The male voice choir West Aleta Singers was founded in 1974. They named themselves after the both famous and notorious ship West Aleta, which was wrecked off the coast of Terschelling, and subsequently poured her cargo of wine all over the island. The ideogram of the choir, a beachcomber standing on the beach with one foot on a cask of wine, reminds us of this story.
The members represent all layers of the male population of the island: those who like singing are welcome.
The choir’s repertoire includes both sacred and popular songs, as well as sailors’songs and shanties. In this last domain the choir may be considered to be one of the oldest choirs in the country singing this almost boundless repertoire. The fact that, whenever possible, these sailors’songs and shanties have been set to be sung by four voices makes the choir even more unique.For instrumental accompaniment four accordion players and a pianist (all of them female) can be called on.The wide range of the repertoire makes it possible for the choir to perform on a variety of occasions. Frequently the choir are asked to take part in church services of various religious denominations. For many years concerts have been given during the tourist season, which enjoy a great popularity. The choir have also often been esteemed guests at shanty festivals at home and abroad.During the more than 30 years of their existence they produced 5 CDs, one of them with sacred songs. Together with other choirs the West Aleta Singers can be seen and heard on a DVD, titled Rolling Home. All these on sale at performances.
At present the choir consists of slightly over 60 members, some of them have been members since the very start of the choir.