The Fron Male Voice Choir

Fron is pronounced Vron
There is no V in the Welsh language so f = v and ff = f

Formed in 1947 primarily to compete at the newly formed Llangollen International Eisteddfod, the choir has a history to be proud of. Throughout its sixty years of existence “The Fron” has achieved regular competition success both in Britain and abroad. Success on the competition stage include wins at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, BBC choir of the Year to name but a few, and it has gained international wins at festivals in Germany, Athens and Malta. They have had concert tours in Canada, USA, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Ireland and Cyprus.

On November the 20th 2006 the choir released its first commercial recording under contract to Universal and it became an instant hit. It is this CD “Voices of the Valley” and the subsequent follow up album “Voices of the Valley Encore” that has brought the choir’s performances to the wider British public. The first album went gold in under a week becoming the fastest selling classical record of all time. It spent almost six months at the top of the classical charts as well as reaching no.9 in the album charts, and has so far sold over half a million copies. The album was still in the Classical Top ten a year after release. On the 20th of September the album was released in Australia and it jumped to the top of the Australian classical charts and again the Fron was awarded a Gold disc for its Australian sales.

The albums success has resulted in appearances on TV programmes such as the Paul O’Grady Show, This Morning (twice), Country File, Parkinson Christmas Show, the Rugby World Cup, Songs of Praise and a documentary screened on BBC2 called “Strictly Male Voice.”

It has been an incredible 12 months for the choir, it was their 60th anniversary last year and it was a fantastic experience for all involved. They are fortunate that they have a very hardworking and talented musical team in Ann Atkinson musical director, Owen Roberts deputy musical director, Alwena Nutting accompanist, and Bryan Evans arranger and occasional practice leader. They have been involved in some unbelievable concerts in such diverse places like the Albert Hall, the Millennium Stadium and a rather large cowshed on the Rhug Estate in Corwen (with an audience of 1,000)

Their follow up album “Voices of the Valley Encore” has followed in the same footsteps as its predecessor. It has been awarded a gold disk and platinum disk and was named classical album of the year for 2007 despite only being released in November. It has also been awarded a gold disk for its sales in Australia and to date the sales have exceeded 500,000 and the choir is delighted that its success has brought a resurgence of interest in Male Voice Choir signing throughout Britain.

They have recently completed a nine concert tour of the UK which although demanding has been very rewarding and an unbelievable experience. The hard work and demands on choristers continued with the choir recently completing the recording of their third CD “Voices of the Valley – Home” which will be released in November 2008. A charity single is also planned for release in October 2008.