Wellington Choral Society
Wellington Choral Society is a friendly amateur choir of about 85 members, incorporating a wide range of age and abilities, and membership is open to everyone who loves singing and with a particular interest in choral music. There are no auditions, but some sight reading ability is helpful. Every year we hold a social fundraising event or a workshop, and the Society has finally taken the plunge and acquired its own staging.
The Society was founded in 1940 but it has its roots firmly in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1855 William Manley, Schoolmaster at the National School in Wellington, presented his first concert of vocal and instrumental pieces at the Town Hall. His concerts became an annual event and in 1871 he established, and was the first conductor of, the Wellington Harmonic Society. Soloists performing with the Harmonic Society were mainly from Somerset and neighbouring counties but occasionally from London, notably Margaret Balfour and Arthur Cranmer (both performers at many Promenade Concerts). As part of a programme with the Harmonic Society in 1930 Arthur Cranmer performed works by Vaughan Williams which was a great success; Cranmer had been conducted by the composer himself in a concert broadcast by the BBC in 1926. When membership numbers became too low in the early 1930s activities were suspended but in 1940 the Society was revived under its new name, the Wellington Choral Society, and in 2015 we celebrated our 75th anniversary. Our repertoire runs from the baroque and classical periods to the present day and we perform concerts in late November and March with professional soloists and orchestra, usually in St John’s Church, Wellington. We also take part every year in the Sing for Somerset carol service at Wells Cathedral, along wth members of other local choral societies. |