Chorus Leadership

Great Western Chorus performing at the Dutch Association Convention, November 2008 (Photo: Eric Ideler)

Director: Linda Corcoran

Linda was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire. At home, her father, mother & elder sister provided a musical atmosphere in which she could develop her own talents. So the rest is entirely their fault !

Her first musical activity was learning the piano as a child, before moving into the world of Brass Banding, playing Cornet and later Flugel Horn.
It was while playing in a brass band concert that Linda heard her first 'Barbershop' chord, sung by a guest chorus. It turned out to be a revelation for the whole family ... Her father joined Preston Men's chorus, and Linda was soon part of a group, including her Mum & sister, which formed Preston Ladies Barbershop Singers 'The Red Rosettes'.

At Preston, Linda sang tenor in her first quartet 'Quartz', competing at the 1980 Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) Convention.

In 1982 she moved to Liverpool Ladies Barbershop Singers, where she became the assistant Chorus Director. The Chorus won the National Championship on three occasions and while singing with Liverpool, Linda went on to win a quartet Silver Medal at the 1985 LABBS convention, this time singing Baritone with 'City Limits'.

Linda then returned to Preston Ladies Chorus, 'The Red Rosettes', as its Director, a position she held for almost 10 years.

During that time, she began singing Tenor with the Ladies quartet 'Checkmate', who were delighted to win the LABBS National Gold Medal in Harrogate in 1994, and two years later, the International Gold Medal in Cardiff.
'Checkmate' travelled extensively, representing the best of British Barbershop singing at the Dutch and German Conventions, and also at the 1996 Barbershop Harmony Society's International Convention in Salt Lake City.

In 1999, Linda moved 200 miles south to Gloucestershire, and in the year 2000, became Director of The Great Western Chorus of Bristol (GWC).  She is in demand as a barbershop quartet and chorus coach in the UK and Ireland, and is a member of the Faculty of the British Association of Barbershop Singers' annual Directors' College.

Linda now sings Lead in the 2007 British Gold Medal Ladies barbershop quartet 'Havoc' (www.havoc-singbristol.com).  Havoc represented The Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (www.labbs.org) at the Barbershop Harmony Society's 2009 Annual International Convention in Anaheim, California, and during that same Convention, Linda lead the GWC (representing the U.K. as the 2008 British Chorus Champions) into the World Chorus Championships.  In 2010, Linda directed the GWC to its 8th British Chorus Championship win, and so will repeat her "International duty" in July 2011, in front of the Chorus, against the best in the world in Kansas City.

In her 'spare time' Linda works in sales and lives with her fiance Martin, who luckily, is also heavily involved in this same crazy hobby!