It was Christmas 1958. A spirited evening was nearly over as the handful of men grouped themselves around the old upright for a final song. That last dinner before the Christmas break for the executives and supervisors at the Rolls Royce Sentinel Works on Whitchurch Road in Shrewsbury was the birth of the factory’s Male Voice Choir. The singers that stood around the piano  65 years ago gave one listener, Managing Director Mr W. Robotham, the idea of forming a choir.​​

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There were earlier attempts to form a choir in the town. In 1943, the engineering company Chatwood Safe and Engineering Co Ltd, form a choir to entertain workers at the factory during lunch time. After the war an attempt was made to establish Shrewsbury Male Voice Choir but organisational problems involving rehearsals, concerts and availability of choristers meant initiative evolved slowly.​

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The first rehearsal of the Rolls Royce (Shrewsbury) Male Voice Choir took place in March 1959. Shrewsbury was initially included in the title to differentiate the Choir from their Derby counterparts. At first, there were only a handful of men interested but membership increased until by the following August, the Choir gave its first performance in Pulverbatch. Twenty-six singers took part.

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