music in our preparation for this day.
Expect to see and hear the choir sing some well selected songs as you enter the foyer at the
Hippodrome Theatre on Saturday evening from around 6.45pm onwards then on we go to join the
audience in the theatre and take our seats, ready for the off!
Lights, music, action, the performance will begin and we in the choir will be in position ready to add
our voices in support of this exciting Welsh National Opera’s Blaze of Glory. Can’t wait!!
Meirion Bowen.
Concert Secretary.