Choir history
Reading A440 Choir was founded in 2011 by Stephen Tyler, as a new opportunity for choral singers in the Berkshire area. Stephen was inspired by a desire to explore novel and innovative ways of presenting choral music as part of a larger narrative.
During his time as Musical Director, Stephen showcased this distinctive quality through collaborations with a broad range of artists including actors, poets, painters and dancers. The Choir soon became one of the leading amateur choirs in the area. As MD, Stephen arranged and composed some wonderful and inventive pieces for the choir.
In 2014 Reading A440 Choir did its bit to remember World War I and remember the fallen. The war poet Wilfred Owen (pictured) is well known for his poetry describing the horrors of the trenches of World War I. To commemorate the war and this particular local artistic connection, Reading A440 Choir featured Owen in performances throughout 2014 and the choir’s then Musical Director, Stephen Tyler composed three new choral settings of Owen’s poems specially for the centenary.
In 2016, Stephen‘s career took him to the USA and Reading A440 embarked on the next phase of its creative journey with Lucy Joy Morris taking over at the helm. You can find out more about our current Musical Director here.
Each year, the choir continues to perform in concerts and events, sharing their passion for building community and touching people’s hearts through the power of music.
To find out what the A440 choir have been up to lately, visit our news section.
What’s in a name? Why A440?
We are often asked where the name A440 came from. Well, for those who want to know, here is the answer…
The choir’s name was inspired by three key elements:
- The frequency of 440 Hz is the pitch of the musical note A below middle C
- The choir aims to maintain a membership of about 40 singers
- Members are drawn from an area surrounding Reading’s A4 highway
Put these together and we get A440! All illustrated beautifully by our logo below:
