The musical director of three Welsh male voice choirs has said he is “humbled” at being recognised in the New Year's Honours list. Dr Mike Thomas, 63, who has been involved with one of the choirs for more than 35 years, has been made an MBE for services to the Welsh male voice choirs of the Pelenna Valley and the Cynon Valley.
He has been the organist at his parish church for the past 20 years and spends five evenings a week practising with 160 choristers across three choirs. The choirs – Pelenna, Cwmdare, and Cwmbach – regularly perform across the UK and internationally. In June Cwmbach Male Choir performed in front of an audience of 60,000 during Stereophonics gigs at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
That opportunity arose after Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones bumped into Dr Thomas – who taught at his school, the former Blaengwawr Comprehensive in Aberaman – in a supermarket. During the Covid-19 pandemic father-of-two Dr Thomas organised virtual choir practices.
Read the full list of Welsh people in the King's New Year's Honours list
Dr Thomas told the PA news agency: “I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it. I had an email three weeks ago from the Cabinet Office. I said to my wife Margaret: ‘We have a scam here. Someone has sent me an email saying they’re from the Cabinet Office.' I was going to delete it but Margaret, who has been in on this, told me to open it. I said: ‘Well I’m not giving them my bank details.' It is humbling. There are a lot of people who have been involved in working to making this happen for me for a long time, which I am so grateful for.”
Dr Thomas first joined Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir, based in his home village of Tonmawr in Neath Port Talbot county borough, in 1980. He focused on family life for a few years before returning to the choir 35 years ago and joining Cwmdare and Cwmbach as musical director around nine years ago.
“I am so fortunate,” Dr Thomas added. “I’m passionate about singing, I love singing every day, I am lucky I can do it and I have the support of my family to do it as well.” He said he was keen to give people the opportunity to perform on stage in front of audiences rather than only within a practice setting. The three choirs are “thriving”, he said, with more people becoming involved. Dr Thomas has raised almost £100,000 for charities including Epilepsy Research, British Heart Foundation, the NSPCC, the Air Ambulance Service, and Rainbows Hospice.
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