The Royal Albert Hall is beckoning members of The Fixby Songbirds, finalists in the Women Institute’s centenary Singing for Joy competition.

They’ve already made it through the regional finals, held in Ilkley in November last year, and now they’re poised to sing against five other successful choirs at Birmingham Town Hall on March 14.

As choir member Bobby Johnson explains: “It’s amazing to think we’re through to the finals, we never thought we’d win at Ilkley, where we were up against seven other choirs. If we win this we’ll be singing in front of the Queen at the Albert Hall in June.”

The choristers’ achievement is all the more remarkable because the choir was only formed in September 2012 when Fixby WI member Katy Meredith heard about the competition to find an ensemble to sing at the WI Centenary Annual Meeting on June 4.

With 28 singers, led by Gail Crisp, The Songbirds practice weekly in Clifton Parish Church, accompanied by Shah Johan Shahridzuan. For the regional competition they sang three pieces, including a humorous ‘alternative senior version’ of Richard Rodgers’ My Favourite Things, that the adjudicator Jonathan Willcocks described as “great fun.”

In the final they will once again sing their take on My Favourite Things, along with a piece especially written for the WI’s centenary by Mr Willcocks, entitled Singing for Joy.

It is, says Bobby, “relevant to the WI ethos of singing for joy and singing together. It’s quite fast paced and lively.”

Their repertoire will also include Rhythm of Life by Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman, arranged by Roger Emerson, and The Lord Bless You and Keep You from Numbers 6:24 by John Rutter.

The Fixby Songbirds made their performance debut back in December 2012 at the WI Christmas meeting and have subsequently been seen and heard at the Brighouse 1940s weekend and other local charity and WI events.

Facing the Songbirds in Birmingham will be choirs from Staffordshire, Surrey, Avon, the Isle of Man and Leicestershire and Rutland.

WI members have long been famous for their ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ reputation and the organisation has a proud history of communal singing that began with the first meetings in 1915.

Images of WI choirs exist from as early as the 1920s and in 1924 Blake’s Jerusalem was adopted as the organisation’s anthem.

The first WI choral competition was held in 1923 and since then many British composers and poets have been involved with WI musical activities.