About Amici

History

Amici was founded in 1994 by Dr. John Cole. He was already well known in Somerset and probably did more to bring live, high-quality music to the county than any other single person. He combined a busy career as a local GP with his other great love, music, founding in the early 1960s the Somerset Summer Chorus and later becoming musical director of the Taunton Choral Society.  Sadly in 2013 John died and the conductor’s baton was ably picked up by Andrew Trewhella who lead us for 13 years. He had a good send off in his last concert with us in December 2025.

Many of Amici’s members are solo singers in their own right and the choir has had overseas tours to Italy, USA, France, Belgium and Spain. The choir has a wide repertoire, from early polyphony to music from film and stage.The goal of the choir remains to give the best possible performances of all types of music.

We are a chamber choir, and although we do perform larger-scale works with orchestral accompaniment, our focus is on the huge body of music available for smaller ensembles, with minimal accompaniment and often a cappella.

Musical Director

Amici are delighted to announce the appointment of Laurence Blyth as our new Musical Director.

Joining Amici

We are always keen to hear new singers. However since balance is of vital importance in an ensemble like ours, we try to keep the numbers in each section at appropriate levels, while providing a large enough ‘pool’ of singers to cope with illness, holidays and other unavoidable absences. At rehearsals we keep ‘note-bashing’ to a minimum, concentrating on phrasing, dynamics, balance, blend and line. We  expect members to have good sight-reading capability and be prepared to work at home on learning the notes before coming to the rehearsals.

That said, if you think that our repertoire is attractive and that you have the necessary skills and experience, we will be pleased to consider your application. You may then be asked to attend for an audition.

Our membership fee is £14.60 per month which includes music hire costs and performance fees. Students pay only £5 per term, and there is a discounted rate of 50% for partners in the same household.

Click here to see the application form for possible membership.

Rehearsals

We rehearse on Monday evenings 7.30pm – 9.30pm in the Temple Methodist Hall, Upper High Street, Taunton TA1 3PY.

The number of rehearsals for a major concert (usually two to three per year – this year late spring and December) is usually around eight. We ask members to give a clear commitment in advance as to whether or not they will be available for any given concert, and to make the same level of commitment for rehearsals. Normally we ask for at least an 75% attendance – less than that and the Musical Director has the right to review whether or not appearance in the concert is appropriate.

Our Patron

In November 2006 Amici performed Brahms’s ‘Ein Deutsches Requiem’ in King’s College Chapel, Taunton. Our soprano soloist that night was Elizabeth Watts, a young singer recently graduated from the Royal College of Music and who won the Kathleen Ferrier Prize in 2006. She went on to win the Lieder Prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She is now a much sought-after world class performer in opera, oratorio and lieder, and we are delighted that she is our honoured Patron. She recently conducted the choir for the first time, in a performance of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols.

Hire Amici

Do you need a choir for a wedding, village festival, corporate event or the like? Amici would be delighted to perform. We have a wide and rich repertoire representing every genre of choral/vocal composition. Or, if you like, just tell us what you want and we’ll learn it!