Male Choir Birthday

Loveny Male Voice Choir's 50th anniversary Gala Celebration Concert in St. Neot's Parish Church.

Award-winning Loveny male voice choir is marking its 50th anniversary milestone this year with a special gala celebration and wants all to join in the celebrations. The Gala Celebration Concert will be held in typical style in St. Neot’s Parish Church, near Liskeard, on the evening of August 20th, commencing at 7.30pm under the masterful direction of Marcus Alleyne and with various special guests.

What started 50 years ago, as a conversation between local Cornishman Alan Pascoe and Jack Haley (the landlord at the London Inn in St. Neot at that time), is now going 50 strong with one of the founding members, Colin Arthur still very much active. In addition, founder, Alan’s son, Glyn and his son-in-law, Owain both passionately sing in the choir today.

The very first choir practice took place in the lounge at Carnglaze with a modest six men in attendance. Although, for what they lacked in numbers, they certainly made up for in enthusiasm. Alan’s wife, Pam Pascoe accompanied them on the piano and, as they had no resources, she had written the music out on wallpaper which was pinned to the chimney breast so everyone could read the music.

From those humble beginnings, the member numbers and confidence continued to grow exponentially. An ethos was quickly established, one that remains to this very day and that extends to the Ladies of Loveny, the members’ wives and partners.

Since its inception, all those decades ago, the Choir has enjoyed remarkable successes, such as winning the Cornwall County Male Voice Championship and the Wadebridge Music Festival on three occasions as well as singing in the Welsh Eisteddfod. They also sang live on BBC 1’s “Songs of Praise’ as well as BBC Spotlight and Radio Cornwall.