Rossendale Male Voice Choir – A Century of Song

Join the Rossendale Male Voice Choir for a celebration of its remarkable 100-year history. This spectacular production traces the choir’s journey from its founding in 1924 by shoe-factory foreman Fred Tomlinson, with ordinary chaps from the mills and factories of Rossendale.
Blending music, storytelling and striking audio-visuals, the show takes audiences on an immersive journey through the choir’s greatest moments, from early competitions, repeated victories at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, to today's thriving choir.
The story begins by recalling how just a few years before the choir was formed, it was the wealth created in the mills of Rossendale that enabled local industrialists to establish the St Annes Land & Building Company and secure a 999 year lease from the Clifton family for the square mile of land on which St Annes would be built. Often referred to at the time as 'Rossendale On Sea'.
The show also shines a spotlight on the remarkable Tomlinson family. Founder conductor Fred Tomlinson’s legacy continued through his son Ernest, who became an internationally celebrated composer and double Ivor Novello Award winner; and Fred Tomlinson Jr, who formed the Fred Tomlinson Singers, making regular appearances on iconic TV comedy classics such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Two Ronnies.
As part of the show's finale, we'll take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the choir's Britain's Got Talent audition at Blackpool's Winter Gardens, screened in April 2025.
The performance features an evocative audio-visual backdrop with archive footage spanning the last one hundred years, recalling the moments that shaped the lives of the men and the choir. The choral performances are rich, varied and full of emotional colour, with a nineteen-piece repertoire ranging from Verdi to Oasis. Expect moments that are uplifting, tender, surprising, nostalgic and sometimes deeply moving.
A century in the making, it's a show not to be missed!