The Lynmore Singers
About Us
The Lynmore Singers are a ladies choir based in Enfield, North London.
Some members of the original choir
In 1951 Pat and Eddie Davison started the choir that came to be known as The Lynmore Singers. The name of the choir is derived from two of its former meeting places, in Lincoln Road and Bullsmoor Lane. It was originally based at the Enfield Cable & Rolling Mills Club as a works choir. In those days, members rode their bikes to rehearsals! For many years the choir came under the auspices of the Enfield Co-operative Educational Department and then Enfield Further Education Service.
In 1985 the choir became independent. Pat continued to lead the choir after the death of her husband in 1965. She retired in 1998 after 47 years of dedicated service.
The next Musical Director was Pauline Pickering and John Catlow took up the baton in 2004. John had a successful musical career as a cellist with the London Symphony Orchestra, then as Head of Music at the Camden School for Girls.
For many years the choir has enjoyed great success, entering the Co-operative, Edmonton & Enfield Festivals of Music. The choir won most competitions and was also successful in solo and duet entries. The Lynmore Singers have performed with the Ynysowen Welsh Male Choir and more recently the Three Valleys Male Voice Choir. Venues have included The Rhodes Centre, Bury St. Edmunds, St. Albans Cathedral and Waltham Abbey as well as many Enfield churches and halls.
On 12th November 2011 the choir performed a 60th Anniversary Concert at St. George's Church, Freezywater with John Catlow as the Musical Director. The programme included a wide selection of pieces and was conducted by our co-founder Pat Davison and featured soprano Dorothy Pilley and the Lea Valley U3A Handbell Ringers.
The current Musical Director is Tina Shepherd who joined the choir in September 2012. Tina Shepherd was born in Bristol and started singing aged six at the local Salvation Army. She later received singing lessons from Molly Petre, won the Sacred Song section of the Bristol Eisteddfod and took a lead role in Gilbert and Sullivan's ‘Patience'. After moving to London, Tina became involved in choral conducting and under her direction the Ilford Songsters gave concerts in many parts of the UK. They also made two recordings for Woolworths entitled ‘Sunday with the Salvation Army' and ‘Christmas with The Salvation Army', which sold over 100,000 copies each and are still available in high street stores. Tina also served as the choral representative on The Salvation Army's Territorial Music Board which selected and approved the organisation's Christian music for publication and in addition was the choral conductor at summer music schools for a number of years. In 2005 Tina returned to her first love of singing and has since featured in concerts throughout the south east as a soloist including an appearance in December 2006 as the guest vocalist at the popular Christmas Concert in St. Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square. Tina also conducts a small group of ladies voices, the Dedicated Divas, and sings in her church choir, The Enfield Citadel Songsters.
In 2017 the choir welcomed Julien Clef as our pianist.
Born in the state of Kerala, India, Julian was spotted by UK resident Mrs. Linda John who was taken by his exceptional talent and has provided remarkable support ever since.At sixteen, he commenced formal studies with Murray McLachlan at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and later went on to get a Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree from the Royal Northern College of Music. He studied with Dina Parakhina after that for a Masters degree from the RNCM and completed the course in 2014. He has had lessons and masterclasses from leading international pianists, including Bernard Roberts, Peter Donohoe, Noriko Ogawa, Yonty Solomon, Leon McCawley, Garrick Ohlsson, John Lill and Andras Schiff.Julian has performed in many venues in the UK and abroad, including Buckingham Palace in London, Leeds College of Music, St David’s Hall in Cardiff, NCPA in Mumbai and Dvorak Prague International Music Festival.
