Members of a Welsh male choir have spoken about how a chance meeting with Stereophonics' frontman Kelly Jones led them to perform on one of Wales's biggest stages. The Cwmbach Male Choir of the Cynon Valley gave a memorable performance of We'll Keep a Welcome in the Hillside and a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, Mae Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff over the weekend.
The performance was a part of Stereophonics and Sir Tom Jones' highly-anticipated concert at the stadium, which had been delayed for six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The concert took place on Friday, June 17, and Saturday, June 18, and saw thousands of music fans flocking to the stadium.
Read more: The best pictures from Stereophonics and Sir Tom Jones in Cardiff
Mike Thomas, the musical director of the choir and Kelly Jones' former teacher, and choir chair Rob Davies spoke of their delight on taking part in such a huge event. Speaking on BBC Radio Wales Mike described how his chance meeting with his former pupil took place.
He said: "It was some time ago. It was before all the Covid things happened and I was walking into the supermarket with my son and Kelly was walking out with his daughter. And as ever whenever the boys bump into me they are always very respectful and always say hello.
"Kelly asked how things were and we had a chat. I mentioned then that it was Cwmbach's centenary year in 2021 and I said I think we should do something together as a great institution from the Cynon Valley and a global rock group from the Cynon Valley.
"Kelly said: 'Let's make this happen'. They are a fantastic set of boys who are very proud to be Welsh obviously and very proud to be associated with the Cynon Valley."
In response to Mike's chance meeting with Kelly Rob admitted that he initially thought that the plan was a "wind-up". He said: "It came as a bit of a bolt from the blue. We had a lot of emails and then it went really quiet for a while after that conversation.
"So it was a bit like: 'Is this a wind-up? It's got to be.' But no, obviously, as it turned out on Friday and Saturday it wasn't. It was absolutely fantastic, the boys were all overjoyed – we all were. And we saw the opportunities in this gig to reach out to the Welsh male public and perhaps raise the profile of Welsh choral singing a bit."
The choir men said that prior to their performance they could feel the "buzz" of the audience at the stadium. Rob said: "We had been there since the stadium was empty. So it turned from nervousness into excitement... and then as we got through the drapes and onto the stage just a massive feeling of passion for all things Welsh.
"It was a truly unique Welsh occasion. I don't think I'll ever experience anything like that again and I've been to many international games and many concerts but the combination of two was absolutely electrifying."
