Chairman - Tom Fleming

Coming from an extended Scottish family where everyone (including the kids) were expected to ‘do a wee turn’ at family get-togethers, I have always been into singing, at some level. At school I studied higher music and got roped into singing in the school musicals. Similarly, in my student years I somehow got involved with a local amateur dramatic society.

Apart from music my interests include rugby; decent beer (both brewing and drinking); cultivating bonsai trees; loads of world travel; and motorbikes! I’ve regularly combined many permutations of the above – except beer and ‘bikes, of course!

For many years (decades) I had only sung at parties and on rugby tours and then I heard a DCMVC concert. The depth of sound generated by the blend of the male voices singing in 4 part harmony was stunning and made me decide there and then that I wanted to be part of that sound. I joined the vocal group in 2016 and soon learned that being able to read music is definitely not a requirement to sing with the guys; in fact, very few of the blokes read music at all. All that’s required is a love of singing and lots of enthusiasm.

Secretary - Ken Levasseur

Ken was born in Erdington near Birmingham in November 1946. He studied for his HND in Engineering whilst working at Wilmott Breedon, a supplier of bumpers to the automotive industry. He then went on to work for a number of well-known companies in the Midlands, Tube Investments, IMI, and Vogue Bathrooms part of the Glynwyd Group where he was Chief Engineer. He also travelled widely within Europe as Operations Manager for Stamco, overseeing the installation and commissioning of slitting lines for the metal processing industries. Having been made redundant he went to work for a pharmaceutical company as a Technical Writer and when redundancy struck again he turned the hobby of picture framing into a full time job, opening an art gallery in 1999 where he continued to work until he retired in April 2011.

In 1974 he married Christine and set up home in Sutton Coldfield where they remained until moving to Whatstandwell 13 years ago in readiness for retirement. Ken and Christine enjoy walking, completing a walk from London to Birmingham along the Grand Union Canal in aid of Charity raising £2,500 in 2002 for a local hospice, Offas Dyke with their new neighbours and from Swansea to Porthmadog during four separate holidays. He likes reading, music, Ballroom and Latin American dancing, visiting National Trust Properties, water colour painting, has a passion for gardening and is now constructing a train layout in N gauge.

Until he moved to Derbyshire he had no thoughts of joining a choir, but having been persuaded by a neighbour to try singing, he joined a local choir when he retired before moving to sing with the DCMVC in 2018 and thoroughly enjoys the singing and camaraderie of the choir

Secretary - Mark Kohrs

This coming season with the DCMVC will be my 20th season with the choir and I still love it with a passion, singing makes me feel good. When I have not enjoyed the working day I only have to go to rehearsal and my soul is flying high again. So what does a man do when he is not singing??? Well my other passion is building, either plastic bricks or walls from stone , I can’t explain why but it keeps me busy when choir is on the summer break. I’m looking forward to joining all my fellow choristers again in September!!