Our association has been in existence for more than a hundred years, and over that time its main focus has shifted and changed. These days, our main activities are running the five competitions for young people that happen every year.

We feel that our name – the Association for English Singers and Speakers [abbreviated as ‘AESS‘] – is not only rather stiff and formal, but also too wordy, and most importantly is seen as an “English” thing. This last is critical, as our association is emphatically about the English language, which is spoken throughout the British Isles and throughout the world – in African countries, Asian countries, the antipodes and the Americas.

This language is widely spoken in a glorious variety of ways and accents, and we think that our association should appeal to speakers and singers who use English everywhere. I was horrified when visiting a Scottish university recently that when I suggested a student might apply for one of our competitions I received the reply “it’s only for English people”.

Our association needs to be a resource and a club to be used by anybody from anywhere who is interested in the language. That’s one of the main reasons we’ve changed our name. WordSong nicely conveys what we do: We are a club about the irrepressible English language in Speech and in Song. 

James Gilchrist | Tenor | Chair of Trustees | WordSong/AESS