Study, revive and enjoy
the Sacred Music of the
Georgian Era

The West Gallery Music Association is an informal group of singers, instrumentalists and scholars. We share an interest in the sacred music, psalmody and hymnody, and the secular music and dance of the men and women who performed from the west galleries of parish churches, in chapels, and around the towns and villages of England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Although our interests mainly centre on this period and form of music in the United Kingdom, we are also interested in many aspects of the history and popular culture of the English-speaking world which have influenced or been influenced by our musical and singing traditions. Abroad, we have active members in Australia and the United States.

The Association, which was formed in 1990, has staged many highly successful workshop, study and performance events, and members have appeared on national and local television and radio. Many offshoot performing groups have been formed around the country and there are presently over 400 members. The researches of several members of the group are gaining increasing respect in academic circles.

Picture: The Village Choir by Thomas Webster (1800-1886)
The original picture now hangs in the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Sheepshanks Collection. Copies can be obtained from the V & A.