All the world’s a stage for Lewis Merthyr
FROM Sir Geraint Evans to Sir Bryn Terfel, Copenhagen and Ostend, Lewis Merthyr has performed at a wide variety of leading venues which include the Royal Albert Hall, the Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall, Llangollen Pier, St David’s Hall, the Wales Millenium Centre and Principality Stadium.
Internationally, the band has also performed in the Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark and, just last autumn, at the 5,000-seat capacity Versluys Dome in Ostend, Belgium.
The band has performed for Royalty in 1912 and 1932 when George V and Queen Mary and then the Prince of Wales visited the Rhondda.
Throughout its history the band has also performed with numerous leading artists including the pioneering recording artist Signor Foli(Allan Jame Foley) in the late 1800s, the noted operatic bass-baritone Sir Geraint Evans, Rhondda Actor
Having covered the contest successes of Lewis Merthyr in a previous article, Craig Roberts, current musical director of Lewis Merthyr Band, outlines the achievements of the band on the concert stage...
Glyn Houston and most recently, Sir Bryn Terfel.
The band’s performance with Sir Bryn was a television recording for a Christmas Day broadcast of Cwm Rhondda, filmed at the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery (now Rhondda Heritage Park).
In recent years, Lewis Merthyr has also featured in a series of performances under the baton of the renowned Welsh conductor Owain Arwel Hughes CBE.
Those performances include a St David’s Gala Concert at the Brangwyn Hall, a Brass and Voices event at the prestigious Speech Room of Harrow School, London and two performances at Wales’ national classical music festival, and the Welsh Proms at St David’s Hall, Cardiff. The band also recently recorded an excellent album of favourite Welsh music with Owain Arwel Hughes entitled Brass & Voices of Wales, which also featured the massed male choirs of Bridgend and Pendyrus.
Lewis Merthyr has also featured in a wide range of radio and television broadcasts throughout its history, which include a series of recently rediscovered BBC Radio broadcasts, dating back as far as 1927, and also Pathe newsreel footage of the band marching before King Edward V111 to Land of Hope & Glory in 1932.
The 1980s saw Best of Brass recordings while, more recently, the band was featured in the 2016 BBC television programme The Taff – The River That Made Wales with presenter Will Millard.
Such has been the popularity of the show that it continues to be repeatedly screened on BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC Wales.
The band also featured in the 2018 National Eisteddfod of Wales S4C broadcast, both performing live in competition from the Wales Millenium Centre and in a repeat screening of their recording with Bryn Terfel broadcast on the opening night of the event.
Lewis Merthyr have also become major event specialists, performing on numerous occasions at the Principality Stadium, for the National Theatre of Wales’ City of the Unexpected Roald Dahl 100 celebrations across the city centre and many more prestigious events.
■ Further information on the above events and the wider history and current activities of Lewis Merthyr Band can be found on www.lewismerthyrband.com.
■ Copies of the Brass & Voices of Wales recording can be purchesed from the band or downloaded from www.lewismerthyrband.bandcamp.com.