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Who we are
Formed in the early days of Welwyn Garden City, we gave our first concert in the Cherry Tree in 1921. With a subscription of 5 shillings a year, we rehearsed at an army hut in the woods, where the council offices now stand. The Cherry Tree itself is now a Waitrose supermarket. Still going strong, we are the town‘s oldest society.
Today we put on around 4 concerts a year. We are open to all and welcome singers and musicians, as well as those who come to our concerts.
Unusually we are both an orchestra and a choir, rehearsing separately but performing together. Our professionals are the Music Director, James Ross, who rehearses the orchestra and conducts, our Chorus Master, Crispin Lewis who rehearses the Chorus, and sometimes conducts, accompanist Barbara Manning and Leader, Jonathan Acton.
| We are proud to have as our President the world class violinist Andrew Watkinson. Leader of the Endellion String Quartet as well as a soloist, he has led or directed the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the London Sinfonietta. We are fortunate in having a President who plays an active part; Andrew performed Beethoven's Violin Concerto with us in 2008, and the Dvorák Violin Romance in 2010. In 2012 Andrew helped us celebrate our 90th season by playing Bruch's first Violin Concerto on 24th March 2012. More recently, he played Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in 2017, and in March 2018 he played in the Galini Trio, who performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto.
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Andrew Watkinson |
We all enjoy both the rehearsals and the concerts. We regularly have social events, which allow us to get together and enjoy ourselves whilst also raising funds.
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