THE Andover Music Club, which provides at the Lights’ Theatre in Andover six professional classical music concerts each year, is this year celebrating its 70th anniversary.

Such a long run for a music club or society is rather unique in this day and age. Many fall by the wayside after only a few years.

The club’s president is Prof David Owen Norris, a world-renowned pianist, composer, conductor and broadcaster, who lives in Andover.

The club is an annual subscription one with a membership of around 190. Members are able to attend six classical concerts a year at a comparative low cost for such high quality music. Tickets for individual concerts are also available to the general public. The club has also introduced a seventh, free, concert with its brief annual meetings. The club has an excellent and informative website (andovermusicclub.co.uk) with much information on past and forthcoming concerts, joining details, ticket sales, etc.

The club is proud to have as a member still, Dr Arthur Blyth, who was the club’s chairman from 1968 to 1992. Arthur is now in his 90s.

Founded in 1946 by Miss Gladys New, in her day a well-known professional soprano who lived in Andover and who sang regularly on the BBC national and world services, the club, of necessity, started small, mainly with Gladys’ friends, but soon started to grow.

Initially called The Music Group of the Andover Community Association the name was changed in 1958 to Andover Music Club.

In those early years Gladys herself sang in many of the concerts and the emphasis was very much on singing and opera. The club soon developed a reputation for high quality live professional performances — not only vocal but across the musical spectrum — which exists to this day. Gladys died in 1995 aged 88 years and in each of the club’s seasons a concert is dedicated to her memory.

Over the years the club has been host to many well-known up-and-coming artists, who subsequently became famous, including the soprano Isobel Baillie; Evelyn Barbirolli, oboist and wife of conductor Sir John; cellist Jacqueline du Pré, oboist Leon Goosens; clarinettist Jack Brymer, and others. The Bournemouth Sinfonietta gave many regular concerts for the club until its disbandment in 1999, and in 1975 their concert was conducted for the club by no other than, the then young, Simon Rattle. Other ensembles which have played for the club have included St Martin-in-the-Fields, London Baroque and the London Mozart Players. Other singers have included Dame Emma Kirkby, Ian Caddy, and Swansea City Opera.

Originally, the club held its concerts in various venues. In later years the club found its home in the theatre of the Andover College of Further Education, where various other organisations in Andover also held their events. However, in 2004 the club and those other organisations received a bombshell when literally overnight they were told that the Secretary of State for Education had stated that no more community activities should be allowed in the theatre. There was a public outcry about this serious loss of facility to the local community; representations, including the intervention by the then MP Sir George Young, were to no avail.

This sudden cessation of access meant that the club and other organisations lost money on the advance publicity material that had already been printed for the new seasons, and each had rapidly to find suitable alternative accommodation, in schools, etc. The club was fortunate to be able to hire a local church (St Michael and All Angels) for the next two years, which had excellent acoustics but very poor facilities (below ground small changing room, toilets, etc.) for the visiting artists. It also meant that committee members had to carry and arrange the chairs for the audience, and collect and stow them away following the concerts. Parking for members of audiences was also inadequate. The strong public feeling about the loss of the college theatre led to the Hampshire County Council and the Test Valley Borough Council together funding the purchase of the college theatre complex. This was then gutted and completely refurbished at considerable cost.

As a consequence the new complex, far superior to what previously existed, with its now excellent auditorium, opened in 2006 and is now the pride of the town and since opening has been the new permanent home of the club. Concerts for the remainder of this concert season are: the Atéa Wind Quintet (26 January); Graffiti Classics, a comedy cabaret string quartet (23 February) and ‘In Voice and Verse’, a pageant of readings and music from across the centuries (23 March).

Next season’s concerts (2017-2018) are: classical guitarist Craig Ogden; soprano Nazran Fikret; mediaeval ensemble ‘Joglaresa’; the Busch Piano Trio; recorder quartet ‘Palisander’; harpist Claire Iselin and an artist still to be announced for the annual meeting.