Are you someone who has a good singing voice and is looking for a local choir to become part of? If so, the ‘Brize Singers’ would love you to get in touch. No auditions are required, just simply come along to one of their weekly Monday night rehearsals, held at the Witney High Street Methodist Church, from 7.30 pm until 9.30pm.
The ‘Brize Singers’ have a long heritage of performing in the West Oxfordshire area. Founded in 1969, they were initially called the ‘RAF Brize Norton Singers’ and performed under the directorship of Flt Lt Bert Walker with his wife Barbara accompanying the singers on the piano. In the early days, the choir members were all RAF personnel and their wives, but it did not take long before civilians from the local community joined in too. For those of you who remember the late Hughie Green’s ITV programme ‘Opportunity Knocks’ you may remember seeing the choir perform on the programme. This led to the production of two LPs in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund and invitations to perform outside of the local area.
From 1974 until 2003, the RAF Brize Norton Community Centre provided the venue for the singers to rehearse but when the Centre was refurbished, a new home had to be found and they were offered the use of the Wesley Room at Witney’s Methodist Church. When the Choir moved venue, they reluctantly decided to also leave the umbrella of the RAF, changing their name to the ‘Brize Singer’s.’
Today the ‘Brize Singers’ is a mixed choir of all ages; they perform a large repertoire of songs and their talented Musical Director, Elliott Rooney, is always adding interesting new songs which can range from Andrew Lloyd Webber medleys to a poignant Ukrainian lullaby. Throughout lockdown when the choir was unable to rehearse at the Methodist Church, Elliott ensured they were still able to practice each week via Zoom, keeping the choir together and ready for the time when once again they could meet up without restrictions.
The longevity and success of this group of people is due to their love of singing and willingness to give their time, talent, and fine voices to concerts at the Witney Corn Exchange, Methodist Church, and Ducklington’s St Bartholomew’s Church. Usually, they aim to hold three concerts each year.
To find out more about the ‘Brize Singers’ visit brizesingers.org.uk or look at their Facebook page @brizesingers. Alternatively, email brizesingers50@gmail.com.
