The Andover Museum Loft Singers, so called because
our original practice venue was the upper room of the Andover Museum of the Iron Age, were formed in 1997 by Roger Watson following a TAPS community project in Wherwell, a village near Andover.
The choir sings in three or four part unaccompanied harmony in a style that borrows much from the “West Gallery” and other largely rural singing traditions such as that exemplified by the Copper family of West Sussex. Much of the repertoire is local and is arranged for unaccompanied voices by local musicians.
From the outset the choir has been a non-auditioning choir. Parts are not allocated by gender, but chosen by the singers for range, balance and preference. Singers are given the opportunity to try out all parts if they wish. We work hard to prepare for performances, but we enjoy ourselves along the way.
From 2001 until his untimely death in 2022, we were ably directed by Paul Sartin (of Bellowhead, Belshazzar’s Feast, Faustus fame). We are now ably led by Zack Stephens. We are also lucky to have deputy conductors including Mandy Wright and Rod Edbrook.
We now rehearse weekly at Bridge Street Methodist Church. We perform at local events, seasonal festivities and our own concerts. We also like to take part in events with other local musical groups. We sometimes arrange less formal choir events, usually involving a walk and finishing with a beer, food and singing.
Our Musical Director, appointed in April 2023, is Zack Stephens.
Zack is a professional violinist, violin teacher, and music teacher based in Andover. He has studied and worked alongside a great number of the world’s best musicians, orchestras, and academics, graduating with a BMus with Honours from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Violin Performance.
Zack’s musical journey began at age 10 with Hampshire Music Service and he was quickly recognised to have outstanding potential, resulting in a Hampshire Music Hub Scholar Award. By the time he was 16 an additional scholarship had been awarded to study Music at Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke. As a student at Queen Mary’s, Zack set about creating a lasting impact on the Music Department by setting up a String Orchestra, running numerous chamber music projects, as well as lecturing performance classes and seminars. All achieved on top of a full academic timetable. Because of these efforts he was awarded an Outstanding Contribution Award by the principal and was subsequently invited to become an honorary member of staff, taking up the role of Musician in Residence. Here he taught both performance and academic studies on the A level music course.
Following his time at Queen Mary’s, Zack accepted an offer to study Violin Performance at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with an Excellence Scholarship. This is where he obtained a BMus (Hons) degree under the tutelage of Head of Violin Nathaniel Vallois and Manchester Camerata Concertmaster Caroline Pether. Whilst in Birmingham, Zack took several modules in Advanced Pedagogy and teaching, and also dedicated significant amounts of time to the researching of Pedagogical Methods.
Zack has an active role as a performing musician, regularly giving concerts and recitals as a soloist, and has also taken on the role of musical director to Winchester Community Choir in 2024.