2026 - New Places, New Adventures
We started the year with plenty of new music to learn before heading back to one of our favourite venues, Castle Park Arts Centre, for our spring Elevenses performance. June brought a One Voice first as we packed up the coach and headed to Llandudno for our very first choir road trip, singing on Llandudno Pier and later at the King’s Head. Great songs, great company and a lot of laughs made it a day to remember!
Later that month we were delighted to be invited by Storyhouse to perform at the Grosvenor Park Street Food Festival in Chester. July brought our own Summer Concert at the Holiday Inn, Runcorn, held on a blisteringly hot summer evening with not an air conditioner in sight! Despite the heat, we had a fabulous night and were delighted to welcome Lynn Pegler, High Sheriff of Chedhire, as our honoured guest.
One of the most special events of the year was our charity concert in support of Neurofibramatosis (NF1). We were joined by some wonderful guest performers who generously gave their time to help make the evening such a success – although young Elayna ultimately stole the show! Together, the evening raised £4177 for NF1.
September brought another memorable first when One Voice was invited as guests of the High Sheriff of Cheshire to perform at Race Across the Roodee at Chester Racecourse.
And our adventures arrant over yet. With the Christmas season still ahead – including a very special joint concert bringing together all 3 of Joe's choirs – there's still another chapter or two to add before we can close the book on 2026
2025 - Raising The Roof
We kicked off 2025 at one of our favourite venues, Castle Park Arts Centre, with a Saturday morning performance in April.
June took us back to the Cheshire Showground for two performances on the Village Stage, followed later that month by the inaugural Frodsham Food Festival at Castle Park. In early July we were back in the park again for Frodsham Town Council's annual Festival in the Park and Downhill Run.
Then came one of the highlights of our year.
On 18th July, One Voice joined the Fireflies Ladies Choir from Ellesmere Port and Chester Male Voice Choir for a spectacular three-choir concert at historic Chester Town Hall — bringing together all three choirs led by our Musical Director, Joe Mann.
With 28 pieces to conduct, Joe certainly earned his keep that evening! The concert culminated in a finale bringing all three choirs together and raising the roof of the Town Hall.
Our first engagement at Chester Bandstand in September was unfortunately defeated by stormy weather — but we're hoping to put that right in 2026!
Christmas began at Norton Priory Christmas Fair, followed by a performance at beautiful Tatton Park Farm. The following weekend took us to Chester Cathedral's Christmas Tree Festival and then to Arley Hall's Festival of Flowers, where we performed twice in the beautiful chapel on the Arley Estate.
Our final performance of the year was our own annual Christmas Concert, this time at the Forest Hills Hotel — one of the few local venues large enough for almost 50 performers and more than 160 guests!
And after all that singing, there was only one thing left to do: our Christmas party, complete with buffet, stand-up bingo, festive quiz and a lively karaoke night.
Work hard, party hard. #morethanjustachoir
2024 - Growing Audiences
Our first concert of 2024 was at St Lawrence's Church in Frodsham, where we shared the stage with Highfield Male Voice Choir.
In May we returned to Castle Park to entertain the diners at the courtyard café, followed by another visit to the Cheshire Show in June. July brought our own sell-out Summer Fizz concert, before another Castle Park performance in September as we headed towards the Christmas season.
We were delighted to be invited back to both Norton Priory Christmas Fair and Arley Hall Festival of Flowers.
And our own Christmas concert had grown so popular that one performance was no longer enough. For the first time, we performed it twice, at two different venues — demand for tickets was now outstripping the space available in our rehearsal room at Main Street Community Church.
2023 - A Busy Year
We started in April with a performance at Castle Park Arts Centre, followed in May by Helsby's celebrations for the Coronation of King Charles III.
June took us to the Cheshire Show stage — with the rain very kindly waiting until just minutes after we'd finished our set! We also joined Chester Male Voice Choir at an Open Day for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd, before heading to Norton Priory's Pride Weekend in July.
September saw us singing at the Farndon Soap Box Derby in aid of the Hospice, followed by the Octoberfest charity event.
Christmas was particularly busy, with performances at Storyhouse Theatre, Norton Priory Christmas Market and Arley Hall Festival of Flowers.
We rounded off another packed year with our own Christmas concert — sold out within two weeks this time!
2022 - Back On Stage
2022 saw One Voice well and truly back out performing.
Our first concert of the year took us to the grounds of Chester Cathedral for Storyhouse, sharing the bill with Rock Choir and the Proud Marys. A spring concert at Castle Park Arts Centre followed, before we joined Frodsham's celebrations for the Queen's Jubilee and performed at Helsby Sports Club's Open Afternoon.
September brought one of our biggest performances yet when we appeared as guests of Victoria Music Ltd in their Elodie tribute at The Brindley Theatre, performing to an audience of around 400.
After supporting local Christmas festivals, we finished the year with our own Christmas concert at Main Street Community Church.
Sold out — and an absolutely brilliant night!
2021 - Together Again
As the country began to emerge from lockdown, Zena's work commitments meant that she sadly had to step down as Musical Director.
Our search for a new MD eventually brought us a reply from “a guy called Joe…”
In March 2021, Joe Mann became our new Musical Director, and in May we held our relaunch evening.
With help from a National Lottery Grant, we were finally able to rehearse together again in June — outdoors beneath the gazebos at Castle Park Arts Centre. Lashing rain, passing trains and even a tweeting robin occasionally added their own contribution to the music!
By late July we'd found our permanent indoor home at Main Street Community Chapel.
In October we held our first post-Covid concert in the Castle Park courtyard, raising much-needed funds for Macmillan. Christmas brought community performances at Frodsham Festival, Wind and Fairground Rides and HoHo Helsby — including one memorable performance when hailstones fell straight onto our music folders!
We finished the year with our Christmas joint concert with Helsby Concert Band at St Paul's Church.
One Voice was properly back.
2020 - Singing Through Lockdown
In March 2020, Covid-19 brought rehearsals, performances and normal life to an abrupt halt.
Like choirs everywhere, we suddenly couldn't meet or sing together in person. For a while, rehearsals moved online to Zoom, allowing us to keep in touch and continue making music during a very strange and difficult year.
It wasn't quite the same as being together — but One Voice was still there.
2019 - Where It All Began
One Voice began in 2019 when our founding members, Ann Johnson and Phillippa Mulholland, saw a need for a weekday evening mixed choir in Frodsham and the surrounding area.
With Zena Phillipou as our first Musical Director, our very first rehearsal took place on 7th October 2019 with just 27 members. Only ten weeks later, we performed our first Christmas concert to an audience of around 60 people.