Why is it called the Edinburgh Telephone Choir?
The Choir was formed in Edinburgh in 1947 by Mollie Scott, a Lady Supervisor in the then Rose Street Telephone Exchange, for ladies working in the exchange. The original ladies only choir recruited gentlemen in 1950 to enable a wider range of music to be undertaken with part singing.
Since the 1950s the Choir’s members have come from various occupations other than telephonists, however being well known by the original name we have decided not to change it. The Choir has become popular throughout Edinburgh and the surrounding districts with many charities benefiting from monies donated by the group.
About the Choir
The Choir is a registered charity run by a board of trustees. New trustees are elected from the choir members every year.
We usually have 30 to 40 members divided into four voice parts. We are expertly led by our Musical Director, Lindsey Cotter, and accompanied on the piano by the very talented Jun Chan.
Repertoire
Our repertoire is broad and constantly evolving. It includes a mixture of show tunes, pop music from various eras, light classics, folk, and novelty pieces – anything that appeals to our Choir members and audiences. Below is a selection of some of our annual show pieces from the last few years:
- A Million Dreams (The Greatest Showman)
- All that Jazz (Chicago)
- Beatles Medley
- Blue Moon
- Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
- Bonnie Lass O’ Fyvie (traditional)
- Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Verdi)
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
- Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey)
- Dream a Little Dream of Me
- Dumbarton’s Drums (traditional)
- For the Longest Time (Billy Joel)
- Hansel and Gretel’s Prayer (Humperdinck)
- I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables)
- It’s Oh So Quiet (Bjork)
- La La Land medley
- Mack the Knife (The Threepenny Opera)
- Mister Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra)
- My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose (Robert Burns)
- Night and Day (Cole Porter)
- Night Fever (The Bee Gees)
- Oh Happy Day (gospel)
- Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz)
- Rainbow Connection (The Muppets)
- Rainy Days and Mondays (The Carpenters)
- Rule the World (Take That)
- Singin’ in the Rain
- Stand By Me (Ben E. King)
- Sunrise, Sunset (Fiddler on the Roof)
- Thank You for the Music (Abba)
- The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha; Josh Groban)
- The Lion Sleeps Tonight
- Total Praise (gospel)
- Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go (Wham)
- West Side Story medley
- What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
- When She Loved Me (Toy Story 2)