Men's chorus calls for new members to take part in Coventry concert

Two students from Coventry University are calling for new members to join the men’s chorus that they have recently formed for a special public performance in the city in May.

Seb Farrall, 20, from Bristol and Jon Welling, 21, from Colchester are both in their final year studying music at the University’s School of Art and Design and are planning the one-off concert at the city’s Albany Theatre as part of this year’s University degree show.

The annual arts showcase is set to exhibit the original work of Coventry University’s latest wave of creative talent over several weeks at various city venues and beyond between April and June this year.

Musicians Seb and Jon first worked together on a piano and percussion duet back in 2011 and, having collaborated on a number of projects since then, decided to work together on an ambitious undertaking to mark the end of their time at the University.

Inspired by Gareth Malone’s hugely popular BBC TV show The Choir, the duo resolved to form their own all male singing group MenCho (an abbreviation of Men’s Chorus) for a barnstorming public show in the city later this year.

MenCho have recruited several members already and rehearsals have begun but Seb and Jon are looking for more willing volunteers, whatever their ability, to sign up.  Further weekly rehearsals will be taking place in the lead up to May’s concert and the plan is for the chorus to do a few informal shows before the big event.

Music student and MenCho co-founder Seb Farrall said:

To sign off as students here Jon and I wanted to do something bold for the degree show and we thought a boisterous, enthusiastic all male chorus was suitably ambitious. We’re looking forward to making some great music and we’ll have a rock band accompanying us in May.

It should be a fantastic show but we’d like to recruit more men for the chorus itself. We appreciate that the thought of singing on stage might be daunting for some but we’d liken the experience to a football match. Just think of the camaraderie that exists at grounds across the country. That’s the kind of atmosphere we’re trying to create with our chorus!

MenCho collaborator Jon Welling said:

We welcome singers of all abilities and we’re not holding auditions as such – any man can come along and join in at our rehearsals.  The more outgoing and accomplished will have the opportunity to perform solos if they wish while the less experienced will gain confidence singing together in a group.

We hope men in the city will see this as great opportunity to take part in a unique musical event and hopefully to have a lot of fun along the way.

Rehearsals for MenCho take place on Monday evenings between 7pm and 9pm at The Salvation Army, Coventry City Corps, Upper Well Street, Coventry, CV1 4AG.

Further information about MenCho can be found at their website www.mencho.co or by emailing Seb (Seb@MenCho.co) or Jon (Jon@MenCho.co) directly. MenCho also have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/menchocov and can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/menchocov.

MenCho’s concert will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 19 May at the Albany Theatre, Butts Road, Coventry. 

For further information, please contact Mark Farnan, communications assistant, Coventry University, on +44 (0)24 7765 8245 or email mark.farnan@coventry.ac.uk.