Press Release
Thursday 8th December 2011

Bath’s popular Male Choir will be special guests at the annual BBC Radio Bristol Carol Service this year.

This brings to a close another busy year with a 90 strong Choir who hit the national headlines when they reached the finals of the BBC’s ‘Last Choir Standing’ series. The TV show has since been screened across the world prompting emails to the Choir’s founder conductor Grenville Jones from as far a field as Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

One Australian fan even made a special visit to Bath in October so he could attend a Choir rehearsal and hear the ‘Boys from Bath’ first hand.

Other concert performances this year have included a highly successful visit to France, a memorable concert in Bath Abbey with the famous RAF Central Band raising £10,000 for Help for Heroes and the recent annual concert in The Forum, Bath, with Lee Mead.

The Radio Bristol Carol Service always attracts a capacity audience and next Wednesday (December 14th) over a thousand people will head for the Clifton College Chapel where the Christmas concert will be recorded.

Grenville Jones has been asked to lead the audience carols and Bath Male Choir will perform two seasonal items. The readings are taken by Radio Bristol Presenters and special guests.

Says Grenville :

“It is a great pleasure to be asked to sing for Radio Bristol.

“they have always been great supporters of our Choir and we are looking forward hugely to the concert which will be broadcast on Christmas Day.”

Full details of the Choir on www.bathmalechoir.org

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Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.

Bath’s famous Male Choir will be holding an open evening on Tuesday September 20th for all men who want to know more about the enjoyment of singing in the Choir.
 
Founded by Grenville Jones five years ago, Bath Male Choir hit the headlines when they reached the finals of the BBC’s Last Choir Standing series. This popular Saturday night TV show attracted a TV audience of millions and from that moment Bath Male Choir has gone from strength to strength.
 
Not only did the TV show establish a supporter base across the United Kingdom but emails flooded in from as far a field as South Africa, New Zealand and Australia as the series has been screened world-wide in the last few months.
 
The Choir always has a busy concert schedule and their annual show this year will be on Saturday November 5th at the Bath Forum when their guest will be ‘Any Dream Will Do’ winner Lee Mead.
 
The open night is at Beechen Cliff Methodist Church and Grenville is particularly hoping to attract younger men to go along for a taster of just what is so special about singing with a male choir.
 
He said :
 
“We now have a membership of over 90 singers who come from across the area. We are working on a new repertoire for the concert with Lee Mead and will be singing one number with Lee that night.
 
“Next year we have an invitation to visit Cornwall and the Choir diary is already filling up for 2012.
 
“Singing is a great hobby so if you always sing along in your car or serenade when you are in the shower, come along on September 20th and discover the best hobby in the world.”
 
Tickets are on sale at Bath Box Office on 01225 463362.
 
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Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.

PRESS RELEASE - Thursday, 26th May, 2011

Two of the UK’s best known TV celebrity singers, Lee Mead and Rhydian Roberts will be appearing in Bath over the coming months. Under the title TV Favourites the concerts are promoted by Bath’s own music man, Grenville Jones.
 
They will appear at the Bath Forum in Southgate where Grenville has staged hugely successful sell-out shows with artistes like Katherine Jenkins, Hayley Westenra, Alfie Boe and Aled Jones in the past.

Lee Mead was performing in The Phantom of the Opera when he auditioned for the BBC series Any Dream Will Do to play Joseph. He won the role of Joseph nine weeks later. Bookings for Joseph for the first three months  sold out and the producers extended the show's run by a year.

Lee Mead will be in Bath on Saturday November 5th and Rhydian Roberts will be the star on a Christmas show on Saturday December 10th.

The album followed and achieved double gold status.

Lee Mead returned to the West End in 2010 taking on the role of Fiyero in the musical Wicked, however on his ‘day’s off’ he focused on pursuing a solo singing career which saw him touring around Britain. This culminated in 2010 with a highly successful evening at the London Coliseum in December.

Earlier this year he performed live on BBC1 to millions at Twickenham Stadium during the England 6 Nations Rugby and is looking forward to touring in Japan later in 2011.

This will be his first visit to Bath for what is sure to be a sell-out show. The concert will also feature a host of new numbers from the popular Bath Male Choir as well as the award winning Bristol Musical Youth.

Rhydian Roberts is a classically trained Welsh singer who first came to the public's attention through his spellbinding performances on X Factor. His first album, entitled 'Rhydian', went double platinum and his second, 'O Fortuna', was nominated in the Classical BRITS for Best Album of the Year 2010.
 
His repertoire draws on every genre and style; the high energy pop & rock of 'Go West' and 'Somebody To Love'; the heart-stirring musical theatre of 'Somewhere' and 'The Impossible Dream'; the classical purity of 'Benedictus' and 'Adiemus' to the very Welsh 'Myfanwy' and 'Yma O Hyd'.

He has become known for the power and sensitivity of his voice, for passion which captivates and for performances so exhilarating they leave his audience entranced. He is one of the most exciting live stage performers in the World.

He comes from a background in Wales where he was surrounded by choirs and choral music. The Bath Chorus and fabulous Stockingtops will give the show some local vocal sparkle.
 
Says Grenville:
 
“Lee and Rhydian Roberts have massive reputations as live stage performers. Both these concerts will be absolutely fantastic nights to remember. They will promoted across the West of England and will bring hundreds to the city to enjoy the very best of popular music.”
 
Tickets for all the Forum Shows are now on sale at Bath Box Office 01225 463362 or see www.grenvillejones.biz

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PLEASE NOTE : Rhydian Roberts but be promoted as Rhydian Roberts and not just Rhydian – thank you. Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 0777 828 2934.

Last Choir Standing’s famous Bath Male Choir will be singing on Saturday July 2 at All Saints Church, Weston super Mare. All proceeds are for the Golden-Oldies charity, that brings music and laughter to hundreds of elderly people across the West of England. The concert starts at 7-30pm. And features soprano soloist Charlotte Newstead. The Goldies as it has become known has attracted world-wide media attention. Sir Cliff Richard is the patron. There is popular Goldies session at Martindale Court every Tuesday morning in the town. Goldies founder is Grenville Jones. He is also the conductor of Bath Male Choir which he started in January 2006. Two years later, with numbers around the 60 mark Grenville entered his choir for the BBC's Last Choir Standing series. The rest, as they say, is history! The Choir reached the top five and were supported by millions of viewers across the UK. One of the judges, Russell Watson, dubbed them, "The Wall of Sound" and concert requests flooded in. Since that time the BBC has shown the Last Choir Standing Series around the world and Bath Male Choir have supporters as far away as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

In the last five years, Bath Male Choir has raised many thousands of pounds for local and National Charities. For the last two years the Choir have travelled to London to perform at the Prostate Cancer Charity’s major Christmas Concert at St John’s Smith Square, Westminster.  They have recently sang at  Wells Cathedral and Bath Abbey, supporting the Help For Heroes Charity, raising over £10,000 in March with the RAF Central Band.

The guest soloist is soprano Charlotte Newstead from Bristol who read music at the University of Bristol, graduating with a Masters Degree with distinction in Early Music.

She regularly appears as a soloist with orchestras around the UK performing such works as Strauss's Four Last Songs, Mozart's Concert Arias, Bach cantatas and Villa Lobos's Bachianas Brasilieras.

She has sung in venues throughout the UK from Snape Maltings, St Martin in the Fields and Dorchester Abbey to Salisbury Cathedral, Bath Abbey and Petersfield Festival Hall.

Tickets are priced £8 (no concessions) available from Heritage Café (in Weston super Mare) or call 01761 472468

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Please contact Grenville Jones on 0777 828 2934

A new youth choir project, for boys and girls aged 8-16 years will be started by Grenville Jones in June. It will launch in Bath with an open night on Tuesday June 21 and an invitation to parents and young people to go along and find out more. 

CHOIRSkool will be on Tuesday nights from 4-6pm at St Bart’s Church in Oldfield Park. 

The CHOIRSkool year will be divided into four 12 week terms.
 
Grenville already leads a number of highly successful music projects in the area including the mixed-voice Bath Chorus, the Last Choir Standing Bath Male Choir, the Stockingtops and Good Afternoon Choirs in both Bath and Devizes.

He is also the founder of the Golden-Oldies Charity which brings music and singing to hundreds of elderly folk across the west each week. Goldies, as it has become known, has attracted world-wide media coverage. Sir Cliff Richard is the Goldies Patron.
 
Grenville explains the background to his new project.
 
“Parents as well as grandparents have been asking me for a long time if I would consider starting a choir for children and young people.
 
“CHOIRSkool will be for everyone. There will be no auditions. I want to give boys and girls the chance to learn all about harmony singing as well as rhythm.
 
“There is a huge interest in singing and CHOIRSkool will be all about having fun through music. It will give young people from 8-16 the chance to learn to sing all types of music from glee to gospel and pop to praise.
 
“Some of the many talented young local musicians will be working with me. The accent will be learning at a pace to suit all and there will be concerts and events right from the start.
 
“Singing can be enjoyed by all age groups. I know that all too well through my work with all my other groups.
 
“Our open night on Tuesday June 21 from 4pm- 6pm is an opportunity for everyone to come along and find out why CHOIRSkool is going to be different!“
 
Grenville Jones also conducts the Norland College student choir, which has been invited to sing at the Mayor-Making ceremony in Bath Abbey on Saturday June 4. Find out more about all of his projects on www.grenvillejones.biz

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PRESS RELEASE -Thursday, February 17, 2011
    
The SouthGate in Bath will resound with golden music through the afternoon of this year’s Bath Half Marathon on Sunday March 6.
 
For the first time this year a live music stage from 12 noon through to 4 pm featuring top local bands and musicians.
 
The Nutricia Stage is organised by The Golden-Oldies Charity. Goldies, as they have become known, are the 2011 Bath Half Local Charity of the Year and the music stage was the idea of Goldies Founder, Grenville Jones.
 
Says Grenville;
 
“As a Charity we bring together hundreds of elderly people each week, encouraging them to sing, smile and have fun togethee. I thought it would be great to have a live music stage as part of Baths massive Sunday celebrations when there are thousands of people on the streets of the city.
 
“I would like to particularly thank the SouthGate management who have been so supportive and of course Nutricia UK who are not only sponsoring the stage but also our team of runners.”
 
The music line-up will include well-known singer Gavin Lazurus, the Zen Hussies, the Ali Baba’s barbershop group, Claire Miller and stage compare will be Imogen Sellers from BBC West.  
 
The Golden-Oldies Charity launched a £100,000 appeal in January to double the number of singing sessions it delivers this year. A recent independent report from the University of Bath praised the work of the Charity and the positive effect it is having on the lives of those who attend the sessions.

Grenville Jones is one of the Goldies runners, support the charity on-line www.golden-oldies.org.uk

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For press enquieries please call 0777 828 2934

For the third consecutive year Golden-Oldies founder Grenville Jones has featured in the Bath Chronicle "People of the Year " awards.
 
The newspaper which celebrated its own 250th anniversary this year, lists a host of categories with Olympic Gold medallist Amy Williams named as Woman of the Year alongside Bath businessman Andrew Brownsword, Bath Man of the Year.
 
Grenville won Bath Man of the Year two years ago for  his work in starting  the Golden-Oldies charity. He was named as a runner-up last year and is listed as a runner-up again this year. The Chronicle says;
 
Grenville Jones - You can't keep a good man down  and this year he has continued his one-man campaign to teach the city to sing. Just as importantly his Time after Time initiative to bring young and old together through the power of music earned him well-deserved credit throughout the community.

The Time after Time project is also named as Event of the Year ahead of runner-up The British Transplant Games which took place in Bath in 2010 and the hugely successful community production of Ben Hur at the Theatre Royal. Writing about Time after Time, the Chronicle says;

"Time after Time bought smiles and laughter to the faces of hundreds of elderly and young people."

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Grenville Jones's new non-audition choir will hold its first open night for interested singers at the main hall at Culverhay School on Wednesday October 20th from 7.30pm.
 
Since announcing his new music project Grenville has been inundated with emails and calls from people keen to learn more. Grenville's new choir, yet to find a name, will sing a range of music from folk songs to modern pieces.
 
"The accent will be on enjoyment," he says.
 
"Singing to so popular here in the UK and I have been amazed at the response" adds Grenville and I look forward to meeting everyone at Culverhay School on Wednesday Oct 20th.
 
"It is a good venue and easy to access from Midsomer Norton and Keynsham with no parking problems, just come along if you would like to find out more."
 
See www.grenvillejones.biz
 
Grenville is the founder of the Golden-Oldies Charity which now brings music to hundreds of elderly people across the West region. He is also working on a major 2 year EU study of how technology can bring music and exercise into the homes of isolated people.
 
He conducts the famous Last Choir Standing Bath Male Choir, the 90 strong Bath Chorus, an auditioned mixed choir, the all-girl Fabulous Stockingtops and the Norland College Choir.
 
He also leads the Bath Good Afternoon Choir, is patron of the Cornish Community Choirs association and is a council member of the Association of British Choral Conductors.
 
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