The Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir (), also known as the Fron Choir (), is an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

male voice choir A men's chorus or male voice choir (MVC) (German: ''Männerchor''), is a choir consisting of men who sing with either a tenor or bass voice, and whose music is typically arranged into high and low tenors (1st and 2nd tenor), and high and low bas ...

based in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Froncysyllte Froncysyllte (; ), colloquially known as Fron, is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales and stands on the banks of the River Dee and the Llangollen Canal. It is situated on the main A5 road which runs from London to Holyhead. It is in the ...

(pronounced roughly ''vron-cuss-ulth/ tay''),

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire and Shropshire to ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, near

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

. The village is famous as the site of

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; ) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use by narrowboats and was complet ...

. The village's choir became notable when the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

album ''Voices of the Valley'' was released in November 2006, reaching number 9 on the

UK album chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...

. It became the fastest-selling classical record of all time, achieving gold status in three days and, by 2009, had sold over half a million copies. A second album, ''Voices of the Valley - Encore'', was released in November 2007.

History

Origins

In 1946 the neighbouring town of

invited the village's participation in a traditional Welsh

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

. Invitations went out for 1947 and the

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is a music festival which takes place every year during the second week of July in Llangollen, North Wales. It is one of several large annual Eisteddfodau in Wales. Singers and dancers from aroun ...

was born. Mr Gomer Powell called a public meeting which resulted in the formation of the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir, with J. R. Jones ("Joe Jordan") as the first chairman. A local piano teacher, Mr Lloyd Edwards, was appointed as conductor and became the driving force behind the choir. Menna Hughes, daughter of Robert Hughes, the foundation treasurer, and one of Lloyd's pupils, was the inaugural accompanist. To compete in the Male Voice segment of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, 60 voices were needed, so Wilfred Jones, leader of the Froncysyllte Youth Club, persuaded the young men of the village to join what was, in 1947, the youngest membership of any Welsh male voice choir. The choristers stayed together after the Eisteddfod, with county councillor Watkin Williams as chairman. Lloyd Edwards went on to win major choral competitions and a reputation for excellence at home and abroad until his death in 1970.

Association with Pavarotti

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 Società Corale Gioachino Rossini from

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, which won first prize at the Llangollen Eisteddfod under the baton of Fernando Pavarotti. This win inspired the conductor's son,

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

, who sang in the choir, to take up a singing career. The Modena Choir was again hosted by the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir during its visit, with Luciano Pavarotti, in 1995. After the loss of Lloyd Edwards in 1970, music teacher John Daniel conducted the choir for the next 21 years. He is now the conductor of Cantorion Colin Jones in the village of

Betws y Coed Betws-y-Coed () is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village is located near the confluence of the River Conwy and the River Llugwy and is on the eastern edge of Snowdonia. The population of the community as of the 2 ...

in Snowdonia. Daniel led the choir to success in both the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

and the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, winning a first-prize double in 1977. The choir has had several overseas tours, notably representing the United Kingdom at the

Expo An expo is a trade exposition. It may also refer to: Events and venues * World's fair, a large international public exposition * Singapore Expo, convention and exposition venue ** Expo Axis, one of the world's largest membrane roofs, construc ...

World Fair in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

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in 1986. Val Jones succeeded John Daniel in 1991. From 2002 until 2009, Ann Atkinson led the choir during one of its most exciting phases, a major recording contract with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

, four ''Voices of the Valley'' CDs and a DVD: ''Voices of the Valley—Live''. Since 2009 the choir has been conducted by

Leigh Mason Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

.Leigh Mason
Profile at official site. Accessed 5 March 2015

Discography

* ''Voices of the Valley'' (2006) (AUS #44) * ''Voices of the Valley Encore'' (2007) * ''Voices of the Valley: Home'' (2008) * ''Voices of the Valley: Memory Lane'' (2009) * ''Voices of the Valley: The Ultimate Collection'' (2011) * ''The Best of the Fron Choir'' (2011) * ''Voices of the Valley - Echoes ''(2021)

References

External links

Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir's official site
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1946 Welsh choirs