History

Banbury Choral Society was founded in February 1942, in the dark days of World War Two. Its first conductor was Geoffrey Furnish who was with the Society until his death in 1974. He was succeeded for three years by Malcolm B. Sargent, who in turn was followed by Edward Palmer in 1977. ‘Eddie’, as he was affectionately known, was an inspiration to all who sang under his baton. He died very suddenly less than a week after conducting the choir in 'Messiah for Hospices' in October 2000, and it was perhaps fitting that he had told the choir he considered this to be the best performance of this work he had ever conducted.

The choral society celebrated its 50th year in 1992 and to mark the occasion, Walter Cheney, compiled a history of the choral society from 1942 to 1992 called ‘We are the Music Makers’. This book was dedicated to the memory of Lionel Pratt who died in January 1992. He was a valued member of the tenor section for almost 50 years. It is a wonderful account of how the choir developed over that time and shows the dedication and commitment of its members. To download a copy, please click here.

From January 2001, the Society was then very fortunate to secure the services of Sue Freestone, who was Musical Director until July 2004. The Choir went from strength to strength under her direction, with performances of works by Gershwin, Rutter, Britten, Verdi and Rossini. In 2004 she conducted the choir for memorable performances of Karl Jenkins' "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace" St Mary's Church, Banbury and Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" at Sibford School.

In September 2004 the choir welcomed Keith Smith as the new Musical Director.

Musical Director

Keith Smith was born in Leicestershire where, after early success as a boy treble, he began to play both violin and piano. Whilst at school he became a member of the Leicestershire and National Youth Orchestras. He studied orchestral and choral conducting at the Royal College of Music and holds degrees in music from Leeds and Surrey Universities.

Following a successful teaching post in Leicestershire, Keith Smith became Director of Music at Banbury School in 1970. Under his directorship the school choirs and Choral Society flourished and regularly performed major choral works with professional soloists and orchestras such as the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. He also formed the 'Polyphonic Music Group' in Banbury, which was a small chamber-choir specialising in Baroque and Classical works - several present members of Banbury Choral Society were singers in that choir.

In 1979 he resigned from Banbury School in order to follow a full-time conducting career. He became a Staff Conductor for Hampshire and Musical Director of Southampton Youth Orchestra, a position he held for 25 years. In 1991 he founded the Hampshire County Youth Choir which he conducted with great success until 1997.

For many years Keith Smith was chorus master of Leicester Philharmonic Society, directing the work of the choir through innumerable major concerts and BBC broadcasts; he was also conductor of Leicester Symphony Orchestra for over 20 years and the founding conductor of the Channel Islands Youth Orchestra from 1994 - 2000.

Keith Smith's freelance work has enabled him to conduct major orchestras and choirs at home and abroad. In addition to many foreign tours throughout Europe. USA, Canada and the Far East with the Southampton Youth Orchestra, recent conducting engagements have taken him to Hungary, Romania and China.

Accompanist

Elsa Williams began playing the piano at an early age and was awarded a Junior Exhibition to Trinity College in London. She went on to study Music and French at Reading University but decided to keep music as a hobby and to embark on a career as a French teacher.

After 25 years teaching she moved into educational administration, working most recently as Registrar at Magdalen College School in Oxford. Now semi-retired, she accompanies both the Banbury Choral Society and the Warriner Choral Society, and is the Church Organist in Deddington.

Committee

The Society is organised by the Officers of the Society and Committee Members.  The present Officers are the Chairman, Liz Scamans and the Treasurer, George Macey.  The Committee Members are currently Simon Angel, Mary Ennis, Sue Nottingham, Jean Swift, Tony Swift, Michele Hunter and Sue Wightman.  In addition there is an Admin Team of three choir members - Sian Miller, Helen Forde and Mary Hillier, of whom Sian Miller acts as minutes secretary to the Committee.

The Choir’s President is Lady Saye and Sele - a position she has held since November 1992. Members of the choir are very grateful for the time that Lady Saye gives to supporting the choral society.

The Choir

The Choral Society meets on Monday nights during term time at Marlborough Road Methodist Church in Banbury. Rehearsals start at 7.30pm. Social coffee events are held every three to four weeks just prior to the start of rehearsal in order for members of the choir to get to know one another. Twice each year, Keith, the Musical Director, and his wife Andrea invite the choir to a party at their home and these informal gatherings are very much enjoyed by the members.

Concert outings to Birmingham Symphony Hall and elsewhere are organised by Mary Ennis who works tirelessly to make sure these trips are well planned in advance as well as being fun and enjoyable.

Banbury Choral Society welcomes new members at all times. If you have sung in other choirs or indeed, if you haven’t sung in a choir before, but just love singing, then we would be glad to hear from you. Please complete the Enquiry Form on the Contact Us page and a member of the committee will get back in touch with you.