Dunvant Male Choir
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| Dunvant Male Choir | |
|---|---|
| Choir | |
| Also known as | Côr Meibion Dyfnant |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Genre | Male Choral Singing |
| President | D Byron Lewis, CVO, KstJ, FCA |
| Music director | Jonathan Rogers |
| Rehearsal space | Ebenezer Chapel, Dunvant, Swansea |
| Website | https://www.dunvantchoir.wales/ |
Dunvant Male Choir (Welsh: Côr Meibion Dyfnant) is the oldest continuously singing Welsh choir and is based in Dunvant, Swansea, Wales.[1][2]
History
The Choir was founded in 1895,[1] in the country traditionally known as the "land of song".[3] Singing in harmony is synonymous with the Welsh choir and Wales has a history of using music as a primary form of communication.[3]
The arrival of the railway in 1867 changed Dunvant and its surrounding villages forever. It allowed the development of the coal seams in the area, local quarries, brick works and an iron foundry. It attracted people to move into the village and with the spread of new housing, to triple the size of the village. By good fortune the station master at Dunvant on the London & N.W. Railway, Mr Isaac Peters (Station Master 1880–1892), was a man of some musical talent and he stirred the musical interests of the village by leading a mixed choir at Siloam Chapel and using the station waiting room at Dunvant for rehearsals of the Killay and Dunvant united choir.[4]
As the number of villagers grew so did the need for Dunvant to have its own chapel and Ebenezer was built in 1872, expanded in 1882 and the present Ebenezer Chapel built in 1893 becoming the heart of the village.
As more villagers attended Ebenezer and the great religious revival of the 1890s took hold, David Evans of Three Crosses who had trained under Joseph Parry, was a fine tenor and had won several Eisteddfod prizes, started a small male only group at Ebenezer and also formed Gowerton Male Choir around 1890.
This was developed by Thomas Coslett Richards, father of the well-known Dunvant painter Ceri Richards, who drew male members of Ebenezer and other chapel choirs to form the Dunvant Ebenezer Excelsior Male Voice Choir in 1895 and laid the foundation for its success in local Eisteddfods, taking 1st prize at the Gwyn Hall in Neath in 1901[5] and being presented with an oak chair that still resides in Ebenezer Chapel to this day.
The choir's 125th anniversary concert was due to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid pandemic. The concert was rescheduled for 2 April 2022 and took place in the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea Guildhall. The choir had therefore got through the second pandemic in its history, and this was documented in a BBC Radio Wales documentary called "Still Singing: Dunvant Male Choir".
A statement to prospective members reads, “You do not have to be a trained singer or be able to read music, all you need is to enjoy singing and be willing to learn”.[6]
Tours
One visit that has resulted in the choir's great friendship was in 1965 with Sangervereinigung 1866 Essen Burg Altendorf visit to Dunvant, with a return visit to Germany and the Menin Gate, Ypres in 1966.
In 2015 the choir celebration 50 years of friendship with the choir when it performed in Burg Altendorf Church and the Philharmonie Hall, Essen.
The choir embarked on its first North American tour in 1985 when it travelled with a young Bryn Terfel as a soloist. Further tours saw the choir visit Toronto, Ottawa, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Washington State, Seattle, Portland Oregon and a tour to Singapore in 2012.
Notes
- ^ a b Rogers, Jude (24 April 2021). "'We were determined Covid wouldn't finish us off': the Welsh choir who sang through the pandemic". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Rogers, Jude (1 Feb 2011). "'Welsh male voice choirs: a vocal minority': Welsh male voice choirs: a vocal minority". The Guardian. London.
- ^ a b Davies (2008), pg 579.
- ^ Evans (1992), pg 197.
- ^ Evans (1992), pg 199.
- ^ Holland, Maureen (21 Dec 2015). "Voices from the Land of Song". cmuse. London.
References
- Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
- Evans, Gareth (1992). Dunvant: Portrait of a Community. Swansea: Stowefields Publications. ISBN 9780951910207.
External links
- Official website
- Dunvant Male Choir channel on YouTube
- Dunvant Male Choir at IMDb
- Dunvant Male Choir discography at Discogs
- The History of Dunvant by David Morgan
- BBC Wales, Still Singing: Dunvant Male Choir
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