The Dursley Male Voice Choir are making the short journey over to Cheltenham on Friday to perform at the Pittville Pump Room.

In a programme titled ‘An Autumn Serenade’, Dursley Male Voice Choir will be joined by the touring Mendip Male Voice Choir from East Somerset. The Gloucestershire Federation of Women’s Institutes, made up of some 150 WIs and over 5000 members, is sponsoring the concert to raise funds for the WI’s Denman College, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

Stan Unwin, who has been singing in the choir for 14 years, says the performance on Friday is going to be one of the highlights of the choir’s year.

He said: “We’re particularly pleased to be singing alongside the Mendip Male Voice Choir, they’re a top-quality choir. The Pittville Pump Room is a fantastic location, we’re all tremendously excited ahead of what’s going to be a great performance.

“We’ll be singing an interesting programme of songs such as hymns and songs from Elvis Presley and The Beatles.”

Stan joined the Dursley Male Voice Choir in 2004 and has gone on to sing at some of the leading performance venues in the country.

He explained: “I’m a relative newcomer, a lot of the members have been singing in the choir for decades. One day I was pottering about in the garden when a friend of mine walked past. We were chatting and he explained to me he’d just come back from Poland. I asked him what he’d been doing over in Poland and he told me he’d been singing with a male voice choir.

“He then invited me to an open evening for the Dursley Male Voice Choir. I went along, and the choir were rehearsing for a concert in the Royal Albert Hall. Their singing made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, I was so impressed. I did a voice test with the choir and soon after I joined the baritone section of the choir.

“We rehearse every Wednesday evening. In an average year we perform anywhere from 10-15 times. We’ve performed at some incredible venues, both here in Gloucestershire and much further afield. Gloucester Cathedral is always a joy to sing in, it’s a very special place. The acoustics in these old buildings are outstanding.

“Bath Abbey would be another of my favourite venues to have sang at. The last time we performed there the abbey was full of American and Japanese tourists who seemed to really enjoy our singing which was nice. To put smiles on the faces of our audiences is always pleasing.”

The Dursley Male Voice Choir are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and have a busy programme of performances in the next few months. After Friday’s concert in Cheltenham the choir will be preparing for their next performance in Tetbury next month then their attention will turn to their Christmas concerts at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre and Dursley’s Lister Hall.