Eversley Choir

Today's the day ..................... to join the chorus

It was Choral Celebration Day today at the week-long Mary Wakefield Westmorland Festival  here in Kendal.

Mary Wakefield, the daughter of a local banker, was born here in 1853. From her earliest years, she was a talented singer who, after training with notable London teachers, gave many charity concerts.  Barred by the conventions of the day from pursuing a career as a professional singer, she poured her love of music into a desire to make music more available to rural communities. She founded and trained a number of choirs in the villages around Kendal and brought them together for the first time in 1885 to take part in a “Singing Competition” to raise money for a local Church. The idea took hold and the Festival came into being.  She died in 1910 but her name and her Festival live on to this day.

It's a great chance to listen to other choirs - and to sing in front of your peers.  Nowadays, it's not a competition as such - more a celebration of the choral tradition.  But it wasn't always so.  I remember the days when marks were awarded and the rivalry between choirs could be very fierce.  There was huge delight one year when the 'best' choir in the County (and they knew it) was disqualified because their programme ran a couple of minutes over time!

I suppose it's much more PC that there are no winners - or losers - but I have to say that it brought a certain excitement to the proceedings when we were all locked in choral combat ........................