CÔR MEIBION ABERTYLERI

ABERTILLERY ORPHEUS MALE CHOIR

FOUNDED 1908

PATRON: Robert Lloyd CBE

"HISTORY''

We men of Abertillery love all that belonging to a Male Voice Choir means. With our singing, comes recollections of our childhood in a dirty, noisy, politically conscious South Wales Valley. We enjoy the true fellowship, the inevitable humour, the intense concentration that are all part of twice weekly practices.

None of as now spend our lives in the dark a danger of coal mining, since the closure of the last mine in our Valley! We have become technicians in clean factories, headmasters, engineers, shop owners, gentleman of retirement and yes, unfortunately some of us are unemployed

But our fathers were miners and they sang. They sang in our chapels and we sing with them. We are proud of our heritage.

Abertillery looks a hard worked town in a narrow valley. Though it's river, the Ebbw-Fach, is said to be cleaner, (there are even rumours of trout in some stretches), the coal tips cluster and it's mountains retain the scars of nineteenth century greed for coal at any price.

Only those of us, who live here, know where to look for natural beauty. We can see the rugby posts in the park and remember the tries we scored in each slanting field. We know the stories of the 'tump, a burial place of ancient Britton's never proved, because each time it is disturbed it is miraculously replaced by the next morning! We know where to pick the blue bells and get clear mountain spring water in a drought.

The Abertillery Orpheus Male Choir was founded in 1908 and was mainly made up of members from local church choirs, the majority of whom were employed in the local coal mines.

Life President Mr Trevor Wilde was a member of the choir for 62 years both as a chorister and as an elocutionist. He enthralled audiences with his blend of elegance and humour and in 1996 he was awarded the MBE.

The choir undertook its first continental tour in 1982 with a visit to Rome during the Easter Period, where it received an audience with POPE JOHN PAUL II in St Peter’s Square, and he joined in the singing. During the years since Rome, the choir has toured U.S., Germany, Holland, Spain, and France, with home tours to Eastbourne/Hastings and Scotland, where it was invited to take part in the Mary Mass Festival at Irvine in Ayrshire.

The choir has sung in many famous halls including the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, The Royal Albert Hall London, and St David’s Hall Cardiff. In 1992, it took part in the world choir Ten Thousand Voice concert at The National Stadium Cardiff, and was also asked to entertain the crowd at the National Stadium in its own right prior to the Wales v Italy international rugby match. In 1999 the choir performed in the closing ceremony of the Rugby World Cup at the new Millennium Stadium.

To date, the choir has produced four recordings:

They have also appeared on television on many occasions, notably at Cwmtillery Colliery appearing in a production by American ABC television network, and in the making of a programme “Six Foot Cinderella” with the opera singer Mr Robert Lloyd who has since become the choir’s patron.

In 1996, it performed in concert at Swansea’s Grand Theatre and Cardiff’s St David’s Hall with the popular Peter Karrie, voted the world’s favourite “Phantom of the Opera”.

Easter of 1999 saw yet another successful tour of Eastbourne/Hastings and in 2000 the choir visited Canada.

The choir is now in its 99th year and invitations are continually being received to appear in many parts of the country.In 2008 the choir will celebrate it's centenary and it has a jam packed programme of concerts and tours to ensure th wonderful voices of Wales travel to as many parts of the world as possible.

Abertillery Orpheus is now one of the top male choirs in Wales, its success largely due to the dedication and musical ability of Mr Martin Budd who served the choir as Musical Director from 1969 to 2001. Following his successful leadership, Mr. Stephen Bard stepped into the fray having spent 10 years as Martin's assistant. Stephen continues to build upon the foundation stones laid down by Martin and continually pushes the choir to acheive levels of excellence in every aspect of musicality.

The choir looks forward to the future with great confidence in the knowledge that there music helps enrich the lives of audiences both locally and further afield. Many charities have received financial benefit from concerts performed by the choir, a tradition it is hoped will continue in the years to com

Come to Abertillery one day and learn more, we'd love to have you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy listening to our music, as much as we enjoy making it.