PRESS RELEASE
Lightning Conductor!
Pontarddulais is a place renowned for its musicians. But even in such a town of choirs, Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir is the most famous. Ask anyone, and they will tell you that the choir’s success is thanks to the ‘maestro’, Noel Davies. Without his dedication and enthusiasm, the choir would not have developed to be one of the best male voice choirs in the world. A former accompanist of the choir, the musician and composer Eric Jones, another of the Bont’s famous sons, pays tribute to Noel in a new biography with the fitting title, Maestro, published by Gomer Press. The book will be launched in the presence of the choir at Pontarddulais Rugby Club on Wednesday, 14th November at 7.30.
Choirs have been part and parcel of the life of the industrial town of Pontarddulais in the Lliw valley since the beginning of the twentieth century. But in October 1960 about two dozen men came together to form the male voice choir under the charismatic leadership of Noel Davies. He remained the choir’s musical director for forty years. The author, Eric Jones says ‘Noel Davies set out his stall from the very beginning… and the members of his choir were more than ready to accept this’.
Noel aimed for perfection in each performance and supporting the National Eisteddfod was a special priority as he was convinced that the process of preparing and practising for competion gave a special edge to the performance, helping to raise standards. From the end of the 1960’s onwards, many choirs turned away from the competing stage to concentrate on recording and tours, but Noel and his choir continued to compete – while still finding time for recordings and tours! He took the choir to Sweden, Canada, Germany and Portugal; he conducted the Cymanfa Ganu in north America, the ‘Thousand Voices’ concert in the Albert Hall, and performed at the opening of St. David’s Hall; his choir recorded tracks for The Wall, Pink Floyd, sang with Catatonia and, in recognition of all this, Noel recevied the MBE. He conducted his choir to a remarkable record-breaking success of eleven victories at the National Eisteddfod and won the coveted ‘Choir of the World’ competition at Llangollen in 2001.
But Maestro is not the history of Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir. Noel Davies dedicated his life to his community in the Lliw valley as a teacher and headteacher, a Justice of the Peace in Swansea, and he attended courses to be a Childline counsellor after retiring. The area is indebted to Noel and his wife Jean for nurturing talent and Maestro is a very fitting tribute to him.
Bibliographic Details
Maestro: A Biography of Noel Davies
Eric Jones
9781843238522
£7.99
(Please note: j-pegs of the book jacket and author can be provided if you would like to prepare an article).
For further information contact: Meinir Garnon James (Head of Marketing) 01559 363090
e-mail:meinir@gomer.co.uk
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