We Lifted The Cup!!

At our first public outing of 2025 we came away with a cup!

A couple of weeks ago, we had a fantastic time engaging with and competing with other choirs at the Mid-Somerset Festival. We performed two song sets, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, alongside the other choirs. The event took place at St. Swithin's Church in Bath, an excellent venue with incredible acoustics.

After every session, one of the adjudicators delivered a detailed appraisal of each choir's performances!

Musical Director Kate Courage and Chairman Richard Luscombe celebrate with the trophy at the Mid-Somerset Festival.

For the Show Song class, Kate Courage, our musical director, chose Anthem, from the

musical Chess by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, followed by Rhythm of Life from the Broadway musical Sweet Charity.

For the Male Voice Choirs class, Kate chose Thankful by Josh Groban and Chattanooga Choo Choo composed by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon.

In the Show Song class, the Mendip Men were awarded a score of 84 per cent. Adjudicator Tim Parker praised us for our “wonderfully warm sound” and diction, noting that

there were some amazing rolled rrrs! in Rhythm of Life. He specifically praised the accompanists and musical directors of all three choirs for their important roles in the choir performances, recognising the vital contributions of both Kate and accompanist Dominic Irving, who joined the choir less than six months ago.

We certainly had something to smile about!

To lift the Arthur Trowbridge Cup for the Male Voice class, we needed to up our game to score at least 85 per cent. Adjudicator Parker praised our performance of Thankful, noting that, “A great performance is one that makes the listener feel something and that we believe what we hear – I believed you.”

Chattanooga Choo Choo, when performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra was the

first song to be awarded a gold record back in 1942 and it proved to be a trophy moment for us at the festival, with Tim Parker praising our tuning balance and diction.

With an overall score of 87 per cent, we were awarded honours and lifted the Arthur Trowbridge Cup. “I’m really proud of what the Gentlemen have achieved today”, said Kate, “We’ve worked hard on diction, quiet singing, loud singing and a good overall musical performance and it is really satisfying that this has been recognised.”

“It shows what hard work and determination can achieve”, said choir chairman

Richard Luscombe, It will help to set us up for our summer season of concerts which

continue in May.”

Take a look here at our full concert schedule up to September and get dates in your diaries.