Choir Chairman Cadeirydd Y Côr: Duncan Lewis Ph.D., BA (Hons), FCIPD

It is one of my greatest honours to be voted the Chairman of the Morriston RFC Male Choir in 2024. Like all Chairs of organisations, my aim is to ensure the future success of the Choir and to build and enhance its considerable reputation.

Having joined this wonderful choir only at the latter stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, I now find myself at the helm as the choir rapidly moves towards its 50th year of existence. Unlike many Welsh male choirs, we continue to maintain a healthy membership with 65 regular choristers turning out to sing at weekly practices and at concerts. We are fortunate to recruit new members every year but we would still like to ‘grow’ our number.

We pride ourselves on being a community choir that is welcoming to all. We recognise, and understand, the challenges faced by potential new members who may have never sung in a choir before - I myself was one such new member in 2020. Making the decision to come along to one of our practices is your first hurdle. Your second hurdle is to walk through the door. I can assure you, you will receive nothing but a warm welcome and a friendly handshake. We are non-political and secular, meaning we welcome people of all races and creeds. You do not need to have been in a choir before and we regularly recruit new members who fit such a description. The key is being interested in singing and being willing to give it a go. Speaking Welsh is not a prerequisite to joining our Choir - if you do, great, but it is not a deal-breaker.

Once across the threshold we will simply invite you to do a little private voice test with our Musical Director to find which Choir section you are best suited to join. From there, we will then look to provide you with a Choir buddy to help you settle in and get you started. We really are a friendly bunch. Your first 2 months with the Choir is a no-cost beginners pathway to enable you to see if this is what you wanted from being in a Welsh male choir. If you decide it is for you, we will furnish you with a members handbook and start to kit you out in Choir uniform. Often, our uniform comes from previously donated items so are low-cost purchases. Any brand new kit is subsidised from Choir funds, but you will be expected to make a financial contribution which can be paid off in one go, or weekly/monthly as your funds allow. We also have subs to pay to help pay for our rental of space and other costs such as music staff and insurances.

There are multiple health and social benefits to singing including camaraderie, friendship, social engagements and the occasional libation after concerts and practices. Health benefits include improved memory retention, heart and lung function, breathing and general physical well-being. You will be joining a new family and we pride ourselves on looking out for each other.

We have already had a very busy Choir calendar in 2025 and there is no sign of this diminishing any time soon. The Choir has its summer recess in August and returns with a vengeance at the end of August/early September. Take a look at the ‘See Us’ page for further details. In October 2025, the Choir heads off on a three-concert, week-long tour to Ireland where they will sing with Dublin Welsh Male Choir, Cavan Rugby Club Male Choir and Drogheda Male Choir. Plans are also in development for a tour to Brittany in 2026.

2025 saw us induct a new Honorary Vice President Mr. Cerith Owens. Cerith is a long-standing friend of the Choir and champion of young people’s development through the organisation Loud Applause Rising Stars (LARS). Through its mentoring, concert exposure and bursary system, LARS makes sure the young and upcoming musical talent we are so lucky to have in Wales has a chance to develop and progress.

If your organisation would like to work with us, either for charitable fund-raising events, or for your conferences, awards dinners or other social function, please do drop me or any of my colleagues a line. We would love to hear from you.

Duncan Lewis Chair / Cadeirydd