Cantare female choir win Hilda Bowrey Memorial Cup

Helen Golding and Jackie Holt with the Hilda Bowrey Memorial Cup

Cantare, a Rochdale based female choir, came first at the 113th Mid-Somerset Festival in Bath.

The choir, which is made up of 30 members, came first with a distinction in the Female Voice Choir Class winning them the Hilda Bowrey Memorial Cup.

The festival, which was held on Saturday 22 March, saw the choir enter two classes. In their second class, the Popular or Show Song class, the choir also
received a distinction.

During the festival, the choir were conducted by Michael Betteridge and accompanied by pianist Oly Chalker.

This was the first time the choir had entered the festival.

In the Female Voice Class, the choir sang two challenging modern pieces: ‘Songbird’ by Sarah Quartel and ‘Hope’ by Andrew Lippa.

In the Popular or Show Song Class, the choir sang ‘Big Spender’ by Cy Coleman and ‘Places’, a song about Manchester and Salford by conductor Michael Betteridge.

After their performances, festival adjudicator Dr Vivien Pike praised the choir for “their rich tone and wide dynamic range”.

The Mid-Somerset Festival is one of the oldest festivals in the country and runs for a fortnight in March. The festival incorporates a number of different
classes and culminates with a festival concert to celebrate the best performances from a number of disciplines.

Mr Bettterige, who also teaches with Rochdale Music Service, was delighted with the choir’s performance and now hopes to build on the choir’s success
by attracting more singers to take them from “strength to strength”.

The choir are now preparing for their summer concert, 'Songs from the Shows', which will take place on Saturday 12 July.

Anyone looking for further information regarding the choir or any potential new members can contact Sarina Ellis on 07891 207539.