One of Mendip Male Voice Choir’s pieces is ‘What would I do without my Music’, reflecting what members have been thinking over the past months since lockdown began.

‘Let all men sing’ is another piece, and so the men have been, albeit alone at home, practising with their backing tracks produced for each section by the Musical Director, Jamie Knights. Wherever you are is being sung by each – wherever he is!

As you will no doubt realise, the Mendip Male Voice Choir has had to cancel all its rehearsals on Monday evenings in St. Mary’s School, Timsbury, as well as all its summer concerts and the annual tour, which this year would have been to Wales. The only consolation is that all non-professional choirs are in the same position.

The decision has now been made, in light of the recent Government restrictions, to cancel all our winter concerts and we don’t know when we will be able to meet to rehearse again. In the meantime, the Musical Director produces a weekly Newsletter, part of which encourages members to rehearse and watch out for points he has raised before.

Some members have made a voice recording which Jamie has put together to give members an idea of how we sound as a choir (it is also good to hear how the individual member sounds when he plays it back before sending it to Jamie). A few have used Zoom to keep in touch as well as reverting to the ‘usual telephone’ call, or a round of golf!

So, we stay in touch with each other as, besides the singing, we all miss the camaraderie of rehearsing together each week.

Another choral piece is ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’, so why don’t you have a look at our website: www.mendipmen.co.uk and keep watching for when the choir returns to rehearsals and hopefully, to concerts, in 2021. Come and join us – no testing, just a sing of Happy Birthday to establish where in the choir you would fit – no subs for the first term, and a host of men to make you welcome. Martin B Dymond