Society History
The year 2021 marked the 30th anniversary of the Society’s formation. Its roots lie in St Denys’ Church, Northmoor, where an inspirational organist and choir master, Tim Vellacott, gathered a following of singers who then decided they’d like to branch out and perform larger works. Although originally members came from the villages of the Lower Windrush valley of West Oxfordshire, such as Standlake and Stanton Harcourt, and we rehearsed in a village school, we now rehearse in Witney and our singers (numbering 50-55) come from considerably further afield including Witney, Long Hanborough, North Leigh, Bampton, Appleton and Abingdon. We perform two or three concerts a year in local venues and, whilst these used to be the churches of Northmoor, Standlake and Stanton Harcourt, we now usually sing in Witney.
Since its formation, the choir has sung a wide range of choral works from early and baroque music through to classical and contemporary works, accompanied by professional soloists and musicians, chosen by our Music Director.
In 2007, we were very fortunate to appoint Terry McNamara as our Music Director. Terry has introduced us to new repertoire, e.g. Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio, the Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor and some little-known Handel, as well as guiding us through some of the standard, well-loved choral classics, such as the Mozart and Brahms Requiems.