Mrs Margaret Whittaker
First Soprano
“I joined the Society in 1984, shortly after Barry took over as Conductor. It has been one of my great pleasures of the last thirty years, to sing with the Society both in choir and our Andantino Ensemble; also to be secretary for many years.
We have had the opportunity to learn a very varied repertoire-often challenging Choir Orchestra and Conductor alike.
We all support each other in rehearsal and concerts, feeling a sense of achievement when performances are appreciated by our audiences. Many friendships have been forged over the years.
Our Society thrives because our Musical Director, Barry Sugden is fully committed to the Society, his patience and musical abilities mean he has what is needed to cope with Choir, Orchestra, Soloists and all that entails.”
Carol Kaye
Alto
“I have been in the Choir for 24 years and I am a member of the Andantino Group. ‘Andantino’ is made up of four Soprano’s, four Alto’s and approximately four or five tenors and basses. We started singing Madrigals and more secular types of music, but we now have quite a varied repertoire. We practise at Barry’s on Tuesday evenings and our concerts have been performed at various locations around the area, including Bury Parish Church .
Andantino have partnered Tooti Flooti (a semi-professional woodwind group) and played a number of concerts with them.
I thoroughly enjoyed singing at the Albert Hall in a Bolton Masonic Charity Concert in 2013, where we raised £5000 for Charity. We had previously done two other Masonic Charity ‘Grand Operatic Concerts’ in Bolton at the Civic Hall, with six professional Opera Singers in 2004/5.”
Peter and Celia Scanlon
Bass & Alto and also Andantino Members
Peter and Celia had sung with Hoylake Choral Society but their move to Bury and starting a family meant
that singing and other
social events were stalled for many years. When Peter was forty two, his midlife crisis event was to start to learn to play the trumpet. At the same time, their son was taking clarinet lessons from Carolyn who played in the Ramsbottom Orchestra and she suggested that he take his new skills along to the orchestra.
Unfortunately he then discovered that orchestral trumpet players were expected to transpose parts at sight so that they were playing in the right key. Discussing this, Barry suggested he join the choir, especially as the current work being rehearsed had no trumpet part, Peter then persuaded Celia that singing on Friday evenings was the perfect way to wind down after a busy week at work and they both joined in 1995 which was the year that the choir and orchestra performed Stainer’s “Crucifixtion” and Rutter’s “Magnificat”.
Anne Sugden
Soprano & Secretary
I joined Ramsbottom Choral Society in 1987, a few years after my husband became the Musical Director and had formed the Concert Orchestra.
I have sung in choirs all my life., through grammar school, as a music student at Bretton Hall Teacher Training College and Bradford Festival Choral Society with conductors such as Sir Charles Groves and Sir David Willcocks. When we moved to Bury, I first joined Bury Choral Society. Throughout my singing career I have been in large choirs and small madrigal ensembles, as an alto, a second soprano and for most of my singing career, as a first soprano. Before joining Ramsbottom Choral Society I had sung most of the major choral repertoire including one of the first performances of Britten’s War Requiem, and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms with Bradford Festival Choral Society.
Since that time, I have continued to enjoy learning new music and revisiting old favourites in Ramsbottom Choral Society.
I am a founder member of the Andantino Singers which was originally a semi-chorus group within the main choir with an interest initially as a madrigal group. It now has a wide-ranging repertoire from madrigals to popular light music.
The choral society and concert orchestra is a very welcoming and friendly group of people and I have made many good friends there.
We give performances to a very high standard and it is always a pleasure to perform with our own orchestra, which is a fairly unique feature among most choral societies such as ours.
We have a very loyal supportive audience who enjoy the wide style of music that we present throughout the year.
I have been the secretary of the society since 2008