Elizabeth Twining, member of Axminster and District Choral Society, tells us how their group is celebrating 40 years of singing.
In February 1985, an enthusiastic group organised a ,Come and Sing Messiah, in the recently-reordered Minster Church. The event was a great success, and shortly afterwards Axminster and District Choral Society was established.
Over the years, both the number and range of concerts have expanded, and the pattern is now two major concerts a year, with professional orchestra and soloists, and less formal concerts in the summer and at Christmas.
Logo for Axminster and District Choral Society's 40th anniversary
For our 40th anniversary programme, we started on 5 April with Haydn’s 'Creation', a work that has been performed in every decade of the choir’s existence. The summer and autumn concerts focus on works by British composers, including Sir John Rutter and Bob Chilcott. A feature of the autumn concert will be a work composed for the occasion by our President, Andrew Millington. Finally, the Christmas concert will reprise the inaugural 'Come and Sing Messiah'.
One aim for the anniversary year is to attract more members so that we return to our pre-Covid numbers - a second is to publicise our activities more widely. But most of all, we aim to maintain our tradition of offering quality performances of wonderful music to audiences in and around Axminster.
Tickets for their summer concert on 14 June are available to purchase here
Find out more about the Axminster and District Choral Society on their website and follow them on Facebook and X (Twitter)
