Sioned Nest James (10 Sept 1974 – 19 July 2016) was a Welsh musician and conductor, known for founding the successful

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

-based choir Côrdydd and contributing to musical programmes on television.

Early life and education

Born and brought up in

Llandysul Llandysul is a small town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the village of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in sout ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

, James attended

Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi was a bilingual (Welsh and English) comprehensive school in Llandysul, Ceredigion. It stood on the site of the previous Llandysul Grammar School. The school was established in 1984 following the re-organisation of education in ...

. In her youth she was a member of several choirs, including Teifi Singers, the National Youth Choir of Wales and Swansea Bach Choir under John Hugh Thomas. Her first opportunity to lead a choir, at 16 years old, was given to her by Islwyn Evans at the Ceredigion School of Music. James graduated from

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

with first class honours in 1997.

Career

Caneuon John Rutter (Yn Cynnwys Offeren I'r Meirw), album cover

In 1999 Sioned James collaborated with

Charlie Skarbek Charlie Skarbek (Charles John Skarbek, born 1953) is a singer, record producer, composer and lyricist. He has worked with many celebrated musicians from both the classical and popular fields. General Despite flourishing from circa 1985 to date ...

on the Rugby World Cup CD and ''

World in Union "World in Union" is a theme song for the Rugby World Cup. Its melody is "Thaxted (tune), Thaxted", from the middle section of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity", a movement (music), movement from Gustav Holst's ''The Planets'', and was originally a ...

'' for

Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', ''Leporello'' and ''D ...

and

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

. The following year she established her own choir, Côrdydd, in Cardiff. The choir enjoyed many successes, winning BBC Radio Choir in 2003 and becoming a winner in the competition for Mixed Choir of less than 45 voices at the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competitors ...

on several occasions. She conducted Mochyn Du Choir for many years. She was a familiar face on S4C working with TV producers as musical arranger on ''

Coal House ''Coal House'' is a Welsh television series made by Indus Films for BBC Wales, and broadcast on BBC One Wales, with a subsequent UK wide repeat of both series on BBC Four. Series 1 was set in the depressed economic coalfields of 1927, while Ser ...

'' and drama series ''

Con Passionate ''Con Passionate'' is a Welsh-language television drama series, written by Siwan Jones and directed by Rhys Powys for S4C. The first two series were Teledu Apollo productions. Plot The main plot of the series revolves around the consequences ...

''. She was choirmaster of the S4C show ''Codi Canu'' and vocal coach on ''The Voice Wales'' and ''Can’t Sing Singers'' on the BBC. James worked as an agent for actors and TV presenters and as a part-time lecturer on the course of Theatre, Music and Media at the

University of Wales, Trinity Saint David The University of Wales Trinity Saint David ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant) is a multi-campus university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, England, and learning ...

. During her career she collaborated with renowned composers including

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of ...

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. ...

and

Paul Mealor Paul Mealor OStJ CLJ OSS FRSA (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus, both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet ''Ubi Caritas et Amor'' was performed at the w ...

. Sioned James died in 2016 at the age 41. S4C aired a tribute to her on 7 April 2017, in which current Côrdydd conductor Huw Foulkes said:''"I challenge anyone to think of a Welsh conductor who's succeeded in forming as many contacts around the world; and has succeeded in transforming Welsh choral singing... nd/nowiki>...her massive contribution towards music in Wales and beyond. The world is much poorer without Sioned."''

Personal life

James was married to TV presenter Gareth Roberts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Sioned Welsh conductors (music) Alumni of Cardiff University People from Ceredigion 1974 births 2016 deaths