The Cirencester Choral Society is one of the oldest choral groups in the county, having started in 1863 as singing lessons for locals.

Now over 150 years on and still going strong, the Society performs two or three concerts a year at Cirencester Parish Church.

“We have around 100 singers,” explained Andrew Crane, the Chairman of the Society.

“I’ve been involved for 25 years and Chairman for seven, but we have members who have been singing for longer than that.

“In fact one very loyal – now retired – member had sung in every concert for 50 years! Recently we’ve been delighted to welcome several much younger singers to the Society.”

Anne Rickard, who handles publicity for the Society thanks partly to her background as a former copy editor, has only been with the choir for a fraction of time compared to Andrew.

But she says the welcoming nature of the group made her feel at home instantly.

“I was a bit apprehensive when I first came along five years ago,” she said. “I hadn’t done any singing since school apart from joining a village choir, but when I retired I wanted to join a group that performed major choral works.

“Everyone was really friendly and I’ve been coming ever since. It’s amazing, even if you’ve been feeling tired all day you come to rehearsal and feel completely different, it gives you a lift.”

The choir is always keen on new members joining when there are vacancies – they especially need tenors and basses at the moment, Andrew says – but a few years ago they were at full capacity and had so many people they struggled to fit everyone in.

Now with a dedicated and diverse group of singers, the Society is preparing for their next concert which will be on Saturday 27th April, and will feature a Haydn mass and pieces by Mozart, Salieri and J C Bach – the youngest surviving son of the more famous J S Bach.

“We generally perform works from the 17th century right up to the present day,” continued Andrew, “and like to include some pieces most of us have never sung before as well as choral favourites.

“The shorter works in the upcoming concert will be less familiar to the audience, in particular the ‘Coronation Te Deum’ by Antonio Salieri.

“Most have only ever heard of Salieri as Mozart’s arch rival and possible poisoner in the film Amadeus. Though the two were likely competitors in the musical world any such malevolent intent seems very farfetched and we look forward to presenting Salieri in a more favourable light in our concert!”

They will be joined on the night by soloists from the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music, as well as a full orchestra – the Cheltenham based Corelli.

The concert will be the choir’s first of the year, with another set for November, and a Christmas concert in December, in aid of a chosen local charity.

“We don’t get to rehearse with the orchestra until on the day itself,” added Anne.

“And performing with the orchestra and creating an amazing sound is a brilliant feeling.”