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Gwalia Male Choir
'' (''Welsh: Côr Meibion Gwalia'') is a male voice choir based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Founded in 1967, it is one of London's oldest male choirs. Gwalia is an archaic Welsh name for Wales. It meets and rehearses every week in the

London Welsh Centre The London Welsh Centre ( cy, Canolfan Cymry Llundain) (founded as the Young Wales Association in 1920) is a community and arts centre on Gray's Inn Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The centre is owned and run by the London Welsh Trust. T ...

. This building is a cultural and community center, officially opened in 1930 by Margaret Lloyd George, wife of former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

. The honorary President of the choir is singer, songwriter, author and broadcaster Cerys Matthews. In 2017 she succeeded BAFTA award-winning Welsh journalist, newsreader and presenter

Huw Edwards Huw Edwards (; born 18 August 1961) is a Welsh journalist, presenter, and newsreader. Edwards presents ''BBC News at Ten'', the corporation's flagship news broadcast. Edwards also presents BBC coverage of state events, international events, th ...

in the role.

Performances

Since its founding, the choir has regularly performed in venues such as the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

, the Foreign Office, the National Liberal Club, St Paul's Cathedral, the Ritz Hotel, the Royal Albert Hall and many of the places of worship in the

List of Christopher Wren churches in London Sir Christopher Wren was 33 years old and near the beginning of his career as an architect when the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed many of the city's public buildings, including 88 of its parish churches. Wren's office was commissioned to ...

. The choir has performed at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Choir members sang as part of the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. The choir has toured widely in Europe, most recently in Lombardy, Italy. The choir appeared on the 1973 album

Back Into The Future ''Back into the Future'' is the seventh album by the Welsh rock band Man. Released in September 1973, it was the first Man album recorded following the departure of Clive John. ''Back into the Future'' was originally issued as a double LP. LP 1 ...

by Welsh psychedelic/progressive rock band Man (band). They also appear on the Chris De Burgh album ''Beautiful Dreams'' and have performed live on the

Robert Elms Robert Frederick Elms (born 12 June 1959) is an English writer and broadcaster. Elms was a writer for ''The Face'' magazine in the 1980s and is currently known for his long-running radio show on BBC Radio London. His book, ''The Way We Wore'', ...

show on BBC Radio London as part of

Saint David's Day Saint David's Day ( cy, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or ; ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrat ...

celebrations. On 15 August 2015 they took part in a Drumhead Service on Horse Guards Parade in Central London to mark the 70th Anniversary of VJ Day. The service was attended by veterans of the conflict and also by Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Repertoire

The choir's repertoire is largely drawn from the Welsh tradition, but also includes more popular pieces, including songs from musicals and operas.

Notables

Notable former members include the conductor/arranger and current Musical Director for the Welsh Rugby Union Dr. Haydn James and the former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Monmouth Huw (William Edmund) Edwards. {{authority control London choirs Musical groups from London