*
banner

Lewis Merthyr head north to offer vocal help

The Lewis Merthyr Band will head north to the Welsh Regional Championship this weekend with an additional stop off to help one of the nation's most famous choirs...

Lewis
  Brass and Voice continues to be an important part of Welsh cultural and artistic life

Following a recent BBC Wales news article story that the famous Llangollen Male Choir was facing an uncertain future, the Lewis Merthyr Band contacted them to offer help with their revival plans.

Reached out

Conductor Craig Roberts told 4BR: "After reading of the choir's plight, we reached out and invited them to join us in concert. We have always embraced working successfully with choirs (above).

We were delighted when they accepted and we will now travel north to combine our appearance at the Welsh Regional Championships in Wrexham with a great concert the following day with them in Llangollen."

Following the report of the choir's situation, which has echoes of the problems faced by many bands in Wales, a new conductor and accompanist have joined.

It's vital we protect our musical heritage — vocal as well as brassCraig Roberts.

Vital

Craig added: "It's vital we protect our musical heritage — vocal as well as brass. We're delighted to join together on a weekend when there will be spotlight in North Wales on brass banding and help them in their efforts to rejuvenate an essential part of community based artistic life.

Let's hope that a similar resurgence can be witnessed in parts of the banding movement in Wales, and if anyone in the Llangollen or surrounding area might be considering membership of the choir, we would wholeheartedly encourage them to do so."

The Llangollen Choir was formed by six local men in 1981, and rose to perform at venues including the Royal Albert Hall.

Become a supporter and help make our future secure.

4barsrest continues to be a proudly independent voice. There are no paywalls to overcome to be able to enjoy what we do to keep our journalism at the heart of the brass banding world. Support us with a one-off donation or subscribe from just £2.50 per month.

Support us    


British Open

Result: 2026 Spring Festival — Grand Shield

May 3 • Milnrow claims the Grand Shield honours to return to the British Open with Hepworth joining them.


British Open

Result: 2026 Spring Festival — Senior Cup

May 2 • Kirkintilloch claims the Senior Cup honours as Rainford, Tongwynlais Temperance and East London Brass join them in the Grand Shield in 2027.


2026 Spring Festival

Result: 2026 Spring Festival — Senior Trophy

May 2 • Sandhurst Silver claims the Senior Trophy honours as Sovereign Brass, Unite Scotland Kinneil and Yorkshire Imperial are also promoted to the Senior Cup.


Fleetwood

Fleetwood back on demand

May 1 • You can enjoy all 32 performances from the recent Fleetwood Contest on demand


Regent Hall Concerts - Royal Greenwich Brass Band

Sunday 3 May • St Alfege Church. Greenwich Church Street SE10 9BJ


Regent Hall Concerts - FiveBy5 Trumpet Quintet

Tuesday 5 May • Charlton House and Gardens. Charlton Road, . London. . SE7 8RE


Regent Hall Concerts - Royal Greenwich Brass Band

Friday 8 May • Regent Hall. (The Salvation Army). 275 Oxford Street. London W1C2DJ


Wardle Anderson Brass Band - Wardle Junior Blast

Friday 8 May • Milnrow Parish Church, 16 Westward Ho, Milnrow, Rochdale OL16 3JX


Regent Brass - Woodbridge Excelsior Band and Russell Gray

Saturday 9 May • The Salvation Army (Regent Hall), Oxford Street, London W1C 2DJ


Bilton Silver Rugby Band

May 3 • The band requires an Eb bass player for our First section band conducted by Jack Fisher. . We have a varied and expanding programme of events throughout the year, including our very well attended, themed concerts.


Bilton Silver Rugby Band

May 3 • The band requires a Cornet player (Position negotiable) for our First section band conducted by Jack Fisher.. We have a varied and expanding programme of events throughout the year, including our very well attended, themed concerts.


Wellington Silver Band (Somerset)

May 2 • Bb Basses. With Colin Dance now appointed as our MD and our other Bb Bass leaving due to work commitments, we have openings for two Bb basses. We are a friendly community (4th section?) band with a variety of gigs including our own Proms in the Park.


Chris King

MBA, BMus(Hons), LRSM, AoBBA
Conductor, Arranger, Adjudicator, Compere, Band Trainer


               

 © 2026 4barsrest.com Ltd