From England and...
THE SILVER RING CHOIR OF BATH
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, October 27th, 2005
A CELEBRATED mixed voice choir from Bath in the West of England with a unique celebrity connection arrive in Auckland on
November 7th for a 17-day concert tour of New Zealand.
The Silver Ring Choir are from an historic Georgian city which also has a strong rugby tradition. The Silver Ring Choir
are known as one of the top concert choirs in England and will be bringing 55 singers on the tour. Their New Zealand
Concert schedule starts at Auckland
when they will sing as guests of the North Shore Male Choir at the Bruce Mason Centre on Wednesday 9 November. Tickets
are priced at adults
$20, children
$16 and groups of 10 or more
$16 each. For more information or to book, phone Ticketek on (09) 307 5000.
The next stop is
Rotorua for a concert on Thursday November 10th at St Luke’s Church, tickets available at the door, adults
$15, senior citizens
$12 and students
$6, all enquiries to Bill Power on 3572712.
Then it’s on to
Whakatane where the choir are guests of Walter Haldane and The Edgecumbe choir. The concert on Saturday November 12th is
at St George and St John’s Church, Domain Rd. Tickets are priced at Adult:
$15, Group of 6 or more:
$10 per person, Student:
$5. For postal bookings send a cheque and SAE to: Edgecumbe Choir, Box 630, Whakatane. Counter bookings from 29 Oct: The
Good Life, 196 The Strand, Whakatane.
Wellington welcomes the Choir for a concert on Tuesday November 15 with Wellington Male Voice Choir at Wesley Centre,
Taranki Street. For tickets call Hans Timmermans on 04 232 4761, adults
$20, concessions
$15. The final venue is Oxford Terrace Baptist Church on Thursday November 17 in
Christchurch as guests of the Risingholme Singers. Tickets are available from Community Choir Members, any left unsold
will be available at the door and are priced at
$10 for adults and
$5 for children under 12, contact Murray Lennox on 03 385 0570 for more information.
One of the altos in the choir is Yvonne Cullum, mother of jazz superstar Jamie Cullum. Dad John will also be in the tour
party. Jamie has made a massive impact on the music scene since signing for Universal in 2002. Members of the Silver
Ring have watched his
mercurial rise to become one of the leading young Jazz performers in the world today.
The Choir arrive with an introduction from Jamie. He says:
“ I am proud to present the Silver Ring Choir of Bath. I have become interested in choral music gradually through my
life due to the fact that my mum has always sung in choirs. I therefore came to watch the Silver Ring Choir and was
hugely impressed with the varied and fearless repertoire that encompasses both the traditional right through to jazz (my
spiritual home.) I hope you enjoy their music as much as I do.”
In December 2002, Jamie performed with the Silver Ring Choir in Bath, a Christmas show that attracted a sell out
audience of over 1700 and it raised £5,000 for a local charity.
Silver Ring conductor Grenville Jones adds:
“We have become known in the UK as ‘the choir Jamie’s mum sings in’ and have made a number of TV and radio appearances
through the Jamie link. He is a very talented young man and comes to our concerts regularly and is a fan of the choir,
which is terrific.”
The Silver Ring has toured extensively in past years. They have been to Europe on many occasions as well as Canada, the
States and Scandinavia.
This will be their longest trip however, and they will be promoting a new Christmas CD just released by the Choir.
More information from the choir can be found on their website
www.silverringchoir.co.uk
The choir name originates back to the late 1940’s. The founder conductor, a Welshman, named the choir after a singing
group his mother had led in the Welsh Valleys. Times were austere so each child had a small silver curtain ring sewn on
their blouse.
ENDS