police male voice choir

Forewordby Brian KenwellChairman, Police Male Voice Choir(incorporating the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC Male Voice Choir)THE PAST FEW YEARS have seen the choir’sannual concert take place in the Spires at ChurchHouse. Due to ongoing refurbishment the venue hasnot been available to us this year and we are indebted to thePrincipal and Board of Governors of the Royal BelfastAcademical Institution for allowing us the use of their excellentfacilities for tonight’s concert.Joining us tonight for the first time is the Northern Ireland Fireand Rescue Service Concert Band under their Director of Music,Martin Wall. The band is in great demand across the provinceand we are delighted they are able to be with us this evening. Iknow you will enjoy their input which will showcase the breadthof their repertoire.Once again we are privileged to have Gene Fitzpatrick as ourcompere. Gene has become a firm favourite with our audiences andI know he will entertain you tonight with his unique style of humour.Those of you who were at our concert in 2009 will remembersoprano Rachael Jones who at that time was a pupil ofHunterhouse College. Rachael is with us again tonight havingcome over from Manchester where she is studying to become aprofessional singer. You will find more information aboutRachael on page 11.Last September Charles Black, who is a founder member of thechoir and has been our conductor for the past fifteen years,retired from his role as conductor. We are deeply indebted toCharles for his commitment to the choir which is evidenced bythe fact that he has chosen to stay with the choir and give us thebenefits of his superb tenor voice.We were fortunate to acquire the services of Mark McGrath asour conductor from the commencement of our season lastSeptember. Mark comes from a family with policingconnections, his grandfather, Andrew Forbes, was a formerDirector of Music of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Band. Youwill find more details of Mark’s career on page 10.I hope you will enjoy our concert as much as we enjoyperforming for you.3

RACHAEL JONESRACHAEL HAS PERFORMED (both acting andsinging) in various venues throughout NorthernIreland. However, from the young age of 14 shestarted to develop a love of classical music and her dream is tobecome a professional classical singer and perform in operasand oratorios etcA former pupil of Hunterhouse College she was very successfulin singing competitions and at the age of fourteen, was theyoungest ever to compete in and win the Grand Opera section ofthe Carrickfergus Music Festival when competing against adults.In 2006 she became a member of the New Lyric OperaCompany where she performed in productions of ‘42nd Streetand ‘The Merry Widow’ at the Grand Opera House. She hasalso performed with the company as a soloist in concerts atvenues throughout Northern Ireland.Since performing at the Police Male Voice Choir’s AnnualConcert in 2009, Rachael has gone on to study at the RoyalNorthern College of Music in Manchester where she is now inher second year.During her time in Manchester she has performed in no less than threeoperas: ‘La Belle Helene’, ‘La Clamenza Di Tito’ and ‘Carmen’.She is at present in rehearsals for opera ‘Vanessa’ to be stagedin April.Last year she was also chosen to go on tour with the Operetta‘The Merry Widow’. This is all on top of her studying!Rachael is delighted to be asked back once again to perform atthe choir’s annual concert. She will be singing a selection ofMusical and light classical songs.11

Northern ireland fire & rescueservice (NIFRS) concert banDTHE BAND was originally formed in March 2005with 8 players - 3 serving Firefighters and 5 relativesof staff - as a wind Concert Band performing a widerange of musical styles and genres. They have a currentmembership of around 45 comprising current and former NIFRSpersonnel from both operational and support roles as well asmany members from outside the Service. Band members comefrom all walks of life, ages, abilities and musical backgroundsand give their time voluntarily to attend weekly rehearsals andengagements. The Band plays numerous engagementsthroughout the year, notably including the Royal Garden Party atHillsborough Castle for the last number of years. They also playat events in support of charities such as Marie Curie Cancer Care,Ulster Cancer Foundation and Mary Peters Trust as well as onrequest at fundraising and social events.Martin Wall – Musical DirectorMartin has been Musical Director of NIFRS Band since October2009. He studied French Horn at Trinity College of Music,London. He went on to play with a variety of orchestras andensembles in London and around the U.K. including a numberof West End Musicals. In 1993, Martin was pleased to beoffered the post of Principal 2nd Horn with the Ulster Orchestraand since then has been involved in numerous concerts,recordings and broadcasts for both radio and television. He isvery involved in teaching and education work in Belfast andvery proud to be given the opportunity to conduct NorthernIreland Fire and Rescue Service Concert Band.To request the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue ServiceConcert Band to play at an event or to enquire about vacancieswithin the Band, find contact details at www.nifrs.org in theAbout NIFRS section.The band appears with the kind permission of the Chief Fire Officer.13