About the Choir

Our Concert Philosophy!

(Typically for the 2016 Concert)

Our concerts are generally paid for by the choir subscriptions covering expenses such as music, accompanists and refreshments. All of the ticket sale proceeds, the "honesty box" for refreshments and the exit collections are donated to the charitable beneficiaries, chosen annually by the choir and the church organisation supporting us. This particular concert raised £1830 which was split equally between Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and St Paul's Church.

We invite the Representatives of the beneficiaries to attend the concert and make their appeal to the audience. We also ask the charities to help with serving refreshments and to sell tickets; again, in this case, they did have a small sales table and 2 Hearing Dogs to encourage the audience to part with additional funds

For other charities we have supported “Click Here” 

How the Choir was founded

The choir's history began in 1986, being part of the local South Berkshire Music Centre which was itself part of the Berkshire Young Musicians' Trust (BYMT).

Many of the parents of children attending the Centre for music tuition had been taught music when they were young, and their love of music was being passed on to their children through the lessons that the centre provided. Music, as a part of life, was obviously being held in high regard by these parents but some of them were seeking more participation for themselves.

The Centre’s Musical Director, recognising this need, therefore decided to form a parents' choir, and thus the choir which is now known as The South Berkshire Singers (SBS) was born.

For many years the Musical Director was Dorothy Andrews, a choral music teacher at the Music Centre, and the Choir’s character was closely allied to that of the Centre. Eventually though, the choir matured and wanted to become independent which it finally did in 1998.

Today the Choir is a registered charity, has its own management committee and a program of concerts which it organises and performs.

The choir has evolved into one which supports other charitable organisations, and each year the Choir chooses which charity to help.

The Choir gives all proceeds raised through ticket and program sales to its chosen charity.

Several times each year concerts are organised for the elderly in their sheltered accommodation.

Our programme continues to provide the members of the choir with an enjoyable way to learn and improve their musical skills and achieve the high standards for which we aim in our choral performances. It also provides a social element where members come to enjoy each other's company each week, as well as attending the social events that are organised throughout the year.