Royal Mail Choir

The Bristol Royal Mail Choir is an amateur choral ensemble made up of employees of the Royal Mail.[1][2][3] The choir was founded in April 2012 by choirmaster Gareth Malone as part of the BBC Two television series The Choir: Sing While You Work.[1][3][4][5] At the time of founding the choir was made up of employees drawn from Bristol and surrounding area, South West England.[3][6] The choir is conducted by David Ogden.

Bristol Royal Mail Choir
Background information
OriginSouth West England,
UK
GenresClassical,
popular music
Instrumentschoral
Years active2012-present
Associated actsGareth Malone, Joe McElderry
Members
Penny Barr
Jacky Bretherton
Mandy Butler
Ruth Davies
Chris Finch
Pete Flook
Sam Fry
Heather Gage
Kevin Harrington
Sarah Iles
Carol Jennings
Vinnie Jones
John Kavanagh
Brian Macey
Pat McIntyre
Jill Maggs
Naomi Parr
Julian Pinkett
Heather Poole
Jo-Anne Poole
Jane Prendergrast
Kay Stevenson
Mo Summers
Bill Waine
Liz Wembridge
Chris Wilson

The Royal Mail also has a London-based choir, the Mail Voice Choir.[7]

The Choir: Sing While You Work

The 2012 BBC 2 TV series followed Gareth Malone as he formed and trained four workplace choirs, including one from the Bristol Royal Mail workforce. Bristol Royal Mail Choir was one of three that reached the final of the competition, where they sang at the Wales National Eisteddfod in Llangollen.[8]

Charity work

Following the success of the ensemble's television appearances, the Royal Mail Choir, now performing as the Royal Mail's official choir, has given public performances to aid charity, particularly in support of Prostate Cancer UK, the Royal Mail's partner charity for 2013.[9][10][11] In April 2013 the choir released a version of "Abide with Me" with The X Factor winner Joe McElderry, to promote a set of footballer-themed stamps.[12][13] Proceeds were donated to Prostate Cancer UK.[14][15] They have performed at St George's Church, Bristol.[16]

In September 2013 they performed a charity concert at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, at the invitation of Manchester Airport Choir.[17] The choir also performed at the PostEurop 20th anniversary celebration held in Brussels, Belgium.[18] In November 2013 they performed at the Poppy Appeal Commemorative Festival held at Colston Hall, Bristol.[19]

Advertising campaigns

As a public face of the Royal Mail, the choir were used to launch the Christmas commemorative stamp issue in October 2012.[11][20]

The choir's rendition of The Beatles song "All You Need is Love" was used to accompany the Royal Mail's post-privatisation national television advertising campaign beginning in November 2013.[21][22][23] The advertisement, called "We Love Parcels", is the first major advertising campaign by the Royal Mail for 6 years.[24] The choir recorded the song at the Abbey Road Studios, London.[22][25][26]

Musical directors

References
  1. "Posties ready to deliver on TV Choir show". The Post. Bristol. 27 September 2012. p. 2.
  2. "The Choir: Royal Mail Bristol". BBC Two. 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  3. "Postal workers deliver first-class effort on TV choir show". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 28 September 2012. p. 9.
  4. Kendall, Paul (26 August 2012). "New stars of The Choir: the soprano speech therapist and tenor postman". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  5. "Posties ready to deliver on TV Choir show: City Royal Mail staff on song tonight". The Post. Bristol. 27 September 2012. p. 2.
  6. "EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Royal Mail reveals Christmas advert". Daily Express. London. 11 November 2013.
  7. "Our 'Mail Voice Choir'". myroyalmail. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. Koch, Emily (26 October 2012). "Bristol's Royal Mail workers miss out on victory on The Choir: Sing While You Work". Bristol Post. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Choir team up to release single: Former X Factor winner joins Royal Mail singers". The Post. Bristol. 16 April 2013. p. 3.
  10. "Royal Mail postmen and women deliver major new TV ad campaign (press release)". Royal Mail Group. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. "Royal Mail choir gets the stamp of approval". The Post. Bristol. 29 October 2012. p. 13.
  12. "Bristol's Royal Mail choir releases charity single with X Factor winner Joe McElderry". The Bristol Post. Bristol. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  13. "Charity singers' charts bid". The Herald. Plymouth. 13 April 2013. p. 38.
  14. "Joe's single to raise cash for cancer charity". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 15 April 2013. p. 13.
  15. "Singing out for posties". South Wales Evening Post. Swansea. 15 April 2013. p. 8.
  16. Parker, Gerry (24 December 2012). "Listen to your heart - and you'll hear Christmas". The Post. Bristol. p. 18.
  17. "Manchester Airport Choir Hosts 75th Anniversary Concert". Marketing Stockport. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  18. "PostEurop's Community Ready to Embrace the Future: A Memorable Evening". PostEurop. 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  19. "Poppy Appeal event opens up to other faiths". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  20. "Royal mail choir launches Christmas stamps on the steps". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 29 October 2012. p. 4.
  21. Lea, Robert (2 November 2013). "Royal Mail splashes out on X Factor advert slots". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 November 2013. (subscription required)
  22. "West posties star in Royal Mail TV advert". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 2 November 2013. p. 6.
  23. Taylor, Chris (4 November 2013). "TV postie delivers top performance". Daily Record. Glasgow. p. 3.
  24. O'Reilly, Lara (1 November 2013). "Royal Mail readies first TV ad in six years". Marketing Week. London. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  25. "Postman lands starring role in national TV advert". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 1 November 2013.
  26. Wiltshire, Paul (4 November 2013). "Video: Bath posties in new national TV advert campaign for Royal Mail". Bath Chronicle. Bath. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  27. "Conductor and composer". David Ogden. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
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