Celebrating 50 years
Founded in 1970, Risca Male Choir has established an enviable reputation with its diverse performance styles and trendsetting programmes. Competition successes have included gaining the title Male Choir of the Year, winning the Welsh Choral Challenge shield, the National Eisteddfod, the Bronze Medal from the Malta International Choral Competition, and being Male Choir Winners at the International Choir Festival of Jersey, and the Majestic Battle of the Choirs, Torquay. In 1997 the choir was given the WS Gwynn Williams award in recognition of its contribution to the performance of contemporary Welsh music.
Among numerous highlights in the life of the choir have been a much-acclaimed performance of Cherubini’s Requiem in D minor for male voices and orchestra. Many premieres of pieces by contemporary Welsh composers have included commissioned works by Richard Roderick Jones and a performance of Beowulf and Grendel, by Mervyn Burtch. The choir has also performed the cantata Owain ab Urien by Welsh composer David Wynne. In 2005 the choir combined with Crosskeys College Choral Society for a performance of Verdi’s Nabucco, featuring Jason Howard as Nabucco. In 2006 the choir took part in a prestigious performance of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony at the St David’s Hall, Cardiff, featuring Bryn Terfel and conducted by Gareth Jones. In 2008, at the invitation of Welsh National Opera, Risca Male Choir appeared in performances of Carbon 12, a specially commissioned choral symphony by Errollyn Wallen. In 2010, as part of its 40th Anniversary programme, the choir again joined forces with Crosskeys College Choral Society, this time to perform Verdi’s Requiem.
The choir is famous for its unique theme concerts, one of which was turned into a feature length television programme. Other television appearances include The Magic of the Musicals for BBC 2, appearances on the National Lottery's first birthday broadcast and on GMTV's Breakfast Show, the BBC Millennium Songs of Praise from the National Stadium, the FA Cup Classic and the BBC programme Can they hack it? They also sang at the televised Gary Speed memorial international football match at Cardiff City Football Stadium.
The choir has undertaken many successful concert tours, including visits to France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the Czech Republic. Three highly acclaimed visits to California have been particularly memorable. In August 2010, the choir visited Austria and Poland where we sang at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, and in the Mariacki Basilica in Krakow. In August 2013 the choir visited Germany singing at Naumburg Cathedral and Thomaskirche in Leipzig, the first Welsh male choir to do so. In July 2016 Risca Male Choir travelled to Northern France and Belgium, performing in the cathedrals of Ghent and Arras and also at the Menin Gate and the Thiepval Memorial as part of the centenary commemoration of the first battle of the Somme.
The many recordings the choir has made include Bryn Terfel’s We’ll Keep a Welcome. The choir has also made CDs called Risca Male Choir Sings the Movies, Risca Male Choir Sings the Shows, Risca Male Choir Mining the Archives, Volumes 1 and 2, and Risca Male Choir in a Winter Wonderland. In 2011 the choir took part in a single release, Brave One for St Dunstan’s and has also made a limited non commercial recording of When you wish upon a Star.
Also on this website, following the track list for Sings the Movies, are links to 3 video tracks recorded live in our 2018 Movies Theme Show. See here