About the choir

The Choir was inaugurated in March 2018 following the disbanding of the Royal Naval Association Male Voice Choir and Kieron Howe joined as our new and talented Music Director.

In July 2023 Kieron moved onto new projects and and in September 2023 Antione Mitchell became our new Music Director.

We moved to St Nicholas Church in 2021 where rehearsals are held weekly. In June 2022 The Lady Willoughby de Broke became our president and somewhat earlier we became affiliated to Warwick – A Singing Town. We have a current repertoire of over 100 pieces – both traditional and modern – and music from shows old and new. Choir members are fortunate to have access to an online facility where they can learn their part.

Despite the disruption of the Covid pandemic we continued with weekly rehearsals on Zoom and as soon as lockdown was lifted we restarted rehearsing together in person. As a result we were able to stage concerts almost immediately. Our first concert after lockdown was the open air ‘Proms in the Park’ at Leamington Spa on 15th August 2021, and it was great to be singing to an appreciative audience again.

A male voice choir singing under a bandstand

Since its inception, the Two Castles Male Voice Choir has staged at least six concerts annually both locally and with other performers. Highlights have been a concert in St. Mary’s Church, Hendon with a local choir and soloists as part of the 2019 Hendon Festival, and our concert in April 2022 to raise money for the Red Cross Ukraine Disaster Appeal. The latter concert in conjunction the Southam Melody Makers ladies choir and the Cubbington Silver Band attracted an audience of over 150 and raised £2,500. The choir has also performed in St. Mary’s Church, Warwick in connection with their Poppy and Christmas Tree Festivals.

We are a registered charity and aim to raise money for good causes and promote singing in Warwick and surrounding area.

Registered Charity Number: 1183403.

Hear the choir

Shosholoza Photo Sound Montage

Choir Music Staff and Officers 2022

President: The Lady Willoughby de Broke

Music Staff

Musical Director: Antoine Mitchell

Accompanist: Julie Edwards

Officers

Chairman: Tony Engel

General Secretary: John Griffiths

Treasurer: Brian Perkins

Other Office Holders

Concert Secretary: Alan Hughes

Recruitment: Phillip Allington

Julie Edwards

Accompanist
Julie Edwards is the choir’s accompanist. She is a former teacher of modern languages at a large secondary school in Warwick, and is now enjoying her new found freedom in various musical pursuits.
In addition to playing for the Two Castles Male Voice Choir, she directs and plays for the Southam Melodymakers Ladies’ choir, plays for the Coventry Savoy Opera Society and sings in a church choir and a mixed choir. She also plays for musicians and singers who need an accompanist for their instrumental exams and teaches piano to children and adults.
The Lady Willoughby de Broke

President
Our President The Lady Willoughby de Broke, known to her friends as Min, was The High Sheriff of Warwickshire during 2021/22.
Min was born in Leamington Spa and is married to David and has 2 daughters, Emily (31) and Eloise (29). Min and David live just outside Shipston on Stour with their 2 dogs and a cat called Peanut!
Min is a Liveryman of the Goldsmith’s Company and is an honorary Church Warden for The Church of the Ascension at Tidmington, just outside Shipston. Her hobbies include tennis, riding, reading and playing bridge.
She said “As a person, I am drawn to people who put public service above self. Those unsung heroes who work tirelessly, giving of themselves to make things better for others.”
When she stepped down in April 2022 Warwickshire County Council said “From abseiling down the face of Coventry Cathedral, supporting charities and grass roots organisations across the entirety of Warwickshire to cycling its length and breadth to raise money for the High Sheriff’s Fund, Min’s tenure as High sheriff has been defined by frenetic activity and an enduring sense of public service above the concerns of self that has instantly earned her the respect and support of everyone she has met along the way.”
Min is thrilled to be President of the Choir and the Choir is most fortunate that Min has agreed to become our President.
Antoine Mitchell

Music Director
Antoine studied at Trinity College and the Royal Academy of Music in England and the Accademia Musicale in Italy. After a life in music in many European countries he has settled in Warwickshire conducting choirs and orchestras and being accompanist for groups such as the Coventry Philharmonic Society.

A song can infiltrate your heart and the heart can change your mind.

Ed Sheeran
He who sings scares away his woes.

Miguel Cervantes
Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.

Elton John
Music is the divine way to tell beautiful poetic things to the heart.

Pablo Casals
Music… can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.

Leonard Bernstein
Music is life itself.

Louis Armstrong
Music is therapy. It is a communication far more powerful than words, far more immediate, far more efficient.

Yehudi Menuhin