Welcome to Ythan Singers

Visit us regularly to read about out upcoming concerts. If you would like to book the Ythan Singers for a concert, then please email us.
Interested in joining us then read all About Us and get in touch.

We were delighted to invite members from the Community Integrated Care group along to the beginning of our rehearsal for a fun sing-a-long. Everyone had fun and were delighted with this response from Sarah Farquhar who organised it.
"Thank you so so much for last night ❤️ We all had an absolutely amazing time and we are so grateful for you doing this.
It was clear how much time and planning you had put into the evening and we really appreciate it.
The guys had so much fun and were still singing away when they went back to the room and got home as well.”

The Ythan Singers are thrilled to announce that their Christmas Concert in December will feature Howard Goodall's 'Christmas Cantata" along with other well known carols.

We start back on 2nd September with our AGM and rehearsals start Monday 9th September 7.30-9.30pm Ellon Kirk Centre (next to Greens) Station Road

If you enjoy singing and would like to join us please come along - we are a 4-part choir (SATB) - you don't have to be able to sight sing but it helps if you are able to follow the music along - most of our music is provided.

We look forward to seeing you.

The Ythan Singers were delighted to present a cheque for £1300 to Ollie Middleton, from the charity Charlie House at their AGM. Rehearsals start again on Monday 9th September, 7.30pm, Ellon Kirk Centre, Station Road, Ellon (next door to Greens). If you enjoy singing and would like to join us please contact us at ythansingers@yahoo.co.uk

Summer Concert 2024
Our summer concert

Raised the roof!

We sang well, never stalled.

With well-known classics,

Rock and pop,

We kept the house enthralled.

We sang of torrents,

Boats and seals,

Of stormy seas and wings,

Of troubled waters,

Wind and rain,

And elemental things.

We sang of friendship,

Love and hope,

Of gendarmes brave and good.

We sang with Divas,

Brightly dressed,

A taste of Bollywood.

The Midges too, and

Soloists,

Excelled. They stole the night!

Sure, music’s future

In the shire

Is safe and oh so bright.

Did you know that singing improves your health and well-being? Looking for a new hobby? Then why not come and join the Ythan Singers. We are an SATB (4-part) choir with over 30 members. We hold 2 main concerts a year, (June and December) under the direction of our Musical Director, Morag Simpson, the proceeds of which go to charity.

This year however we are also holding a concert of sacred music on Sunday 17th March at 2.30pm in Ellon Parish Church. Come and enjoy singing Faure’s beautiful requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine along with some more contemporary pieces by John Rutter and Howard Goodall.

Rehearsals are held on Mondays from 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm in Ellon Parish Church Kirk Centre, Station Road. You do not need to be able to sight sing but an ability to follow music would help.

Annual Charity Concert “Summer Sampler”

The Ythan Singers would like to give a very big thank you to their audience who attended our “Summer Sampler” concert in Ellon on 2nd June. It was amazing to see the Parish Church filled from top to bottom with more than 200 folk. You were all so appreciative of our music and it makes all our hard work over the last few months (every Monday night) seem so worthwhile.

Of course, we are led by a very dedicated and outstanding Musical Director Morag Simpson and accompanied by our talented pianist Ashleigh Grant. The star of the show was our charming and talented guest artiste Jodie Beaton, who hails from Rothienorman. We should like to wish Jodie all the best for her next adventure; studying singing at the Scottish Conservatoire in the Autumn.

This concert raised over £2,000 for our chosen charities Aberdeenshire North Foodbank and Grampian Cardiac Rehabilitation Association (GCRA+).

The Ythan Singers also sang at Meldrum and Bourtie Church for their Floral Display and Concert in aid of Christian Aid and at Inverkeithny Church in aid of Inverkeithny Kirk Preservation Fund in May and June.

We are all having a welcome break, but will start again after the school summer holidays. If you enjoy singing why not consider joining us next season.

We are a four-part choir (always short of men!). You do not have to be able to sight read but an ability to follow music would help.We look forward to seeing you.

Ythan Singers Concerts

11.12.2022 at 2.30pm, Ellon Parish Church and

18.12.2022 at 2.30pm St Andrews Church Inverurie

The Ythan Singers are delighted to announce that they are holding their annual Christmas concert this year. All are welcome to come along and enjoy “this festival of well-known carols featuring many Christmas favourites. The programme includes many beautiful carols such as John Rutter’s “What Sweeter Music”, the “Star Carol” and “Candlelight Carol”. Once again, the audience will also have a chance to join in with well-known carols; “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come All See Faithful”.

The concert will be conducted by our oh so popular musical director, Morag Simpson and accompanied by our oh so talented Ashleigh Grant who will also sing the solo in “O Holy Night”, accompanied not by herself but by our choir member Gordon Hay. This concert is packed full of wonderful music and is certainly a concert not to be missed.

There is a collection on the door for the Lina Liver Charity, which will go towards the transplant ward in ARI and the transplant unit in ERI.

More information about the Ythan Singers can be found at www.ythansingers.co.uk and Facebook @ythansingers.

Ythan Singers Concert – Friday 10th June 2022

What a joy it was for the Ythan Singers to be able to present live music again in the form of their annual charity concert after a two-year gap due to Covid restrictions. They were delighted to see Ellon Parish Church full with so many happy smiling faces.

The concert opened with Benjamin Britten’s arrangement of the National Anthem followed by John Rutter’s “A Ukrainian Prayer”. A wealth of popular show music such as West Side Story and the music of Frank Sinatra made up the bulk of the programme with the concert ending on a feast of songs by Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers.

The Singers are delighted to announce that the concert raised £1000 for the British Red Cross Ukrainian Crisis Appeal and would like to thank everyone who came along and made the evening go with a swing. They would also like to thank all those of Ellon Parish Church for their help in setting up the concert and for providing a video recording of the whole concert.

The Ythan Singers’ MD, Morag Simpson shared the link with her ex-pupil Emeli Sandi who commented “Sounding fantastic”, and Neil Mackie former Head of Singing at the Royal College of Music who commented that ‘he loved the easy fresh vocal sound” and also the “sensitive singing of Maria by Gordon Hay”.

If you missed the concert then you can hear it on this link https://youtu.be/p2jVBrOpLhg.

After the break we shall be rehearsing for our Christmas concerts; Sunday 11th December in Ellon Parish Church and Sunday 18th December at St Andrew’s Church, Inverurie. We always welcome new members.

The Ythan Singers were delighted to be able to hold their concert in person albeit we had to be 2m apart! The audience were very appreciative of the live performance and joined in with the Carols for All with enthusiasm. The collection on the door raised £170 for Ellon Playpark Improvement Committee.

If anyone missed the concert the Kirk have made a recording which can be found on YouTube.

Donations to EPIC can be made at https://gofund.me/ad0f5506

VIRTUAL CONCERT JUNE 2021

The Ythan Singers finished their year with a Zoom concert for friends and family. The choir have been so grateful to: our MD Morag Simpson for being at our Zoom meetings every Monday, playing the piano for us to sing to, of course we’re all on Mute! our accompanist Ashleigh Grant for sending us practice tracks and putting together our compilation tracks, Gordon Hay for keeping all the basses right with note bashing tracks, Hilary Gordon for all the fun quizzes, Fiona Grant for organising music drops and our Chairman Brian Wilkins for managing all the technology of Zoom, YouTube, video recordings etc., Whilst we all long to get back together as a choir and start singing and entertaining the Zoom meetings have "kept us all going”. Brian presented Morag with a large bunch of flowers from all of us and sent Ashleigh a gift voucher. The video seen here is of Morag’s introduction to our concert .

VIRTUAL EASTER MONDAY SOIREE' 2021

On Easter Monday the Ythan Singers held a special Easter meeting featuring recorded musical items from choir members. Morag as Ellen Meikle-Tarty, question master, and Gordon as Pete Medden, occupation, Mole Catcher, entertained us with a Doric Mastermind sketch based on the “Ythan Singers in lockdown 2020 -2021”. Kim read a beautiful poem written by her dad some years ago and everyone enjoyed the sing-along of Easter songs. We also had an Easter Bonnet/Bunnet competition, which was won by Mandy – her creation of beautiful paper flowers stole the show. Over the past weeks we have been rehearsing and recording individually “All Things Bright and Beautiful” by John Rutter, which Ashleigh has expertly put together in this delightful choir compilation.

VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS CONCERT 21 DECEMBER 2020

Watch our virtual Christmas Concert and feel free to sing or hum along in the privacy of your own home.

Christmas Concert 1 and 13 December 2019

The Ythan Singers were delighted to perform their Christmas concert, “Rejoice and Be Merry” twice; firstly in Ellon Parish Church, and again in St Andrew’s Church, Inverurie.

Both concerts featured Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas Carols” led by Gordon Hay singing the baritone solo part beautifully. Our conductor was Morag Simpson, who is well known in the area as she takes about 8 choirs a week, and our accompanist was Rosemary Lund, who has been with the choir since its start in 1980.

The Singers would like to thank both audiences for raising £425 for Home-Start and £405 for the Trussell Trust in Scotland. The evenings ended with tea/coffee and delicious mince pies and shortbread from the Ythan Bakery, Ellon.

Presentation to Brain Tumour Charity

At their concert “Welcome to Broadway” the Ythan Singers raised £1500 for the chosen charity: The Brain Tumour Charity. They were delighted to make the presentation to their community ambassador, Gillian Webster. The Brain Tumour Charity is the world's leading brain tumour charity and the largest dedicated funder of research into brain tumours globally. A spokesperson for the charity said “What a wonderful amount The Ythan Singers have raised! Thank you so much for this support. The money raised could help us fund 6 full days of research into brain tumours and ultimately help us to find a cure.” The choir would also like to thank everyone who came to the concert for their tremendous support both with their appreciation and for raising this amount of money.

The Brain Tumour Charity is organizing a further fund-raising event, a 10k Twilight walk along the Deeside railway in Aberdeen on 3rd November
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ne-scotland-twilight-walk-2019-registration-66453659685?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete

Ythan Singers Concert -Welcome to Broadway

The Ythan Singers received a standing ovation at the end of their concert “Welcome to Broadway” which was an extravaganza of songs from 100 years of Broadway.

A member of the audience said “ Bravo – absolutely fabulous concert! – Please tell Morag and all the choir it’s the best I’ve heard the choir sing!” The concert also included solos pieces from choir members: Adrian Smith was a Busy Bee, Jennifer Strachan’s best friend was “Diamonds”, Moira Longstaff and Christine Cruikshank were “Sisters” for the night, Carol Addison had “Rhythm”, Hazel Wilkins explained why she was “Always a Bridesmaid”, Carole Fox sang “Make Believe” and Sheila Craggs welcomed “Summer Time”.

Rosemary Lund accompanied everything with her usual flair and impressive keyboard playing. The choir has enjoyed this first year of working with Morag Simpson as their Musical Director and using the words from “Oliver”, the choir sang they consider her to be “part of the family” and “one of us”!

The choir would like to thank all the members of the audience as the concert raised over £1400 for The Brain Tumour Charity.

Ythan Singers

"Broadway" soloists

Celebrating Broadway

Our latest concert was held on Wednesday 27th March 2019 in Mannofield Church, Aberdeen, singing a selection of Broadway Music.

Ythan Singers at Mannofield

Christmas Concert
9 December 2018

The Ythan Singers’ Christmas concert is on Sunday 9th December at 2.30pm in Ellon Parish Church. It features many Christmas favourites including “The Huron Carol”, “In the Bleak Mid-winter”, the “Nativity Carol” and “Stille Nacht” but also some new additions to their repertoire; “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming”, and “The Twelve Days After Christmas”.

The audience will also be able to join in with well-known carols. The concert will be conducted by Morag Simpson and accompanied by Rosemary Lund. All are very welcome and it is certainly a concert not to be missed.

There will be a collection on the door for the charity “toilet twinning” (www.toilettwinning.org) which is a water and sanitation initiative.

After the concert everyone is welcome to join the singers for tea/coffee/mince pies and shortbread.

To a packed audience in the Ellon Parish Church Kirk Centre, the Ythan Singers’ Summer Concert opened with “It’s a “Grand Night for Singing” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The first half included an American section and ended with a tour of London. In the second half the audiences’ feet were tapping to Irvin Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”. The cabaret section opened with a great performance by Christine Cruikshank and Moira Longstaff who “strolled up the avenue” as “a Couple of Swells”. Frances Morrison, Jennifer Strachan and Hazel Wilkins, complete with Japanese wigs, sang “Three Little Maids from School” but the shining performance had to be the men of the choir dressed as policemen who were “unhappy with their lot!” singing “When a Felon”. They definitely outshone the keystone cops! The night ended with a medley of songs from “My Fair Lady”. The last piece from this selection was Alison Young’s favourite piece “I Could Have Danced All Night”, which she remembers her grandmother singing to her.

The concert was conducted by Alison Young and accompanied by Rosemary Lund. The choir would also like to thank everyone who came to the concert for their tremendous support both with their appreciation and for raising over £1200 for the chosen charity; Marie Curie.

Monday 11th December in Ellon Parish Church.

The Ythan Singers’ Christmas concert began with John Rutter’s wonderful “Magnificat”.

The whole choir had spent the last few months working incredibly hard with Alison Young and Rosemary Lund to produce a performance of which they could be really proud. The performance also included beautiful solos from Jennifer Strachan and Hazel Wilkins.

The second part was made up of many Christmas favourites including “Ding Dong Merrily on High”, the “Nativity Carol” and “In the Bleak Midwinter” which featured soloists Jennifer Strachan and Jean Stevenson. Ythan Singers’ very own quartet led by Carole Addison again produced a Christmas musical gem. The audience joined enthusiastically in Carols for All.

The collection on the door for the charity “toilet twinning” (www.toilettwinning.org) raised £345.

The Ythan Singers would like to thank such an appreciative audience for turning out on such a cold snowy night.

FIRST RESPONDER PRESENTATION

At their rehearsal on Monday the Ythan Singers were delighted to present a cheque for £900 to Ellon First Responders.

The money was raised at the choir's summer concert in June and will help this new group, whom the Scottish Ambulance Service describe a Community First Responder as a member of the public who volunteers to help their community by responding to medical emergencies while the ambulance is on its way, with equipment.

The June concert was conducted by Mrs Alison Young who took up the post of Musical Director for the Ythan Singers after Christmas.

The Singers are now rehearsing for their Christmas concert on December 11th at 7.30pm in Ellon Parish Church and features John Rutter's Magnificat and a selection of Christmas music, including some well known and well loved carols.

MAKING MUSIC

Alison Reeves of Making Music recently visited Ythan Singers, pictured here with Chairman Brian.

Contacts

Email: ythansingers@yahoo.co.uk