About us
The Ilminster Belles is a vibrant three-part female-voice choir based in Ilminster, Somerset.
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The choir was formed in 2012, following a chance conversation in a school playground. A group of mums discovered a shared love of singing, and decided to get together each week for a mixture of chatting, singing and wine. At first, rehearsals were held at a member's house. Numbers soon grew, and three years later rehearsals moved to a hall.
When our previous Musical Director stepped back from The Ilminster Belles in 2015, we were lucky enough to welcome the exceptionally talented Jonathan Delbridge to take over the role. Since then, the choir has gone from strength to strength, with nearly 40 voices now in our ranks.
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We ​​bring music to audiences throughout the year, with regular concerts at Christmas and in the summer. In addition to this, we are often invited to perform with other choirs, including Taunton Deane Male Voice Choir, Cantorion Gogledd Cymru, and Minehead Male Voice Choir. We also perform in the local community and take part in music festivals, such as the Westlands A Festival of Song.
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Wine no longer features at rehearsals, but fun, laughter and friendship remain. If you love to sing, and would like to become part of the Belles family, we always welcome new members. Click here, to find out more.​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Our repertoire
Our repertoire includes contemporary and classic songs from pop, musicals and cinema. We love to receive song suggestions from choir members, and if we can't find a suitable arrangement, Jonathan (or one of our own talented singers) will arrange something from scratch. ​​​
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If you'd like a feel for the types of music we perform, we welcome you to listen to some of our previous recordings.
Our committee
​​​​We are a choir run by committee and our members are as follows:
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Chair: Helen Lancaster
Vice-chair: Rachel Theobald
Treasurer: Frances Burnell
Secretary: Cat Lake-Benson
Librarian: Joanne Robson
Membership secretary: Kate Priddle
Social/Events: Ruth Sheward
PR/Marketing: Sarah Gibson
Our choir in the community
​​​​We are committed to supporting our local community, and do so through fundraising and community performances. We donate a proportion of all of our concert proceeds to charity, with recent beneficiaries including Escapeline, Breast Cancer Now, The Minster, the Ilminster Senior Citizens' Lunch and the PFAs of Neroche and Herne View Primary schools.
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As a choir, we love to bring joy to the local community. Every year we hold Christmas performances at Vaughan Lee House Residential Home and the Ilminster Senior Citizens' Lunch. In addition to this, we respond to ad hoc requests for performances at fundraising events. If you'd like us to perform at your community event, please get in touch. ​​​​
Rehearsals
​​​​We rehearse every Wednesday during term time at the Minster Rooms, Ilminster. Our rehearsal time is 7.30-9pm, which sometimes extends to 9.30pm in the run-up to performances.​​​
Where we perform
​​​​We regularly perform at Ilminster's beautiful Minster Church, and at The Warehouse Theatre. But our performances have taken us to many other locations in the local area, including Taunton Minster, ​South Petherton Church and Yeovil's Westlands Entertainment Venue.
If you are organising an event and would like us to perform, please drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you!​​​​​​​​​​​