Origins & History
Froncysyllte is a small village in the Vale of Llangollen, famous as the site of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte aqueduct which carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee.
The little village and its choir gained some measure of fame in the UK when Universal Music Group signed them up to release the album Voices of the Valley. This album was released on 20 November 2006, and peaked at number 9 on the UK album chart. It became the fastest selling classical record of all time, achieving Gold status in three days and has since sold over half a million copies. A second album was released in December 2007 called Voices of the Valley - Encore which reached number 11 in the UK chart.
The choir was formed at a meeting in 1946, to compete in the first International Eisteddfod that had recently been established in the nearby town of Llangollen, planned to be held for the first time in 1947. The choir's first conductor was Lloyd Edwards. He remained as the conductor until 1970.
The choir has remained closely associated with the Eisteddfod and is a regular competitor in the Male Voice Choir competition. In 1955 the choir hosted the Societa Corale Gioachino Rossini from Modena, which won first first prize at the Eisteddfod. The choir was conducted by Fernando Pavarotti, and the win at Llangollen is said to have inspired the choir conductor's son, Luciano Pavarotti, a member of that choir and a student music teacher at the time, to take up a singing career. The Modena Choir were again hosted by the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir during their visit, with Pavarotti, in 1995.
Edwards was succeeded by John Daniel, a music teacher, who conducted the choir for 21 years and is now conductor of Cantorion Colin Jones, who rehearse in the village of Betws y Coed, Eryri. Daniel led the choir to success in both the National Eisteddfod of Wales and the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, notably winning "the double" (first in both Eisteddfodau) in 1977. The choir has had several overseas tours, notably representing the United Kingdom at the Expo World Fair in Vancouver, Canada in 1986.
From 1991 to 2002, the choir's conductor was Val Jones and, currently, the conductor is Leigh Mason.
Read more about this topic: Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir
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