Harborough Singers break America on their 1980 tour

The Harborough Singers celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year.

This local choir has carried the name of the town far and wide. Successful trips to Hungary in 1978 and Switzerland in 1979 led to the Rotary Club of Market Harborough suggesting that the choir might like to visit America in 1980.

The choir jumped at the idea and John Doran, of the Harborough club, duly contacted Canadian and American Rotary organisations. The response was so good that Barry Clark, the choir’s conductor, was able to organise a 1,000-mile tour taking in sights stretching from Toronto and Niagara via Rome, Elmira and Finger Lakes, to New York itself.

The large photograph is an official one taken during the tour, possibly a Rotary picture, but I don’t know where it was taken. I also have a list of the singers who were on the trip and are therefore in the photo, although I can’t necessarily match all the names to all the faces.

A list of the singers states the members were:

Sopranos: Angela Allen, Sarah Bowles, Susan Carcass, Judith Clarke, Jane Cummings, Lesley Harrison, Tracey Haycock, Amanda Heighton, Amanda Ingamells, Jenny Payne, Jenny Robers, and Ann Teasdale.

Altos: Alisa Bladon, Linda Carcass, Anne Clarke, Sharon Dines, Carole Frith, Christa Hein, Celia Jeffery, Sue Rawlings, Helen Robinson, and Fiona Whitelaw.

Tenors: David Blades, Mike Brown, Timothy Farnsworth, Rod Iliffe, and John Lawson.

Basses: David Abrahams, Tim Blades, Nick Cummings, Grant Harper, and John Hodby.

The smaller picture shows singers Jenny Roberts, Sarah Bowles, Judith Clark, Ann Teasdale and Alisa Bladon enjoying the spectacle of Niagara Falls.

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