Our fiftieth anniversary celebrations got underway in fine style, with a Spring Anniversary Concert at St Peter’s Rawdon held on Saturday 15 March. Friends and supporters from far afield came and joined us, the church provided fabulous interval refreshments, and despite the boiler packing up the audience kept warm with blankets, hot water bottles and brilliant performances from soloists and ensemble. Thank you to all who came and we hope you will support us with our tour of Iolanthe in the Autumn, and our one off performance of Ruddigore and the G&S Festival in Buxton this August.

Our first chairman was the late, great Ian Smith who, nineteen years later, had the vision for an international Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. Members of the Savoyards were instrumental in helping to start and build up the festival and we have been invited to perform on our 50th birthday at the 2025 Festival. The date is Thursday 7 August (2.30pm) at the Pavilion Arts Centre.  Tickets at £16.50 are available online here

The first public performance by the ‘Savoyards Appreciation Society-West Yorkshire’ was Iolanthe at the Todmorden Hippodrome, and so, fifty years later, we have chosen Iolanthe as our anniversary touring production. The tour begins on Saturday 6 September at the Penistone Paramount and continues each weekend and into October visiting Settle, Richmond, Bingley and Scarborough. Full details below.