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POSTER; PROGRAMME & PHOTO MEMORABILIA

HISTORY

Yate Choral Society is a mixed choir with over 50 members which is celebrating its 50^th Anniversary in 2016.

THE BEGINNING by Terry Payne (original M.D. 1966 - 1968) (click link for personal biography) Our first rehearsal was on Tuesday the 15th February 1966 with 11 singers and Betty Heathfield as our accompanist.  Howard Lewis allowed us to use Yate Ridge School free of charge.

Numbers increased and our first concert was on the 20th October 1966, admission 2/- and we made a profit of £30.16.6d so someone got in for 6d!  

Gertrude Higgins, always one of our most enthusiastic members, printed the drafts for our programmes.

The membership of the Choral Yate Society went from strength to strength.

By December 1966 we had 38 singers for the Christmas Carols for Everyone concert.

Terry Payne left the society in 1968
	Robert Davies took over from Terry Payne as Musical Director in 1968. He is seen here conducting at the “Festival of Song” concert at the St Edmunds School Yate on 2^nd November of that year.

Robert Davies continued as Musical Director until 1970 when Mary Towersey took over the baton. Geoffrey Wickham (seen here with Hazel Wickham on piano in October 1991) replaced her as Musical Director in 1971. Their first concert as M.D. and accompanist was on 22^nd April 1972 when the choir performed the Nelson Mass by Haydn and Zadok the Priest by Handel with the Bristol Youth Orchestra
At Chipping Sodbury School in the late 1980’s
20^th Anniversary - 1986
With the Chorale Chanteverte at Cesson – May 1987
Entente Cordiale The exchange between Yate Choral Society and the French choir, La Chorale Rene Rose was begun in the spirit of friendship through our shared love of singing. Members of Yate Choral Society travelled to Coulanges sur Yonne, a small town in Burgundy in 2004, and bonds were established immediately. Since then, the two choirs have met every two years on each side of the Channel, and at concerts given jointly, we have listened to, and performed a variety of music from our two cultures. We have had opportunities to discover our two regions, and, of course to sample our different cuisines. It has been a memorable experience for us all, and we look forward to continuing the mutual affection, built up over the past twelve years.