The choir is run by an energetic Executive Committee who endeavour to be open minded, continually seeking ways to move the choir forward and keep it relevant.
Our Music Team chooses the repertoire and guides the choir through rehearsals and concerts.
Other key groups include the Section Leaders, Library Team and the Carlton Support Group.
Our choir mascot is Bridie. Bridie is the beautiful and talented Alsatian Guide Dog owned by our Baritone David Newsham and she loves sitting in from of the choir at rehearsals and performances.
The choir currently seek our next Principal Accompanist – contact us if you’d like to apply.
The Choir’s Structure
President
Choir President – Sir John Starkey
The figurehead of the choir! – John presents at formal occasions and acts a a confident, council and advisor on choir matters. John sings as a Bass in the choir.
The Executive Committee
Chairman – Rober Van Haazel
The leader of the choir organisation. – Responsible for choir discipline! – Choir Development Strategies – Lead the Executive Committee. Robert sings as a Bass in the choir.
Vice-Chairman – Danny Horan
The man to get things done, positive, decisive and capable, the ‘VC’ puts into action the Executive Committee’s decisions and strategies. Danny sings as a Bass in the choir.
Choir Secretary – Garry Roberts
Maintains administrative records – Communicates with the choir – Deals with correspondence to and from other choirs/organisations. Garry sings as a First Tenor in the choir.
Concert Manager – Terry Gray
Visits venues to ascertain staging, seating and access requirements for the choir – organise stage management at performances – co-ordinate team to transport equipment to venues. Terry sings as a First Tenor in the choir.
Concert Secretary – Brian Allen
A very important person in the team – without a venue or concert we have nowhere to sing – seek out venues and ascertain their suitability – confirm availability of music team and book concerts – collects the concert fees. Brian sings as a Baritone in the choir.
Social Secretary – Stan Candler
It’s not just about the touring, although this is a big part of the role, the Social Sec also works with the Carlton Support Group to ensure a range of enjoyable social events for the choir and arranges the ‘Afterglow’ (social sings in the pub following a concert). Stan sings as a First Tenor in the choir.
Membership Secretary – Bo Zinn
Maintains records of members of the choir – reports on attendance to the executive committee – works with section leaders to promote attendance. Bo sings as a Second Tenor in the choir.
Choir Treasurer – Joe Bean
Manages the choir finances – keeps the executive committee informed of choir finances – accepts the money! Joe sings as a Bass in the choir.
Marketing Manager – Chris Coats
Promotes the choir through high quality media, produces a strategy for publicity, ensures effective promotion of concerts and organises tickets and programmes. Chris sings as a First Tenor in the choir.
The Music Team
Carlton Male Voice Choir calls upon the services of a team of dedicated and talented musicians who work tirelessly to bring the best out of the Choir.
Musical Director – Ian Watts
At the helm is Ian Watts, our Musical Director. Ian not only conducts choirs but performs himself in The Kinx tribute band and a Beatles tribute band. He is an accomplished pianist organist and guitarist who also manages a commercial record label and recording studio business. Ian was the President of the Nottingham & District Society of Organists in 2017/18 and is also the Musical Director of the Lyrical SoNGbirds, an upper voice choir of around 22 singers based in Wollaton, Nottingham.
He is no stranger to Male Voice Choirs as his father Peter Watts was a founder member of Radcliffe on Trent Male Voice Choir! Under Ian’s leadership the choir has been rejuvenated and has met the many new challenges and standards he has set. He works tirelessly to develop the choir’s repertoire, produce learning tracks and plans the rehearsal schedule and concert content. He focusses highly on performance standards, entertainment and stage craft bringing his experience of performing in bands into the world of the male voice choir.
Ian is a great advocate of other choirs in the area and often finds ways of supporting them where possible, he also enjoys sitting in on a rehearsal or even singing with other friendly choirs in the region. He received Honorary Membership of Treorchy Male Choir in 2022 as an expression of appreciation and gratitude for outstanding service to that choir and as such joins an elite family of celebrated celebrities and distinguished musicians.
Assistant Musical Director – Andrew Atkinson
Andrew conducts and rehearses the choir as a Assistant Musical Director covering concerts and rehearsals as necessary, but is also involved with repertoire choice, interpretation and quality of singing as well as bringing his fun and challenging warm ups. Andrew brings his vast choral experience to the game and he also sings as a Second Tenor in the choir.
Principal Accompanist – Roger Holland
Roger’s playing is exceptional, being highly praised by one of the world’s finest opera singers, Rebecca Evans after he accompanied her at the Royal Concert Hall. He is in his second spell with Carlton, having first played for the Choir between 1984 and 1991, before returning in 2001.
Roger was born in Nottingham and brought up in Carlton itself prior to moving on to study and graduate at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is immensely experienced as an accompanist, having worked with choirs, chamber groups and musical theatre. As a piano soloist, he has made recordings for local and national BBC radio. Roger takes an active and important role within rehearsal nights expressing his views and ideas whilst accompanying the choir which truly reflects the team approach found at Carlton MVC. Roger will retire in July 2024 and we currently seek his replacement to start September 2023 and work with him until his retirement. Contact us to apply.
Deputy Accompanist – John Sellers
John studied at Huddersfield school of music, the Royal Northern College of Music and then at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. He was Accompanist from 1991 to 1999 and returned in 2003 as Deputy Accompanist. A very accomplished pianist, John brings his own flamboyant style and soloist expertise and can often be heard on the piano stool improvising a solo!
Deputy Accompanist – Anne Hall
The choir is proud to have two Deputy Accompanists in our music team. Anne is also the accompanist for the Woodthorpe Singers and the Saturday Singers and as such has gained a wealth of experience, she also helps the choir with its image and often sneaks into the audience to gain an audience perspective of the choirs performance, feeding back to the team. Anne’s often heard to say “it’s good, but let’s see what we can do to make it even better!”
Carlton Male Voice Choir is greatly indebted for the work that our music team put in and we hope our performances do full justice to their efforts.
The Section Leaders
Section leaders hold an important role, taking care of members in each section, encouraging professionalism and commitment from their teams.
The role of the Section Leaders is to:
- Organise their sections at rehearsals and concerts
- Monitor attendance
- Assign mentors to support new members, tracking them through to audition
- Ensure their members are supplied with the music they require
- Support each member in their ongoing development
- Assist the Musical Director with the musical performance of their section
Section Leader – First Tenors – Andrew Moffatt
Section Leader – Second Tenors – Derek Thorne
Section Leader – Baritones – Mick Walker
Section Leader – Basses – Ian Andrews
The Library Team
Carlton Male Voice Choir maintains and manages a large collection of music and we pride ourselves on acting responsibly with copyright law by purchasing official copies of score of every piece for every member. The job of managing this large library of music is undertaken by our Library Team who work hard to manage the inventory, receive and file new items and issue music to choristers, working closely with the Musical Director to ensure that the right music is available 100% of the time for all of our singers.
Library Team – Jean Lacey
Library Team – Ian Rowbotham
Library Team – John Collier
The Choir Support Group (CSG)
The Carlton Male Voice Choir Support Group (CSG) meet regularly to arrange events and organise fund raising activities to support the choir financially. The success of the group is due to the hard work and dedication of all its members, past and present. Their Chairperson is Mrs Jean Allen.
Others who help us
Compére/MC – Howard Ketton
Howard offers a professional face at our most prestigious formal events, bringing a larger event under control with his introductions, stories and wit.
Logistics Operations – Dennis Clifton
The ‘unsung hero’ behind the scenes, Dennis can usually be found standing at the back of the concert hall whilst the choir performs but his role is endless. From driving the choir trailer of equipment to venues and managing the set up to running the coach on choir tours to welcoming an audience on the door to finding a screw to fix a broken music stand Dennis is the ‘turn to’ man. Dennis is usually the first to arrive at the venue and the last to leave but always has a smile on his face!
Conductor Emeritus – Terry Moore
Terry was the Musical Director of Carlton MVC from 1995 to 2016, following on from Roger Pilgrim and Bob Davies, Under Terry the choir flourished for 21 years (and some 200 songs). Terry was instrumental in the formation of the Music Makers Competition. He retired after long service but still maintains an active interest in the choirs’ ongoing progress as ‘Conductor Emeritus’. He was awarded a Life Vice Presidency for his commitment and service to the choir and is really loved by the choristers being a ‘Carlton Man’ through and through.
Bridie – our mascot and guide dog
Supported by
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