Sonnets and Music special event 9 June 2026

Paul Edmondson reading one of Shakespeare's Sonnets at the event on 9 June at the White Swan Hotel

A special event was put on at the White Swan Hotel on the evening of 9 June 2026 when the Shakespeare Club’s current President, Rev Dr Paul Edmondson, treated members to a reading of many of Shakespeare’s sonnets, interspersed with a great variety of music on similar themes to the poems including love, loss and insomnia. Dr Edmondson’s love of music is well-known and recordings included tracks by composers from Cole Porter to Benjamin Britten, delivered by artists including Billie Holliday, Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald and Peter Pears. This interesting and unusual evening was very much enjoyed by the full audience.