History
A million good ideas have probably been conceived over a cup of tea. This was certainly the case in 1936, when three ladies, at a house on Mansfield Road decided to form a ladies choir in the town of Alfreton. Of this original trio Cissy Wager, herself a local renowned contralto singer, became its conductor. She held this position until 1970, an incredible achievement in its own right!
Following her retirement Rachel Kennedy, Veronica Wragg and Frank Smith continued the strong choral traditions of the choir and in 1989, the present musical director Liz Moulder arrived.
The choir's success is reflected in a variety of ways. This includes the many Music Festival Challenge Cups it has won and its excellent reputation in the East of England for musicianship continues to this day. In the last twenty years it has also raised considerable amounts of money for charities including DAB, NSPCC, British Heart Foundation, Breast Cancer Research and many small, local charities in its community.
Our most successful concerts to date were: the Six Choirs concert at the Alfreton Leisure Centre which raised a large sum for the NSPCC; a concert at Derby Cathedral for DAB which raised over £1500; and an event at Chatsworth Painted Hall which raised £3000 for Breast Cancer. It is hoped that our charity concert on Friday 16 April 2010 at the Chatsworth Painted Hall will result in another considerable donations to the Jenny O'Neil Diabetic Clinic at the DRI.
After many discussions and votes, it was decided to move the choir into the 21st Century with our new name Sonara which reflects
- growing membership from local Derbyshire districts
- move from Alfreton to new premises in South Normanton
- age range of members from 16 upwards
- continual development of new choral traditions and 21st century compositions