Cornish Sounds of Music bring New Year Honours for John Larke

A founding father of Cornwall’s International Male Choral Festival – now the largest event of its kind in the world - has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list.

John Larke, who was instrumental in setting up and developing the world-renowned Festival, and who has been part of the key team of organisers working tirelessly on it for almost eighteen years, has been awarded the MBE for his services to music in Cornwall.

John – who has also sung with the City of Truro Male Voice Choir for the past thirty years and been its chairman for the last fifteen – is eager to stress he is one of a huge number of people who devote their time and energy to celebrating the male choral tradition and ensuring the Festival is such a popular and joy-filled event.

He says, “I am deeply honoured to receive this award and see it as recognition of the many volunteers in Cornish male voice choirs who are maintaining the genre and assisting in making our International Festival a truly global success.”

St Petersburg Boys Choir at St Michael’s Mount to launch the 2017 Cornwall International Male Choral Festival (photo by Phil Monckton)

John and the team are already hard at work ahead of the ninth biennial Cornwall International Male Choral Festival – with choirs from across the world already signed up for the event in Spring 2019. The eight events since the Festival’s inauguration in 2003 have brought around 16,000 singers from every continent on Earth (including Cornwall) for a celebration of music and song in the male choral tradition.

During the 2017 event 60 choirs and their entourages – from as far afield as Australia, the USA and Russia – took part in 50 events in 40 venues right across Cornwall with organisers estimating that the four day Festival brought around £1million into the local economy.

The 2019 Festival will run from May 2nd to 6th – all details including a festival film, background and photos from previous festivals can be found on this site,