One of the leading Male Voice Choirs in the Forest of Dean will be celebrating a landmark anniversary when they perform at the Cinderford Baptist Church next month.

Drybrook and District Male Voice Choir will take to the stage of the church on the evening of 8th September for a concert performance that marks their 70th anniversary. “Every single one of us is looking forward to our 70th anniversary concert, it promises to be a proud night for us all,” said Albert Curtis, who has been singing in the choir for eight years. “We’ll be singing a real mix of songs, we’ve got traditional male voice choir songs, songs from films as well as more contemporary songs. We’ll be joined on stage by the young members of the Cinderford Academy Brass Band who will be accompanying us on some of our songs. It’s very exciting to be joining forces with another local musical group, they’re a fantastic brass band and we’re looking forward to singing alongside them,” he added.

The choir rehearse every Wednesday evening and are on the look-out for new members. Albert continued: “We meet on every Wednesday in the choir room on Hawthorns Road in Drybrook. At present there’s 16 of us in the choir so we’re very keen to welcome new members to join us. We’re a very close-knit group, we’re all friends and enjoy each other’s company. Every Wednesday we get together and have a good laugh as well as work on our singing. Once we’ve finished rehearsing we always make time for a pint or two.”

In his time with the choir Albert has enjoyed many memorable performances. He explained: “It’s so hard to name a favourite one really. Every single time I get to share a stage with my friends and sing is a real privilege. I’m very proud to be a part of the choir, we’ve shared so many great times together.

“If you were to press me to name a favourite performance I’d certainly say the time we performed alongside the Monmouth Male Voice Choir would be somewhere near the top. We performed at a huge concert hall in Cardiff, it was a fantastic evening, one which we all look back on with a great deal of fondness. We used to go on tours over in Germany and Italy. It would be nice to think we could arrange another one in the next year or two as I know how popular they were with our members. The choir used to sing competitively, we’re hoping with a new influx of members we might be able to start that up again as well.

“Performing is a great thrill. The bigger the crowd the better as far as I’m concerned. Everyone gets a real buzz from seeing a packed-out venue, we’ll be hoping the people of the Forest of Dean come out to support us for our special evening.”