Wayfarers Chorus Welcome New Music Director

The Wayfarers Chorus, which was founded in 1989, has for the past 10 years been led by one of the founder members, Colin Wayte.  In those 10 years, Colin has devoted thousands of hours to the role of Music Director (MD).  During his time as MD, the chorus has expanded and refreshed its repertoire on an ongoing basis and has generated tens of thousands of pounds for various charities, whilst entertaining at a wide variety of public and private performances.  Despite not being focussed on competitions, Wayfarers have also been known, under Colin’s direction, to add their name to the chorus trophy at the annual Southport Music Festival.

After his many years of service, Colin has expressed a desire to take a step back from the responsibilities of the MD role and step onto the risers to sing in the Tenor section.  Colin is a hard act to follow and the search for a suitable replacement has been difficult.  However, we are pleased to announce that we have found a new MD who is well known to most of the chorus members and has been welcomed with enthusiasm by all.

The new MD, Barry Nowell, is very well known in Barbershop circles and is one of the founder members of BABS (British Association of Barbershop Singers).  Amongst his many achievements are:

• Quartet Gold Medallist in the BABS annual convention
• Led Reading BHC to third place in the BABS annual convention
• Member of the first British quartet to sing at a US convention
• Editor of ‘Harmony Express’ for 10 years (the official BABS magazine)

Additionally, Barry is a previous MD of the Wayfarers Chorus and has also performed the MD role for several  other choruses.

Over the next few months, Colin and Barry will work together to ensure a smooth transition, with Barry taking full responsibility for the MD role from January 2021.

In 2019, Wayfarers Chorus celebrated 30 years since it was founded.  Now we have a new MD, along with the continued support of Colin Wayte, the success of the chorus looks assured for the foreseeable future.  The whole chorus would like to thank Colin for all of his hard work and look forward to him boosting the ranks of the Tenors.