ABERTILLERY ORPHEUS MALE CHOIR

CÔR MEIBION ABERTYLERI

 "With hwyl in vein and song in heart"

THE CHOIR

Abertillery Orpheus Male Choir (AOMC) was founded in 1908 and was mainly made up of members from local church choirs who in turn, were employed in the local coal mines. Over 110 years later the choir continues to represent and enhance the reputation of Abertillery and Wales through their musical, social and civic endeavours.

The choir has represented Wales across Europe and in Canada, including at the ´Festival Interceltique de Lorient´ in France in 2017. We are also regular performers at the Festival of Welsh Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall and regulary host visiting choirs, in addition to our own domestic and UK wide concerts.

The Choir meets at Ebeneezer Baptist Church Hall, Park Place, Abertillery NP13 1ED on Tuesday and Friday evening 6.45 p.m. - 9.00 p.m.

We are a friendly choir and welcome new members. There is no need for a voice test, other than to ascertain range, and you will become part of a very sociable, well trained choir with a superb conductor, looking forward to the next hundred years. Abertillery Orpheus is renowned as one of the top male choirs in Wales, its success largely due to the dedication and musical ability of Mr Stephen Bard who has served the choir as Musical Director since 2001.

Like many Male Choirs we are a family, with sons following their fathers into the choir, with wives and partners of choristers and ex choristers supporting and travelling with the choir to concerts and working together to raise funds and promote the choir and community. We also enjoy the support of friends of the choir both from the local community and further afield.

Depite the current Coronavirus situation, the choir looks forward to the future with great confidence in the knowledge that our music helps enrich the lives of audiences both locally and further afield. Many charities have received financial benefit from concerts performed by the choir, a tradition it is hoped will continue in the years to come

Visit Abertillery one day and learn more, we'd love to see you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy listening to our music, as much as we enjoy making it.

You can also keep up with the choir via our facebool page https://www.facebook.com/groups/108841365872856/

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CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 UPDATE

As of June 2020 a few small steps have been recommended by the Government, both central and devolved, to get the country back up and running. While churches may be able to open for private prayer and small weddings fairly soon choral singing is a long way down the list of priorities.

There have been a number of studies into the spread of the virus caused by singing by both the Association of British Choral Directors and also the American Choral Directors Association. With singing you use the lungs to a greater degree, whether this in inhaling or exhaling. This means that larger particulars travel further and with more force than would be normal in speech.

While both organisations are full of praise for the technology that is allowing choirs to rehearse and perform via video the chance of group singing in public, in any numbers, is very restricted - particularly in the case of Male Voice Choirs which tend to have an older than average membership. We would also need to look at the size of the venue and the number of singers, and audience, involved to enable social distancing to be strictly adhered to.

We will of course continue to learn new music, practice our Welsh language and support each other as friends and colleagues through this difficult time. We also continue to meet via video conferencing for Quiz and Poetry nights.

Even after COVID restrictions have been lifted choristers and audiences will need time to build confidence before returning to venues in large numbers.

We remain hopeful that at some stage in the future the choir will return to its normal function of making music, even if the normal is a new and more 'disinfected normal'.

Following the postponement of our Annual Concert those who have already purchased tickets will, of course, be offered a full refund, on proof of purchase. For more details please contact our Choir Secretary on 01495 216538 / 07970 190991.

We are a member of both the Welsh Association of Male Choirs (WAMC) and the National Association of Choirs (NAC).