Amadeus started in 2000, and is formed of a group of like-minded singers – everyone sings for enjoyment and pleasure. There is a photograph of the choir in 2002 at the bottom of this page.
We are a regular guest choir for services at Blackburn and Chester Cathedrals. We have sung in Liverpool, Durham and Wakefield Cathedrals, Southwell Minster, Hexham Abbey, Tewkesbury Abbey, Liverpool Town Hall, and even at the Liverpool Football Club ground at Anfield. We sang at Lancaster Priory for the High Sheriff of Lancashire’s Shield Ceremony, and were invited to Vienna for the International Conference of Radiologists.
We have visited Paris and sung in La Madeleine and Nôtre Dame. We have also sung in Venice (singing at Monteverdi’s burial place in the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa fei Frari), Granada, Segovia and Prague. We have sung evensongs at Clare College and Selwyn College, Cambridge, and Merton College, Oxford.
We visited Rome and sang a Saturday Evening Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, with a congregation of over 1,000. We sang the Sunday service at the Anglican Church in Rome, as well as giving a concert during the Re-Opening Celebrations at the Church of the Venerable English College.
Since 2000 we’ve given ten very profitable carol concerts in Ince Blundell (all ticket money and “pay to get out” donations have gone to Mary’s Meals, as well as numerous concerts in Lancashire, Cheshire and on the Wirral.
Below is a photograph taken at a concert in aid of Woodlands Hospice, on 8th March 2002, in Holy Trinity Church Hall, Formby – now our regular rehearsal space.
behind Barbara Lloyd, Karen Stark, Mike Moore, Gill Holroyd, Judith Welch, Mavis Kilby, Peter Turner, Michael Pitts, Liz White
in front Ros Bramwell, Hilary Stennings, Brian Lee, Tony Leigh, June Wright, Maggie Flodman, Mike Smithson, Ken Williams, Pat Williams, Rosalind McGonagle, David Holroyd
Our members include teachers (primary and secondary, state and independent), GPs, Consultants, Radiographers, Civil Servants (but never mind, they’ll get over it), Financial and Legal folk, as well as some retired folk who are actually too busy these days to have time to fit in a day job anyway.
All are amateur singers (in the real sense of the word: doing it for love, not for a living). There was once a musician amongst the tenors (well, someone had to bring some order to chaos … ), and of course our conductor, David Holroyd, whilst directing his friends in Amadeus for fun (did he say that? ) does have various other choirs to keep him busy. So much so that in the summer of 2019, he “retired”, after 33 years, from his day job as Director of Music at Merchant Taylors’ School in Crosby, Liverpool. We are also delighted to have Jon Barton as our regular accompanist.
We’ve sung in some big places …
… and been very privileged – but we work on the principle: if you don’t ask, you don’t get!
The two “biggest” being St Peter’s in Rome, and Notre-Dame in Paris.
It was very sad to see and watch the news unfold when Notre-Dame narrowly escaped complete destruction. Let’s hope one day we get the chance to sing in that marvellous place once again.
