Pontypridd Choral Society

PONTYPRIDD CHORAL SOCIETY

The choir rehearses on Sunday evenings from 7.30pm until 9.30pm in the community rooms at Pontypridd Museum and a warm welcome awaits any new or former members.

Further information can be obtained from the Choir Chairman, Ceri Findlay on 01443 203046 or ceri@ceriannfindlay.plus.com

A Brief History of the Choir
In 1932 one of the most outstanding Welsh musicians of her time, Gwyneth Lewis, a graduate of Cardiff University, conducted a performance of Haydn’s Creation in Calvary Baptist Chapel in Treforest where her father, Rev. Evan Lewis, was the Minister for 49 years, and so Calvary Church Choir was born.

Gwyneth Pearce, as she became after her marriage, chose not to pursue a professional career in music, but decided instead to devote her extraordinary talents to Calvary Church and she conducted the choir until 1967 when she was forced to finish through ill health.

Because of the many choristers who joined the choir who were not connected with Calvary, the name was changed to Calvary Augmented Church Choir. Later the name changed again to Treforest Choral Society and later still when the choir moved to Pontypridd to rehearse, it became Pontypridd Choral Society.

When it was based in Calvary, the choir normally did one concert each year which was an oratorio on the first Thursday in January. Rehearsals then resumed in the following September in preparation for the following January’s concert which would always be performed to a packed church.

The choir’s current conductor, Jeff Ryan has held the post for over twenty one years which is longer than any previous conductor apart from the choir’s founder.

The choir originally only performed oratorios but over the years its repertoire has been enlarged considerably to include other major classical works as well as much lighter pieces and also music from the major musicals.
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