for charities & good causes
for charities & good causes
JOINING US IS EASY!
So – you or a man you know sings in the shower, sings along in the car and sings at the game – but singing in a choir sounds like a step too far? Well it isn’t! Our choir was founded 90 years ago by guys who loved singing when going to work, whilst at work and in the pub afterwards. They hadn’t a clue about how music was written or how to sing together to make just one brilliant choral sound – so when someone offered to teach them and get them on a stage they jumped at the chance. It’s just the same today and we offer a chance to learn how to sing all sorts of songs and join in our annual programme of concerts all over East Kent, the UK and abroad. We welcome young and old with or without any experience, give you a great hobby at very low cost and a very varied social life. Contact us to have a chat and come along to one of our rehearsals on Monday evenings in Aylesham, between Dover and Canterbury. Although we are a thriving choir we are always on the look-out for new voices!
Calendar
Click ‘Agenda’ to see events in a list
Contact us
Email directly to secretary@snowdown-choir.co.uk or complete and submit the form below
Rehearsals
Aylesham Workshop Trust
Ackholt Road
Aylesham
CT3 3AJ
Most Mondays 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. - check our calendar above
About us
The Snowdown Choir was formed in 1929 by John Yorath, a Welshman, who was the choir-master of St. Peter’s
Church Aylesham, and the choir has now been based in the village for 90 years.
The opening of the new Kent Coalfield, at the start of the 20th Century, brought miners from all over the British Isles, anxious to find work. Many were from South Wales and Yorkshire, and they brought with them strong choral traditions. Soon the collieries at Snowdown, Betteshanger, Tilmanstone and Chislet all boasted male voice choirs, and in 1948, all four choirs combined to give a concert at The Royal Albert Hall in London. Sadly, the Snowdown Choir is now the only one left.
In its time the choir has given more than 2000 concerts at venues, as small as Tilmanstone church and as large as The Royal Albert Hall, in towns and villages in England and Wales as well as France, Belgium and Holland. During these events, the choir has raised in excess of £1,000,000 for worthy causes.
Although originally a miners’ choir, the closure of the coalfield means that we now draw our members from all walks of life and from a wide area of Kent. (Some of our singers do a round trip of over 50 miles to attend practices.)
We are proud of the choir’s heritage but also looking to the future, building and developing what is a thriving community choir.