50 years ago many men, with their families moved from all over the country to man the mills and blast furnaces at the new, giant steelworks at Llanwern. They moved to live in the expanding communities of Caldicot, Rogiet, Undy, Magor, Underwood and Llanmartin, no longer to remain small villages but become townships of hundreds of new houses.
A small group of men with a common male voice choir heritage, walked the streets, knocked on doors and cajoled workmates to join with them to bring a part of Welsh choral culture to these communities. So was formed the then Caldicot and District Male Voice Choir. From these humble beginnings of some twenty men, the choir has grown to become one of the leading male voice choirs in Wales.
Slow to start, it has grown during its history to perform for not only the rich and famous in prestigious venues throughout the world but never forgetting its roots, the choir has remained supportive of the local community with concerts at many local churches and village halls to raise several hundreds of thousands of pounds for deserving charities.
The choir’s successful North American tours include visiting Kansas, twice to California and Canada. European tours include visits to Germany, Austria and Holland and recently the choir has performed on two separate P & O cruise ships to Portugal and Spain. The choir is proud to have sung before Royalty, including the Queen at her Golden Jubilee celebrations and in California before George Bush Snr just before his election to the Presidency of the USA. In its history the choir has several times achieved first places at both the Miners’ and Kington Eisteddfodau and has also won first prize at the National Eisteddfod. However, as part of its musical ethos it is always keen to support new soloist talent and can include a young Bryn Terfel and more recently Holly Holyoake, Rhys Meirion and Huw Euron among its guests. There is no doubt that Côr Meibion Caldicot has been a worthy ambassador for both Wales and Caldicot.
As a result of tremendous efforts from choristers and supporters in the 90’s the choir was able to acquire land and create its own purpose-built, acoustically designed choir hall near the Leisure Centre. This is not only an available asset to the local area but is the envy of all choirs who visit us.
Although in arguably one of the most anglicised areas of Wales, the choir is proud of its Welsh heritage. Although most choristers are not Welsh speakers, a large part of our repertoire is sung in Welsh, they strive hard to maintain Welsh choral traditions. The choir is also keen to expand its musical boundaries to include modern pieces within its programme and so embrace all ages and tastes. Although much has changed, by using new technology and inspired by a talented musical team led by Musical Director Siân Hatton, the choir is looking forward to taking its traditions and music into an even brighter next 50 years.
As part of its Golden Anniversary Celebrations, a very special 50th Anniversary concert has been arranged at Caldicot Leisure Centre, Mill Lane on April 13th at 7-00pm with Special Guest artist, Shân Cothi and compère comedian Don Maclean. Tickets are available by phoning Alan Pearce on 01291 422005, at the Leisure Centre or from the Choir Hall, Mill Lane on a Monday or Thursday evening practice or see any choir member.