Donaghadee Male Voice Choir is saddened to lose a dedicated member, Robin Adams, a true gentleman who sang in the choir’s second tenor section.
The choir offers their condolences to the family and friends at this sad time.
There will be a service at S. Clarke & Son Funeral Church, Newtownards, at 14:30 on Friday 9th October 2026
Many congratulations to Ian Houston being awarded the prestigious Stanley Robertson Memorial Trophy at the choir’s 2026 AGM, for a choir non-committee member going beyond the call of duty.
A special Trophy for our youngest member, Tyler Fuller, who has starred on stage in his first year with the choir, as he sings solo from the 1st Tenor section.
Donaghadee Male Voice Choir features on track three of this album, singing ‘An Irish Blessing’.
The Mel Evans MBE Foundation was set up in 2019. The Foundation has three core objectives:-
To raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease
To raise vitally needed funding for research into effective treatments and an eventual cure for MND
To raise the profile of Crown Green Bowls.
Donaghadee Male Voice Choir donates £1,000 to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.
Michael Nugent, the Community Outreach Manager, accepted the cheque and explained the exceptional work this charity is carrying out in Northern Ireland today.
Donaghadee Male Voice Choir is proud of our local RNLI team, and is pleased to present a cheque for £1,000 to support these courageous individuals, prepared to go out in all weathers to help those in need.
Receiving the cheque is Edna Robinson, who has over 50 years of service raising money for the RNLI and many of her relations served as active members of this crew.
The Borough of Ards and North Down held a Mayoral Reception to show its appreciation of the outstanding contribution that the Donaghadee Male Voice Choir has made to the cultural and musical life of the Borough.
A fantastic evening was held in Bangor Castle, celebrating 93 years of Donaghadee Male Voice Choir.
The Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Gillian McCollum, said, “It is important to recognise the choir’s many achievements over the years and their local and international acclaim.”
It was great to see both new and longstanding members gather for the occasion. Alongside the Mayor were former North Down MP Lady Sylvia Hermon and fellow Bangor East & Donaghadee Councillors.
🎶 New Season Starting! 🎶
Rehearsals begin on Monday, 1st September at 7.15 pm in the Robert Wilson Hall, 12C Warren Road, Donaghadee.
This is honestly the perfect time to come along and join us. After the summer break, everyone’s a little bit rusty, so new members will be learning right alongside the rest of us. We’ll be working on a mix of new pieces and familiar favourites, and there’ll be plenty of support to help you find your voice.
Thinking of joining?
When: Monday 1st September, 7.45pm
Where: Robert Wilson Hall, 12C Warren Road, Donaghadee
DMVC President, Lady Sylvia Hermon, and Chairman, Mark McClements, present a cheque for £600.00 to David Cochran, President of the Rotary Club of Donaghadee, towards the purchase of a ShelterBox. This charity works to provide relief and shelter for thousands of people displaced by disasters worldwide.
https://www.rotary.org/ en/shelterbox-and-rotary-help-disasters
There was a warm, happy, friendly ambience, and people got real value for money.
George Jones set the scene and pace and created a lovely atmosphere.
Everyone put in an effort and great credit and appreciation to our simply wonderful MD and accompanist. Well done to you both!
The variety of performances, the enjoyment of two superb soloists, the wonderful Peninsula Choir ( and thank you for Old Devil Moon), the so enjoyable Brass ( just loved that Landlord final piece), all rounded off with a great caretaker, Pat, and a full house.
On Saturday, April 5th, 2025, we stood as ‘Stout Hearted Men’ to secure first place in the Male Voice Choir section while performing against other male voice choirs.
The ‘Sacred’ section followed later by choirs from all over Ireland, and we secured a second place here with an extremely high standard from all competitors.
We would like to thank all those involved in organising this prestigious International festival, as well as those travelling to compete.
Donaghadee Male Voice Choir members were privileged to join residents of Beechvale Nursing Home for a singsong, and what a response!
All present had a ball and we might even get a few new members for the choir.
A special rendering of ‘Happy Birthday’ was well received by one special lady resident.
Jingle Bells
The Beauty Of The Earth
Joy To The World
Our choir president, Lady Sylvia Hermon, presents Raymond Wray with a well-deserved ‘Life Member’ plaque after twenty-five years of loyal service with the Donaghadee Male Voice choir.
Raymond has been a stalwart member of the second tenors and rarely misses choir trips or performances.
Congratulations Raymond.
For over 90 years, the Donaghadee Male Voice Choir has been singing for their own pleasure and in concerts, church services and tours over Europe and North America. The choir has performed in places as distant from each other as Sofia and Coleraine, Georgia (USA), Warsaw and many others in between. Consisting of around 50 regular members, choir ages range from early 20ys to, shall we say, much, much older but all are united in the love of song and harmony. One member was recently asked to describe his experiences and what the choir meant for him. This is what he said:
“I joined the choir twelve or thirteen years ago and since then it has become a very important part of my life. I remember that I was very apprehensive when I attended my first practice. Never having sung in a choir before, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought there would be some kind of audition and I was dreading this, but the conductor just asked me to sing a few notes and assigned me to my section, the second basses. The other members could not have been more helpful, and I soon started to learn, especially the newer pieces, which the choir did not yet know well, so I was learning these with them. I found that fewer than half of the members could read music and learned by ear. Since each part was painstakingly gone over, this was not too difficult. It took about three months before I was ready to join the choir as a full member and be issued with the famous green jacket.
Soon I was performing with the choir, travelling to various venues and not too long afterwards we went on tour to a music festival in Krakow. That is when I got to know everyone. It was held in iconic locations with splendid acoustics. Singing a quiet piece in a cathedral with the music floating ethereally around the vaulted ceiling and dome was just wonderful. Almost equally enjoyable was singing some of our more rousing show tunes in a concert hall and getting standing ovations. The craic at night in the various restaurants was also memorable.
If anyone ever asks me whether they should think about joining, I always tell them to go along and try it. You have nothing to lose, and it could be the best decision you ever made.”
The choir occasionally have open evenings for prospective members. These are just normal practices but tailored to suit people coming along to see what it is like. One doesn’t have to wait for these, and anyone is welcome at 7.45pm in the Robert Wilson Hall, opposite Shore Street Presbyterian Church, Donaghadee.
For more information, call the secretary Michael Pritchard on 0791712044 or email@donaghadeechoir.co.uk or visit the website www.donaghadeechoir.co.uk
Congratulations to Jim Hamilton being presented, by the choir President, Lady Sylvia Hermon, with his Life Member plaque after twenty five years of loyal service, including his post as Chairman.
One of Jim’s trends is producing very interesting historical facts from the locations where the choir is singing. If you choose to go walking with him, keep your ears open.
Thank you for your years of singing and we wish you many more.
Friday 28th April in St Comgall’s Parish Centre, Brunswick Rd, Bangor.
Lady Sylvia Hermon, President of Donaghadee Male Voice Choir presents a cheque for £1,500 to Margaret Bailie, Chairperson of ‘Storehouse’ in Bangor, Co. Down, assisting with their exceptional work helping those in need as they provide emergency food hampers.
Our President, Lady Sylvia Hermon, presents James Kennedy, Donaghadee Rotary Club with a cheque to enable a further purchase of those excellent ‘Shelter Boxes’ for those in need after a disaster. With them are Mike Camlin Secretary Donaghadee Rotary Club, Ed Wheeler, DMVC Chairman and Emma Morgan Wilson, musical director.
Jack also served as our Hon. Secretary for several years.
Donaghadee Male Voice Choir hand a £250 donation to Alan Couser and Shirley Cochrane representing the Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company who are managing the restoration of this exceptional craft, keeping alive the memories of the crews and the boat over many years saving lives at sea.
It’s most memorable rescue work was noted at the sinking of the Princess Victoria in January 1953.
AGM 6th June 2022. President, Lady Sylvia Hermon presenting the Stanley Robertson Award to Norman Willis for his work, as a non-committee member, on the choir website.
Our first Festival in more than two years and we are back in action with Emma Morgan at the wheel. Many thanks to the organisers of the Bangor Choral Festival.
