Our story starts with this commentary in the Silver Jubilee concert programme in 1980:

Early in 1955 a group of former pupils at Farnham Girls Grammar School was asked to give a concert at their Association’s annual reunion. They invited John Cotterill, himself a former pupil of Farnham (Boys) Grammar School, to conduct them. He and the Association’s then Secretary, Molly Medhurst, recognised the enthusiasm of these dozen or so singers and decided to form a choir. A member’s house in Waverley Lane became the venue for rehearsals; from this the name was conceived, and in March 1955 the Waverley Singers were born.
During the next few years, various concerts were given in the Farnham and district before the choir opened its membership to men and began to perform four-part choral works. From Fauré’s Requiem in 1960, larger and more complex works were undertaken; membership continue to increase and concerts of greater dimensions with full orchestral accompaniment and eminent professional soloists were presented. Affiliation to the National Federation of Music Societies followed and now, with a membership of 130, the Waverley singers under their founder-conductor are firmly established as part of the musical life of Farnham and district, and proudly stand 25 years on.

An amusing insight into those early days comes from a newspaper article covering the reception following the choir’s 40th anniversary concert in 1995, by which time Malcolm Hicks had taken over the conductor's baton. This stated:

John Cotterill congratulated Malcolm Hicks and the choir on a marvellous performance of Elijah and said it was hard to believe how far the Waverley Singers had come from their first performance which included ‘The Happy Wanderer’ and ‘How Much is That Doggy in the Window’!

(Although The Happy Wanderer was in the early days the Choir's signature song, and was performed many times, we have not been able to find the details of them singing ‘How Much is That Doggy in the Window’!)

Sometime after 1982 the story was taken up as follows:

Most of the well-known and lesser-known choral works have been presented, more recent highlights being the St Matthew Passion in Odiham in 1973, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in the Farnham Maltings, the choir’s Silver Jubilee performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in 1980 and an exciting Opera Gala night with Teresa Cahill as soloist and trumpeters from the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall.
In 1982 the Waverley Singers took a major step forward in appointing a fully professional conductor and musical director. Malcolm Hicks pursues a full-time career as a freelance conductor and keyboard player in London and Hertfordshire where he lives. Previously Associate Conductor of the London Philharmonic Choir, he performs regularly with the BBC Symphony and other orchestras. He has conducted Promenade concerts and many broadcast performances at home and abroad. Under Mr Hicks' leadership the Waverley Singers are assured of a very exciting future.

From 1985 onwards we regularly took part in Christmas concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, singing alongside the London Oriana Choir and English Baroque Choir, under the latter's conductor, Leon Lovett. These were specactular affairs, usually in the presence of Royalty, and with a succession of 'celebs' doing their stuff alongside professional musicians! This image is from 'Joy to the World' in December 1989, which took place in the presence of HM The Queen, and which featured, among others, Michael Pearce (father of Richard) alongside (on the RAH website, at least) Cliff Richard!

The programme notes for the Golden Jubilee concert in 2005 at The Anvil (see below) refer to the recording for CD of Christmas music made in 1993, and of English choral music through the ages in 1999. Also in 1999, with the help of a grant from the Lottery Commission, we commissioned a Requiem by Denys Darlow, and gave the first performance in November of that year.

From 1993 onwards, under Malcolm Hicks’ leadership, we undertook regular overseas tours: in 1993 to France (Caen and Pont d’Ouilly); 1995 to France (Lectoure and Toulouse); in 1997 to France (Chartres); in 1999 to Holland (Amsterdam and Haarlem); in 2004 to France (Chartres and Bonneval); in 2006 to Belgium (Bruges and Ghent) (see poster). This tradition has continued under Richard Pearce with, in 2019, concerts in Slovakia (Bratislava and Nitra) and Austria (Vienna), and, in 2024, to France (Honfleur and Lisieux).

In October 2000, under John Cotterill's leadership, we joined with other choirs to give the centenary performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Albert Hall, and in April 2003, under Malcolm Hicks, we chose St James' Church, Piccadilly, for a performance of Bach's St John Passion.

In 2005, to celebrate our 50th anniversary, we put on an ambitious Messiah concert at The Anvil in Basingstoke, which raised more than £12,000 for local hospices. Both John Cotterill and Denys Darlow (see above) were present. The concert review included the following:

Hospice supporters from far and wide enjoyed an evening of music at The Anvil, when an 800-plus audience raised more than £12,000 for Saint Michael's and Phyllis Tuckwell hospices.
The Waverley Singers, celebrating their golden anniversary, treated the audience to a rare performance of Messiah, combining the best aspects of the "big choir" approach to this work with all the vigour and drama of the “baroque" approach.
Vivienne Woolston, marketing and fundraising director of Saint Michael's Hospice, said "The Waverley Singers put the extra into ordinary! The performance was truly magnificent. I was highly impressed with the complete professionalism of the entire ensemble."

In 2009 we appointed only our third permanent conductor since our founding, Richard Pearce, who had previously been our accompanist. His first concert came only six weeks after he was appointed, and the review in The Herald had the following to say:

For his first concert as newly appointed conductor of the Waverly Singers in their performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Richard Pearce ably demonstrated his fine musicality and rich personal gift for encouraging each member of the Choir. He communicated both energy and a winning sensitivity to the music, setting just the right pace and dramatic atmosphere. There was a palpable sense of rapport between conductor and choir.
It was a special treat for the large audience at St Andrew's Garrison Church in Aldershot to hear this challenging work last Saturday, and in addition it raised over £1,100 for Help for Heroes and its timely work for the men and women of our Armed Forces wounded in conflicts across the world.

Under Richard Pearce's direction, we have continued to make progress, and to attract favourable reviews for our concerts. In June 2013 we gave the first performance of a new work we had commissioned from composer Will Todd to celebrate both the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of HM the Queen and the 250th anniversary of the birth of Farnham’s ‘most famous son’, William Cobbett. (Image shows Will Todd and Richard Pearce alongside the Mayors of Waverley and Farnham next to John Darker, Chair of the Waverley Singers.)

In the same year we sang in services in St George’s Chapel, Windsor (see banner image, at top of this page), and in 2014 undertook a tour to Cambridge, where we gave concerts in both Trinity and Jesus Colleges.

For our 60th anniversary celebration in 2015, we performed Haydn’s Creation in Guildford Cathedral. This was attended by three of our founder members: our first Secretary, Molly Goddard; Rosemary Godfrey, who had come from her home in Australia, and Joan Cotterill.

In 2017/18 we linked up with Romsey Choral Society to perform Verdi’s Requiem, first in Romsey Abbey and subsequently in Guildford Cathedral.

In March 2020 a planned performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor was cancelled just days before the event; this marked the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the different periods of lockdown, we kept going with weekly Zoom rehearsals and, in 2022, bounced back in style with performances in quick succession of Mozart’s Mass in C, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and, as guests of Romsey Choral Society, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius.

More recent highlights include, in April 2024, a standout performance of Will Todd’s Mass in Blue at the Farnham Maltings.

A well-established tradition in our history is “Come and Sing” events. The first trace we can find of these in our records is a Messiah in December 1993, but the first of which we have a visual image is Messiah in February 2011. These are now well established on an annual basis, and attract each year well over 100 participants; more recently they have featured Bach's Mass in B Minor, Mozart's Mass in C Minor, Brahms' Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, and Mendelssohn's Elijah.

Over the years we have helped raise significant sums of money for charity. Initially, this was by donating a proportion of the ticket price at concerts, but more recently by means of retiring collections following an appeal by a charity speaker. Since proper records began in November 2015, this has raised over £22,000, thanks to the generosity of our audiences.

Throughout our history we have been privileged to perform with outstanding professional singers and instrumentalists. The fact that the choir can attract musicians of such quality is a tribute to the standing and connections of our successive musical directors.

It is perhaps invidious to single out individuals, but some of the best-known singing names from the earlier years are:

John Shirley-Quirk (1961), Philip Langridge (1967, 1970, 1970 again, and 1974), Brian Rayner Cook (1977), Teresa Cahill (1980), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (1984, 1986, 2000),  Rogers Covey-Crump (1986, 1999), Sarah Connolly (1989), and Brindley Sherratt (1990, 1991, 1997, and 2007).