The Fron Choir, or to give its full title, Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir or Côr Meibion Froncysyllte, is an amateur Welsh Male Voice Choir from the village of Froncysyllte, near Llangollen, Denbighshire, North Wales. The village overlooks the amazing Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, designed by Thomas Telford in the 18th Century and now a World Heritage Site.
Founded in 1947 to compete in the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, set up in that year to promote world peace and harmony, the Choir has an illustrious history in competition that continues to this day, with three first prizes at the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival 2017 and, in 2018, took their fourth win in the Best Male Voice Choir in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
The Fron has made many recordings including the Voices of Valley series of five albums, topping the classical charts, achieving Gold and Platinum Disc status and worldwide sales of over 2 million for the series to date.
Visitors are always given a warm welcome at any of our rehearsals which are held on a Monday and Thursday evening. If you wish to visit us please follow this link for further details.
Our next concert is:
You may notice that we have very few engagements over the summer . . .
The recording of a new “Voices of the Valley” album with producer Jon Cohen, who produced all the “Voices of the Valley” series of recordings is well under way.
Jon has a very impressive CV and has worked with some of the biggest names in the business. He has brought the old production team back together for what we hope will be another outstanding album which we anticipate will be ready for release sometime in the new year.
Please pop back to the website for regular updates or sign up to our newsletter (link below) and follow our social media using the buttons at the top left of this page. Previous "Voices of the Valley" albums have sold over 2 million copies worldwide and are still available from our online shop.
Here is a review from the BBC website of one of our earlier recordings:
"With last year’s debut album selling in double platinum proportions and nominated for a Classical Brits Awards, a follow up from the Fron Male Voice Choir was always an inevitability.
"Voices of the Valley - Encore" arrives in time for the Froncysyllte, North East Wales-based choir’s 60th anniversary and delivers a more-of-the-same compendium to showcase its considerable close harmony talents to attractive effect.
Admirable throughout, under Ann Atkinson’s pointedly measured direction, is a beauty of sound, impressive technique and a sense of ensemble singing to compare with any and all comers.
Jon Cohen’s clever, nimble instrumental accompaniments may appal a cappella purists, but they serve here to frame and underscore a choir clearly at the peak of its form.
The choice of material mixes pop standards (“Yesterday” complete with weeping strings and rippling piano), classic hymns (an “Amazing Grace” that starts in still reflection and concludes with pulpit-thumping lustre), Hollywood soundtracks (a magnificent and moving take on “Exodus” full of emotional grandeur and gravitas) and obligatory Welsh standards (“Suo Gân” delivered with obvious conviction).
Add a touch of opera with a yearning and heartfelt “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Verdi’s Nabucco, Americana in the form of a suitably epic “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, and a show-stopping encore in a fabulously entertaining take on “The Rhythm of Life” with guest soloist Michael Ball, and the Fron can look forward to a busy start to their seventh decade on the back of a superbly crafted and entertaining recital."
"Voices of the Valley - Encore" arrives in time for the Froncysyllte, North East Wales-based choir’s 60th anniversary and delivers a more-of-the-same compendium to showcase its considerable close harmony talents to attractive effect.
Admirable throughout, under Ann Atkinson’s pointedly measured direction, is a beauty of sound, impressive technique and a sense of ensemble singing to compare with any and all comers.
Jon Cohen’s clever, nimble instrumental accompaniments may appal a cappella purists, but they serve here to frame and underscore a choir clearly at the peak of its form.
The choice of material mixes pop standards (“Yesterday” complete with weeping strings and rippling piano), classic hymns (an “Amazing Grace” that starts in still reflection and concludes with pulpit-thumping lustre), Hollywood soundtracks (a magnificent and moving take on “Exodus” full of emotional grandeur and gravitas) and obligatory Welsh standards (“Suo Gân” delivered with obvious conviction).
Add a touch of opera with a yearning and heartfelt “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Verdi’s Nabucco, Americana in the form of a suitably epic “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, and a show-stopping encore in a fabulously entertaining take on “The Rhythm of Life” with guest soloist Michael Ball, and the Fron can look forward to a busy start to their seventh decade on the back of a superbly crafted and entertaining recital."
Michael Quinn 2007
