Our Committee Members

Roy became our Chairman in 2024, having joined the choir in 2015, and comes with experience from various choirs that he has been a part of.

Roy recognises that the challenges of rehearsal, with practice, soon turn to the rewards of performances in such diverse venues as Tewkesbury Abbey, the Kingsholm Stadium and even the corn fields where the choir was filmed for an episode of Clarkson’s Farm 2.

As Chairman, Roy hopes that we continue to delight audiences with polished performances and varied songs. Now that he’s done with ballroom dancing, Roy has taken up croquet at the tender age of 91!

Following nine years of singing with the Mill Singers MVC of Dorset, Anthony moved north to Gloucestershire and joined the Cotswold MVC. Recognising that choral singing produces positive endorphins is one benefit Anthony appreciates, along with the fun and camaraderie. Anthony hopes to see the choir maintain and enhance a diverse band of singers, across a wider age range and for the future of our performances, to perhaps include entertaining ‘snippets’ between sets of songs….Over to you Anthony! Anthony appeared on the TV quiz show ‘Eggheads’ and luckily managed to outwit Judith Keppel, the first winner of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

On the evening of the 20th November 2021 at the ripe old age of 70, John was at his local pub, the Kemble Brewery Inn, celebrating a fine win for his beloved Cheltenham Town FC. When a group of guys in the pub began making music and singing, being the free spirit John is, he gleefully joined in. One fellow by the name of Rip, liked what he heard and before John knew it, he had been press-ganged into joining the Cotswold MVC. John feels passionate about singing with his new friends and alikens the experience to being part of a winning team. John also enjoyes genealogy and going to music gigs to support up and coming independant artists and bands. 

For Alan, first is cricket and here he is pictured at The Oval in London. Second, is choir and Alan joined the CMVC in 2022 saying, “I enjoy the camaraderie and especially, performing at great venues such as Tewkesbury Abbey and Worcester Cathedral. For the future success of the choir, Alan hopes that we give lots more memorable concerts from memorable venues. For those who have seen the film ‘Chariots of Fire’, try and spot Alan somewhere in the crowd scenes at the ‘Paris Olympic Stadium’. It was filmed at the Oval (not the famous one), the sports centre close to his school, where a group of cheeky sixth formers bunked off to don boaters and blend in with the rest of the extras!

Guy Joined the choir in late 2021 and has been a Baritone since his voice broke in 1976. Having sung in his school choir and choral society (and a couple of school musicals including Guys and Dolls, in which he played Sky Masterson), he then didn’t sing in public for over thirty years. Thirty years on, it was when humming a tune whilst playing golf that Guy was asked by a golf buddy if he’d ever thought of joining a choir, the rest, as they say, is history. Guy thoroughly enjoys singing in the choir – even though sometimes the words don’t stick in his brain as well as they might. He occasionally picks up his old trombone and honks a tune, but it’s the choir that has really brought music back into his life. Definitely more of a ‘Tigger’ than an ‘Eeyoor’ Guy’s enthusiasm sometimes leads to him singing too loudly. Go on Guy, give it some!

Patrick joined the choir in 2022 having moved to the Cotswolds the previous year. At his secondary school, any boy that could sing a note was without question going to join the choir. Fortunately, the trauma of being forced to sing in public as a child didn’t put him off. Fast forward to London 2014 where Patrick sang for a season with the electrifying ‘Some Voices’, the end of season performance being at the infamous Rivoli Ballroom. Now being older and greyer, he has discovered the joy of male choral singing and says, ‘when we get it right and the harmonies are layering beautifully, all of your cares just fade away’. Patrick can be heard humming or singing almost everywhere he goes, in a previous life he was an amateur House DJ and played the private party scene in 90’s London, travelling as far as New York to buy rare vinyl.

An avid reader with an enticing book, a walk with dog Pebble, dining out – especially enjoying French and Italian cuisine, playing the piano since the age of four, singing, music, music, all happily contribute to Charmaine’s life today. Travelling is often on her mind, having visited European countries, America and the UAE, Devon, Wales and Scotland hold a special place in her heart too!

She has always enjoyed studying, gaining teaching qualifications at St. Mary’s College and Reading University, with an added strand of singing to examination level with ABRSM (Cardiff University). Classroom teaching as Head of Music in Gloucestershire schools, conducting choirs, instrumental ensembles, orchestras and wind bands, along with composing and arranging music, have brought many experiences with a deep love of all things musical!

Frances trained in piano and voice at the Royal College of Music and spent thirty-three years in Zimbabwe, both teaching and as a soloist and musical director for shows and classical works. Her last full-time post was as Musical Director of Peterhouse Schools.

Since returning to England, Frances has taught privately, is the accompanist for the Cheltenham Youth Choir and most recently is now involved with the charity Mindsong. She says, “The most rewarding two hours of my week is spent playing for the wonderful Cotswold Male Voice Choir, I’ve been their accompanist for the past twelve years”.

Her years in Africa have made Frances a tough cookie, she’s ridden an elephant through the bush and walked with lions…..all excellent training for accompanying fifty hyenas once a week!

Tim joined the choir in 2015 following a concert held jointly between the
CMVC and a scratch choir from GE Aviation, where he worked at the time. The project culminated in a fantastic multi-choir charity concert held at Cheltenham Town Hall.

Tim said, “It was quite daunting,
standing on the stage in front of a hall full of people for the first time”. He enjoyed singing with the choir so much that he joined full-time and has never looked back.

Like other choir members, this was Tim’s first experience of singing in a choir for many years. He enjoys singing with our friendly and diverse group and the opportunity to perform in a wide range of interesting venues; but none as
big or prestigious as Cheltenham Town Hall!