Since it began in the 1890’s KMVC has given more than 1,000 performances raising countless thousands of pounds for charity.
The secret of the choir’s success? Five star quality and performances.
These are created in an atmosphere of friendship, fun and camaraderie and pride in our heritage. The only thing missing? It may be YOU.
The concept of inviting men like you to join the ranks of a famous choir began before any of us were born. In the 1870’s when there were no
remote controlled televisions, lap tops or mobile phones there was little for men to do on a Sunday afternoon. So an organisation called the “The
Pleasant Sunday Afternoon” was set up aimed at engaging with men who
didn’t regularly attend church. It was nationwide and Kirkintilloch was up for it. Men met, they sang together and basically had a pleasant Sunday afternoon.
It was from such pleasant Sunday afternoons that Kirkintilloch Male voice Choir was born. Newspaper reports dated 1898, 1908, 1910 and 1913 record Kirkintilloch Male Voice Choir performances in Kilsyth, Lennoxtown, Motherwell and Kirkintilloch. The Kirkintilloch meeting in 1910 is worth noting. It is billed as “The Annual meeting of the members of Kirkintilloch Male Voice Choir in the Temperance Hotel, where Mr John Knox presided over a company of about 23”. Mr Knox would then have been is his mid 30’s. He was also a member of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon movement.
He was very likely the man who in the late 1890’s took Kirkintilloch Male Voice Choir on the Road. His story is recorded in the 2011 book “90 years of Song”. Had it been written today it would, of course, be titled 126 plus years of song.