FROM OUR BEGINNINGS
The choir’s origins were inauspicious. In the Autumn of 1898 six men, including Thomas Brough, gathered in the front parlour of a small house in Eustace Street, Warrington, to practise glee singing. They could never have imagined that their simple initiative would grow into one of Great Britain’s most altruistic choirs, the Warrington Apollo Male Voice Choir.
By the turn of the twentieth century, Warrington was home to another, rival male choir, the Warrington Male Voice Choir, formed in November 1900 by Samuel Hassall. The choirs were fiercely competitive, yet eventually amalgamated in December 1911 under the neutral title, Warrington Male Choral Union. This name remained for seventy years until 1981, when the decision was taken to name the choir Warrington Male Voice Choir.
TO THE PRESENT DAY
Following the IRA terrorist bombing of Warrington town centre in 1993, the choir became deeply involved in promoting peace and an end to violence in Northern Ireland. Close links were forged with Irish peace groups and for many years since, cross-community concerts for Peace and Reconciliation have been performed throughout the island of Ireland, helping to break down sectarian divisions. The fostering and financing of grassroots reconciliation activities with young people in the interface of West Belfast contributed to the choir’s initiatives being acknowledged at the highest level by the Irish, British and United States governments. In 1996 Terry Waite CBE became Patron in tribute to the choir’s humanitarian role, and now frequently supports the choir’s performances in British and Irish prisons, assisting rehabilitation programmes. During 2008 the choir was shortlisted for Ireland’s prestigious peace prize, the Tipperary International Peace Award.
Fellowship within the choir is legendary and, with a full strength of around forty-five to fifty voices and an average age range of sixty-eight years, the choir enjoys an international reputation as one of England’s foremost choirs – and as a ‘Choir for Peace’.
Biography:
Alfred Higson
Read more about our most renowned former conductor
Competition Successes
A record of all of our successes through the years
The Cavaillé-Coll Organ
Find out more about this spectacular instrument and how it links in with our history.
Testimonials
Read testimonials and reviews, from members of the public and visitors of the site, about the Choir.
The Choir has a long and distinguished history. Its roots are deep within the Christian tradition. It was nourished within a small industrial town in the North of England. Across the generations, men from every walk of life have blended their voices together to make music. There have been times in the history of Warrington when life has seemed dark indeed. Times when unemployment with all its attendant evils has stalked the town. In good times, as in bad, the Choir has continued in the belief that music has the capacity to raise our sprits to a higher plane and to breathe harmony into troubled souls.
OUR PEOPLE
It’s who we are. Find out more about us.
