Masquerade Choir

Masquerade Youth Choir was formed in September 1999, by Barry Clark and Judith Tomlinson, both highly acclaimed musical directors who have had considerable success with junior and senior choirs.

The Youth Choir currently has around 55 members whose ages range from 11 to 18.

As well as attracting new singers directly into the Youth Choir, the Junior Choir acts as a training and feeder choir.

Choir members, many of whom commute some distance to rehersals and concerts, have to be prepared to commit themselves (and their families) to the choir during the year.It is recognised, however that scholastic activities must always take precedence.

The majority of the choir's public performances are at fundraising concerts which have helped to raise thousands of pounds for local organisations. The stature of the choir has, in its short life, grown such that choirs and other musical groups from both the UK and abroad are keen to meet and share concerts with them.

Their skills earned them an invitation to perform at Disneyland, Paris in September 2002 and compete in the Grand Final of the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year competition at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002.

Formed in September 2000, the intention of Masquerade Junior Choir is to provide training for the Youth Choir. They rehearse under the direction of Judith Tomlinson.

Masquerade are always interested to hear from keen and talented young singers, for either group, who are within reach of Kettering on Friday and concert evenings.

The Junior Choir attend and sing at concerts with the Youth Choir as well as performing at concerts in their own right and have a sample of their work included on the Masquerade CD The Junior Choir's first competive outing was in July 2002 at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod where, singing the set piece of Handel's "O Lovely Peace" and their own selection of Roy Bennett's arrangement of "Psalm 150" in the Junior Choirs class, they managed an excellent second place overall.

The Junior Choir returned to Llangollen in 2003 and they once again finished in a worthy 2nd place overall. Singing Nicholas Maw's "The Woodchuck" in addition to the set piece, "I will sing with the spirit" by John Rutter, the choir were beaten into second place by a single point by Ysgol Gerdd Ceredigion, once again proclaiming them England's best Junior Choir!

July 2004; and under the direction of Barry Clark, the Junior Choir were Masquerade's sole entry at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod due to heavy academic commitments within the Youth Choir's membership.Competing in the Junior Children's Choirs Class once again, the choir was made up of the more senior members of Masquerade Junior Choir and the youngest members of the Youth Choir.

The set piece for this year was Vincent Thomas' "The Tulip", a composition originally written in both Welsh and English with the option to perform it in either language. Masquerade chose a favourite, "Can You Hear Me?" by Bob Chilcott as their own selection. Singing last, Masquerade gave a polished performance which struck a chord with the adjudicators as they were judged to be the International Junior Choir of 2004 beating their main rivals, Ysgol Gerdd Ceredigion and Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth into a joint second place by 3 clear points.