Wales is known as the land of song and is synonymous with male voice choirs. But here in Gloucestershire there’s several male voice choirs that could give their welsh counterparts a run for their money. One of the most established and successful choirs in the south-west is the Gloucestershire Police Male Voice Choir, who will be getting back to rehearsing for their upcoming performances early next month.

The members of the Gloucestershire Police Male Voice Choir get together every week of the year for rehearsals, except during August when most of the singers book their annual holiday. “We’ve a few weeks off now to give our vocal chords a much-needed rest,” says Jeff Johns, Chairman of the choir. “2018 has been another great year for the choir, with so many memorable performances already." Jeff added. 

Anyone looking to join the choir is welcome to attend a weekly rehearsal session, even if they’re not employed by the police force. Jeff continued: “My neighbours were both policemen, they took me along to a concert as a guest. I joined in singing a few songs and from there they asked me if I’d like to join. That was 15 years ago. There’s 60 of us in the choir at the moment. There’s no limit on membership and we’re always keen to welcome new faces to the choir. You don’t need to have any association to the police, if you’re keen to sing we’d love to hear from you.

The choir have been going since 1970 and since those first performances have been fortunate enough to have performed in several countries. Jeff continued: “Before I joined the choir the guys flew to America to tour in California. They still talk about the trip with so much fondness all these years later. Friendships were made that are still going strong today. Another trip the choir did was to Germany which was another memorable experience.

“Every year we go away for three or four days and squeeze in as many performances as we can. In April this year we went to Llandudno and sang at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral which was just a spectacular setting. The building itself was incredible, it’s not a traditional cathedral, in fact it was built in the 20th century. After our performance at Liverpool we sang at Chester Cathedral on our way back to Gloucestershire, that was another fantastic performance.

“Singing with so many friends is an enormous privilege. We’re a close-knit group, we see each other most weeks of the year at rehearsals. We’re more like a family really.”

2020 will be a very special year for the vocal group, who will be celebrating a significant anniversary. Jeff added: “For our 50th anniversary what we’re planning to do is arrange four of five concerts in our home county. We’re going to be singing at venues in the Forest of Dean, Cheltenham, Gloucester and maybe Cirencester and Stroud as well. 50 years is a major anniversary, we’re all looking ahead to 2020 with real excitement.”