RHOS Male Voice Choir went back to Much Wenlock at the weekend – fifty years after a concert that inspired residents of the Shropshire town to form their own male choir. The Rhos choir were the guests of honour at a concert to mark the 50th anniversary of the Much Wenlock Male Voice Choir. The Much Wenlock choir was formed in 1968 after a concert in the town’s high school by Rhos Male Voice Choir. And there were five choristers from Rhos on stage on Saturday who were part of that inspiring choir from 1968: Glyn Jones, Gareth Pritchard, Emyr Jones, Jim Davies and Dai Lloyd. The Rhos choir secretary Geraint Phillips said: “We were honoured to be invited back to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Much Wenlock Male Voice Choir. “Most of our younger members had no idea of the link between the two choirs – but it was a real trip down memory lane for the five originals.” The 1968 concert was in the hall of the William Brookes School – which has since been demolished and re-built incorporating a state of the art theatre in the The Edge Arts Centre. The two choirs performed side by side at the concert with each singing highlights from their own repertoire – and both choirs then performed a number of popular pieces together. The joint pieces included an arrangement of “For the Fallen” the Laurence Binyon poem used at Remembrance services. James Llewelyn Jones, Rhos’s musical director, said: “It was a fabulous concert and it is quite humbling to think that a concert by the choir 50 years ago in a drafty school hall so inspired the local men that they formed their own choir. “It was clear that the audience thoroughly enjoyed both choirs – and the singing in the bar afterwards just added to what was a great celebration.” |