The "Ashley Chorale" is a relatively new chamber choir formed in early 2007.
It was started as an experiment to let singers from larger groups, such as choral societies, experience proper unaccompanied singing in true A Cappella style. Just one or two voices to a part, instead of being just one voice lost amid so many others.
The initial idea was to run just a small number of sessions to see if people liked singing this way, and then see what developed.
Some people came for one or two meetings but felt a bit exposed when singing like that, and retreated to the relative safety in numbers of the choral society. Others found the wide selection of music a bit too different from what they were used to, or did not blend too well, and they too went back to where they felt more comfortable.
That left an enthusiastic "core group" who found this type of singing exciting and challenging, and were keen to explore the widest range of music available. Their voices blended very well and the sound produced was immediately felt to be right.
(Oh Yes, and what a pleasure to find that "note bashing" was reduced to a minimum too, which allowed us to sing through well over a dozen pieces every time we met.)
Since we seemed to get on well too, it was agreed to continue.
With only a few changes we have remained together for almost FIVE years now, meeting about every four to six weeks to sing mainly for pleasure and to explore different music.
We are about TEN to TWELVE strong and that seems to give us just the right balance.
So that is us:-
The Ashley Chorale