Musical Director Made A Freeman Of Hartlepool

Posted 27 October, 2014

David Gibson’s hard work and contribution to the musical life of Hartlepool over many years have been recognised by Hartlepool Borough Council.

David has been made a Freeman of the town. The honour was bestowed in a full Council Meeting with invited dignitaries and guests present at the ceremony. Such honours are not given lightly and David was among six people who were recognised this year. It has been some years since such a ceremony has taken place and, indeed, there have been fewer than 100 individual Freemen created since they were first initiated in the nineteenth century!

The recipients of the honour received an illuminated scroll and a medal to commemorate the occasion and were given the opportunity to say a few words to the assembled Council and guests.

Those are the bare facts about the event but what is important to the two Choirs he directs are the reasons behind this richly deserved award.

Musical Directors of Choirs in general usually do a good job in helping their Choirs to produce recognisably harmonious performances in concert and to enjoy the process of rehearsal and the camaraderie and friendships which develop in the Choir environment.

What sets David apart from lesser MDs is that his talent for teaching Choral singing means that he does these things to an exceptionally high standard and he does so much more as well.

His work ethic is most impressive. He researches music and equipment to improve the repertoires and performances of his Choirs, he checks out venues where performances are to take place, he prepares practice CDs for each vocal part for each major performance, he creates backing tracks to accompany the songs in performance and he manages to make rehearsals really enjoyable. His sense of humour and musical knowledge ensure that singers go home after practice with a real sense of achievement, nearly as high as the buzz after a well-received Concert performance. The sense of self esteem and the feeling of belonging to a thriving organisation like Hartlepool Male Voice Choir or Hartlepool Ladies’ Choir are important in people’s lives and they are grateful to David for this.

Long may his tenure as MD of these increasingly popular Choirs continue.



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