The British Methodist Youth Choir (BMYC) gave their final concert of the 2008 season on the 18th October at Grove Methodist Church in Horsforth, Leeds. The choir which celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary last year, is made up of twenty singers aged from sixteen to twenty-seven from all over the UK. Last weekend they travelled from places as far apart as Glasgow and Cambridge, although one member did just pop round the corner from Leeds. The choir travelled to Grove Church on Friday night after their various school lessons, university lectures and real world jobs had finished for the week. They then spent Saturday morning rehearsing before a trip out to the beautiful Yorkshire countryside in the afternoon returning in time for tea and another rehearsal before performing an evening concert to a packed church.

The audience were not disappointed; the choir performed a wide variety of music to suit every taste, from madrigals to twentieth-century classics like Blue Moon and a rousing chorus of Oh When the Saints that the audience joined with great gusto. They also performed a number of songs written especially for them by Musical Director Heidi Cottrell and previous Musical Director Ashley Thompson, both Heidi and Ashley have taken traditional hymns like Oh Jesus I Have Promised and Nearer My God To Thee and breathed new life into them through original arrangements and tunes. These were sung with a passion and a reverence which made the concert a moving spiritual experience as well as musical entertainment.

The past year has been an eventful one for the choir, in addition to their four regular concerts they have also performed at Breakout and held a taster weekend in York for prospective new members. They were pleased to welcome three new members; Anthony Bishop, Ruth Fasham and Hannah Tweedie at this weekend as well as to welcome back Assistant Musical Director Mark Rowland who returns from a year-long exchange programme with the Seminary School at Emory University in Atlanta. However, the choir was also sad to say goodbye to three of its longest serving members Amy Crampton, Alison Edmondson and Sharon Ransom who are no longer quite young enough to be considered “youths”.

If this year has been busy, next year promises to be just as packed with concerts planned for Aberystwyth, Tewksbury, Manchester and Banbury and a tour of Cornwall in the Summer holidays. They are always interested in hearing from prospective members, at the moment they are particularly looking for new tenors and basses. Although the standard of singing is high and a good level of sight reading required, there is no audition and singers aged between sixteen and twenty-seven are encouraged to attend a weekend to see if the choir is for them.