The Doncaster Wheatsheaf Singers, Sunday only
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The Doncaster Wheatsheaf Singers were originally formed in 1950 under the auspices of the Doncaster Co-operative Society at the suggestion of Mr. John Barker - its founder and musical director for 32 years. The group was initially made up of young female singers and then went under the title The Doncaster Wheatsheaf Girls Choir. Perhaps the last year of the Second World War was really the starting point of the Doncaster Wheatsheaf Girls Choir. John Barker had brought a group of girls together to perform operettas, one of which was co-written by John Barker himself. During these productions the girls advanced from unison singing to part singing and realised that they enjoyed this equally as much as the dressing up and acting. They therefore approached Mr. Barker to request that they meet and sing all year round. To Mr. Barker's suggestion that a choir be formed they all readily agreed. It is interesting to bear in mind that neither the girls nor the conductor had at that time any experience of choir work. They were starting together from scratch on a new venture that none of them in their wildest dreams imagined could last for sixty years.
Thus, in 1950, the Wheatsheaf Girls’ Choir came into being. The upper age limit was raised to 16 years and Madge Barker, wife of the conductor, joined the choir as pianist.
An important lesson learned in their first year, which was to contribute so much to the future success of the choir, was that the precision and co-ordination of performances was infinitely better when the music was memorised. So, for the past 60 years, sheet music has very rarely been used at a performance.
Early in 1993 the decision was made to rename the group The Doncaster Wheatsheaf Singers in order to recognise the increasing age range of its loyal members - many of whom had joined as young girls and remain with them today. However, the group still actively encourages young members to join them.
From the beginning the choir became an auxiliary group of the Co-operative Society, thus obtaining some funding toward the running of the group. This partnership is still in existence today, albeit in a more casual relationship.
This small group of dedicated young singers quickly became renowned across the North of England for the high standard of their performances. As their fame spread, so did the locations of their concerts. In 1956 the choir found themselves on their first, of what would become many, trips abroad. They had been invited to attend the twinning ceremony of Doncaster with St. Germain-en-Laye in France. This exciting experience whetted the choir’s appetite and European tours became an important part of the choir’s development. The most exciting of its tours was in 1994 when it was invited to sing in South Carolina, U.S.A. More recently the choir performed a number of concerts in Jersey in the Channel Islands and raised over �1200 for local charities whilst there. They have also had successful weekends away in London performing at the South Bank Centre and Covent Garden's St. Pauls Church and Edinburgh. During its history the choir has visited the Czech Republic, Ireland, France, Spain, Sweden, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary and U.S.A.
The choir remained under the musical direction of John Barker until his death in 1982. At this point it was his wife who took up the baton as conductor. She initially led the group from the piano but Ken Jackson was appointed accompanist in 1985. Both Mrs. Barker and Mr. Jackson remained with the choir until their resignation in 1999. The role of Musical Director then passed on to an ex-singing member - Ula Weber, a music graduate from Hull University, who held this position for the next two years, bringing a new freshness and enthusiasm to the group. Ula has since taken up a teaching position in Birmingham and had to hand over the role of MD to Angela Needham, at that time a Doncaster peripatetic music teacher. Angela led the choir until she had an addition to her family in June 2005 at which time Ula returned and shared the role of MD with Angela. Stephen Burnage took over as regular MD in June 2006 and is still with the group today. Simon Corner, another Hull University music graduate became our regular accompanist when Ken Jackson left in 1999 and is also still with them today proving a major asset not only as accompanist but as stand-in MD as and when required.
They approached us earlier this year and asked if they could perform at Chatsworth, and we are delighted that they are joining us.
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