Twyford Singers

Formed in 1974 by its first conductor, Dr Alwyn Surplice, our choir has grown from about 30 to around 80 and we still have three of the founding members within our ranks. Other past conductors have been John Lunt, Alan Mottram and Peter Parfitt and we are very fortunate to have Derek Beck as our present conductor. From early September to mid May, with some breaks for school holidays, rehearsals are held in Shawford Parish Hall between 7.30 and 9.30 pm every Tuesday. We have been constituted as a registered charity for several years and are known formally as Twyford Singers (Hampshire), in order to differentiate us from our Twyford (Berkshire) cousins!

We give two main concerts per year. The first is normally held in February or March, and alternates on an annual basis between Twyford Parish Hall and an ecclesiastical venue, such as St Cross Chapel. The Parish Hall concert normally presents ‘lighter’ works, such as G&S’s Trial by Jury or Hurd’s Hip Hip Horatio and Horovitz’s Horrortorio. The church performances are normally of sacred works, for example Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonnelle or Rutter’s Requiem and Magnificat.

Professional vocalists and instrumentalists frequently support our programmes. Our 2010 concert in St Cross Chapel was a well-attended performance of Handel's Samson and our very popular 2011 concert in Twyford Parish Hall featured Andrew Lloyd-Webber's and Tim Rice's Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Our 2012 concert in St Cross Chapel will be a performance of Haydn's Stabat Mater. A future ambition is a joint performance, with the choir of Twyford School, of Alexander L'Estrange's exciting Zimbe, based on African songs.

For our second concert of the year, we team up with other local choirs in the Winchester and County Music Festival, the venue being either Winchester Cathedral or Romsey Abbey. Our most recent performances have been in Haydn’s Creation and Verdi's Requiem and in the past have included Jenkins’ Armed Man, Orff's Carmina Burana and Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony.

In addition, we normally supplement the ad hoc choir of St Mary's, Twyford for its annual carol service and also sing carols at The Phoenix Inn, Twyford, to raise funds for a chosen local charity. Our main social events of the year are an Annual Dinner in March or April and a "bring and share supper", following the AGM in June. We also, from time to time, arrange "skittles evenings" at The Phoenix Inn. We are financially sound and are normally able to make significant charitable donations from the proceeds of our own concert. The choir is also a member of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies.

Contact the Society
Secretary: Penny Terrell
Telephone: 01962 865628
Website: http://www.twyford-singers.hampshire.org.uk
Membership enquiries email: membership@twyford-singers.hampshire.org.uk
All other enquiries email: enquiries@twyford-singers.hampshire.org.uk