The Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir was formed in September 1924 by  a group of young men from the local chapel. Because Thurnscoe was a mining community the vast majority of its members were coal miners and this was so until the late 1980’s. These days members come from a wide variety of professions and some travel 30 miles or more to be part of  this  ensemble. The size of the Choir has varied greatly over the years, from some 30 members initially,  peaking at about 80 members in the 1980’s and now averaging 30 singing members.

Since its formation, the Choir has always been proud of its record in music festivals and competitions and has been “placed “ in 78% of all competitions  entered. In fact, within a  year of its formation it had gained first place in its first music festival - a tremendous achievement by any standard.

Not surprisingly, success in competitions, has led to success as a concert choir. So much so that many believe that the “Thurnscoe Sound” is unique in choral circles. During the 1980’s the Choir performed regularly for Yorkshire Television, mainly singing hymns, for programs like “Stars on Sunday” and appeared with some of the great names of television in various productions.

Over the years the Choir has made many recordings, initially as  vinyl LP’s then on to
audio-cassettes and in recent times to CDs. These can be purchased from our sales desk at concerts  or by request from the secretary  - see our Records pages for more details.

To mark the first 80 years of the Choir, we have recently produced a booklet which details our history and includes many photos from over the years.  

Colin Leech had been Musical Director & Conductor since 1963  and was responsible for guiding the choir to most of the honours received. He sadly passed away on his 74th birthday in January 2008. He was supported by accompanists, Irene Hill and Betty Heatley who are outstanding musicians in their own right.

Our Musical Director & Conductor is now Tony Jermy. See ‘music team’ page for more