Meet the Choir

Marsh Ladies Choir is a friendly choir with around 40 singers. Led by Musical Director Ian Abbott and accompanied by Kim Kaye, we enjoy making music together. Meet some of our current members and find out more.

Musical Director & Accompanist

Ian Abbott was born and brought up in Dewsbury and learnt to play piano at an early age, gaining Grade 8 piano at the age of 15. He went on to study Chemistry at Bristol University and was awarded an Organ Scholarship through the university at Tyndale Baptist Church. After returning to Yorkshire, Ian gained an interest in amateur theatre and took up several appointments with various societies as accompanist and later as Musical Director. He was accompanist for several years with the highly successful Sing Live, during which time he appeared on Open House With Gloria Hunniford and sang at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ian is currently organist at Trinity Methodist Church in Mirfield. He lives in Mirfield with his wife Nicola and their two daughters, Bethany and Danielle. Ian has been Musical Director with Marsh Ladies since 2009, during which time the choir has gone from strength to strength.

Kim Kaye (LRAM, GRSM) studied piano, cello, harpsichord and piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and now lives in the Holme Valley working as a freelance musician. As well as teaching piano, flute and music theory, Kim is an accompanist for concerts, festivals and examinations. She is the resident accompanist for Marsh Ladies’ Choir, Holme Valley Youth Choir and Bolsterstone Male Voice Choir as well as directing the Holme Valley Singers and the Kirklees Choir (formerly Huddersfield U3A). Kim also performs piano duets as part of Roka with Jane Robertson and has recently become a Grade examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

President

Val Javin has spent more than 40 years as a journalist, working as news reporter, sports journalist, sub-editor and until her recent retirement, head of features at the Huddersfield Examiner. Val specialised in arts coverage, writing arts columns and reviews for more than 35 years. She has built up strong connections across the region in theatre, music, opera, visual arts and dance and has mentored a number of young performers.

Val was actively involved in the campaign to establish a theatre in Kirklees and was a trustee of the Kirklees Theatre Trust from its outset until 2007. She chaired the Development Committee which led the fund-raising campaign for the conversion of the Queen Street Mission. Re-joining the board of trustees in 2015, she is now its vice-chairperson. Val has been part of Huddersfield Theatre Users’ Association for almost 30 years. Val is an experienced charity trustee, positions include board member of Dark Horse theatre company and chair of Huddersfield Common Good Trust.

Marsh Ladies Choir are delighted to have Val Javin as their President, a position she has held since February 2017.

First Sopranos

• Katie Beadle
• Anne Buckley
• Helen Clayton Concert Co-ordinator
• Anne Haigh
• Mary Hallet
• Ruth Ledgard
• Alison Mason
• Judith McDonnell
• Ella Robertshaw
• Arabella Tedder
• Nicola Waddington Committee
• Deborah Wild
• Susan Yates

Second Sopranos

• Carol Amitrano
• Anne Armstrong
• Gemma Buckley
• Nina Carradice Secretary
• Anne Crabtree
• Mavis Green
• Judith Hey
• Gill Ritchie
• Cat Smith
• Jennifer Tennant Treasurer
• Heike Vehling
• Fiona Wakley

Altos

• Sandra Cooper
• Judith Crossland
• Judy Dennett
• Linda Ellis
• Amanda Greenwood Chair
• Jill Hinchcliffe
• Meri Humbert
• Pauline McNeil
• Jane Plant
• Mandy Sellers
• Kate Shaw Committee, Wardrobe, Music Librarian
• Janet Smith
• June Whitehead
• Holly Wright