The Early Years - 1783-1826

On 8th April, 1783 a concert was given in Shrewsbury where works by Handel, Cooke, Arnold, Arne and Webber were performed.

On 8th March 1785 “Rules and Regulations of the Musical Society” established in Shrewsbury were agreed. The Society, made up only of GENTLEMEN, not to exceed 24 were to meet at the Raven on the first Tuesday of every month at 5pm

The Society provided concerts on and off over the next few years evolving into SHREWSBURY MUSIC FESTIVAL giving choral concerts including performances of Handel’s Messiah in 1790, 1791, 1799 and 1802.

Shrewsbury New Choral Society - 1835-1838

In 1835 the first recorded mention of the Shrewsbury New Choral Society can be found in the Shrewsbury Chronicle with a concert on 12th May 1835 including selections from Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabeus as well as Haydn’s Creation.

For the following three years concerts were given three or four times each year.

Shrewsbury Choral Society - 1838-1852

In December 1838, after three successful years it seems the decision was made to recognise that choral music making was well rooted and that the word New was no longer needed!

On 11th November 1840 the “New Music Hall” was opened with a performance including selections from Messiah and Creation. Receipts were £665 and expenses £455! In the years that followed the record shows several performances each year offering music by Gluck, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber.

Lost in the mists of time… 1852-1920

The historical record of choral music-making from 1852 to 1920 in Shrewsbury is disappointingly scant. That is not to say no choral music making took place, just that there is little record of it. On the morning of 11th November 1856 the Society offered Messiah and on 29th January 1885 Mendelssohn’s Elijah. In the annual report the Committee expressed deep concern at the falling off of the Society’s financial standing having made an annual profit that year of just £10. 0s. 1d! That one penny might have made all the difference!

On 25th February 1897 Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise was performed in the Music Hall and on 13th December 1906 Handel’s Messiah.

Shrewsbury Philharmonic Concerts - 1920-1927

A more organised attempt to strengthen choral music-making was made with record of a Second Concert on 8th April 1920. When the first concert happened nobody knows! A series of concerts continued with a Fourth Concert on 3rd February 1921. The Twenty-Fourth Concert took place at the Music Hall on 10th March 1927.

And it is at this point that the historical records prove to be disappointingly blank until 1941 and the next chapter of our history.