Upcoming Dates

Saturday 22nd March 2025

Beeston Parish Church,  Beeston

7.30 pm

BUY TICKETS

and later in the year…

Sat, 11th October 2025

West Bridgford Baptist Church, West Bridgford

Nottinghamshire

Sat, 21st June 2025

St James the Great Church, Syresham

Northamptonshire

Sat, 20th December 2025

St Marys Church, Attenborough

Nottinghamshire

It all began with wanting to sing together.

About us.

Note-Ability began as a group of friends making music together in 1994, and although it has changed shape over the years as singers have come and gone, it still has a core group of original founder members, most noteably Caroline Essex, our Musical Director; a distinguished soprano soloist in her own right.

The choir specialises in mostly unaccompanied vocal music from madrigals and motets to popular songs and folk-songs.

Based in Nottingham, Note-Ability regularly perform throughout the East Midlands, and further afield.

Caroline Essex - Musical Director

“I grew up surrounded by music, in particular thanks to my father, Eddie Palmer, former King’s College Scholar, organist and choral conductor; one of my earliest memories is of standing on a chair singing “The Angel Gabriel” into a mirror! Throughout my school and university days, I sang in church choirs, chamber choirs, choral societies and musical theatre groups, experiencing the broad range of musical styles that Note-Ability enjoy singing.

It was at Nottingham University that I started formal singing lessons and also began conducting; beginning with a church music group, progressing to the Gilbert and Sullivan Society and eventually, with the support and encouragement of university friends, Note-Ability.

Over the last thirty years I have continued singing in various groups, choirs and as a soloist and have also conducted school choirs, my day job being teaching singing to primary aged children. In January 2024 I also became Choral Director at St Helen’s Church Ashby de la Zouch.

It is a privilege to have remained Note-Ability’s musical director since it’s humble beginnings in 1994 as a group of friends enjoying making music together; some friends may have come and gone over the years, but the ethos remains at the heart of what we do.”

Caroline Essex

MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Favourite film: The Sure Thing.
Pet hate: Not putting the dry washing-up away before adding more wet items.
Ironic fact: Went to Finland to see the Northern Lights. No show. Came home and saw them in Ashby-de-la-Zouch!
Susie Lamb

ALTO
Treasure island luxury: Espresso coffee machine.
Pet hate: Apostrophes in the wrong place.
Favourite tipple: Kir Royale.
Malcolm Cocking

BASS
Embarrasing fact: Once kicked by a giraffe!
Claim to fame: A crowd catch at a Trent Bridge T20 match.
Party trick: Able to say the longest place name in Wales!
Becky Kirkham

SOPRANO
Favourite musical: Blood Brothers.
Dream: To buy a large plot of land in rolling countryside to design and build my own house.
Favourite TV programme: Taskmaster.
David Essex

BASS
Wildest moment: Helicopter ride over the Alps.
Latest obsession: Country music.
Funniest meal: Stew on a BBQ.
Lucy Lamley

ALTO
Favourite tipple: G&T.
Pet hate: People pronouncing the ‘h’ in ‘haitch’.
Proudest moment: Playing Sandy in Grease at school.
Sam Cocking

SOPRANO
Favourite musical: West Side Story.
Secret skill: I’d have a go at open heart surgery, having watched the complete box set of Grey’s Anatomy.
First pet: Janie our family pooch. My dad went to Battersea Dogs Home to collect an Irish wolfhound called Tarzan. Unfortunately for us, he had already been rehomed, so we ended up with a female pup and called her Jane in his honour.
Dan Buckroyd

TENOR
Career trajectory: Knitwear model (age 6), double glazing salesman, bank management trainee, actor, theatre director.
Most embarrssing moment: Taking the wrong door out of the changing room at a German Spa and ending up stood in the middle of the cafe in the nude.
Musical recommendation: My son Stan Buckroyd - indie snger/songwriter who started his musical journey with Note-Ability Soprano Sam’s ‘Rhythm Club’ when he was 4.
Chris Satterley

TENOR
Favourite book: Men at Arms (Terry Pratchett)
Treasure island luxury: A good pillow.
Pet hate: Leaving the tea bag in with the milk.
Anita French

SOPRANO
Favourite thing: My clarinet.
Desert island luxury: My clarinet and the complete sheet music of Mozart.
Favourite thing I’ve done: Volunteering at the Olympics.
Helen Stringfellow

SOPRANO
Favourite thing: My family.
Luxury: Having bedsheets washed every day.
Favourite tipple: Margarita.
Emma Whitaker

SOPRANO
Favourite book: Too hard to choose but The Secret Garden was a childhood favourite.
Guilty pleasure: Bridgerton.
First pet: George the budgie.
Tanya McCallum

ALTO
Favourite childhood TV show: The Muppets.
Claim to fame: I went to school with actress Emilia Fox.
Favourite animal: Jellyfish.
Mark Ramsey

BASS
Favourite cartoon character: Charlie Brown.
Pet hate: Having to hunt for my reading glasses when I need to read something.
Fun fact: I have been the fiddler on the roof and a panto dame - not at the same time!
Chris Bridges

BASS
Favourite thing: Singing.
Favourite drink: Gin and tonic.
Desert Island Luxury: Greenhouse for my tomatoes.
Simon Cunnington

BASS
Triple threat: I sing, play trombone and do ballroom dancing, although not all at the same time!
Claim to fame: I appeared on Songs of Praise (many years ago) playing trombone on a train.
Favourite book: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. Read it multiple times since first reading in the equivalent of year 7!
Ali Walsh

Favourite musical: Godspell
Favourite tipple: Aussie Chardonnay
First pet: Hammy the hamster!
Matthew Clemence

TENOR
Too many: Piano accordions; and I can't play any of them!
Favourite film: "What's up doc?" With Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neil one of the last great screwball comedies.
Claim to fame: I was once the master of ceremonies for an event for a member of the danish royal family.