Roy Wales

Roy Wales, BEM (born 9 November 1940) is a British choral, orchestral and operatic conductor, and a recipient of a British Empire Medal for Services to Choral Music in HM the Queen's 2020 New Year Honours.[1][2]

Wales in rehearsal with English Concert Orchestra & Chorus, Cadogan Hall, London, May 2018
Roy Wales, April 2019

Background and career

Born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands during the German Occupation, Wales first became involved in music via the local Salvation Army band[3].

In 1959, Wales left Guernsey and undertook teacher training in Bognor Regis. In 1961 he commenced music studies in London at Trinity College of Music, studying singing with Gwynn Parry Jones[3]

Wales formed his first choir, the London Student Singers in 1963. In the same year, he appeared in a professional barbership quartet called The Nutcrackers in Blackpool for a summer season, and he sang in a pantomime Dick Whittington at the Golders Green Hippodrome in London the same year, in a cast featuring Beryl Reid and Tommy Cooper.[3]

From 1964 onwards, Wales took choirs to international choral festivals, starting with the International Student Cultural Festival in Istanbul. In 1965, Wales took his London Student Chorale to the Montreux International Choral Festival in Switzerland, where they were first prize winners.[3]

In 1965, Wales joined the George Hurst Summer Conducting Course at Canford, Dorset, alongside fellow conductors Andrew Davis and John Eliot Gardiner[3]. Wales undertook postgraduate conducting studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with conductor Stanford Robinson, winning the Conducting Prize and Kapsalis Memorial Cup in 1966.

As a singer, Wales performed with the Chorus of the Royal Opera House in the first ROH production of Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aaron conducted by Georg Solti[3]. In January & February 1967, he sang with Sadler's Wells Opera Company in Janacek's From The House of the Dead.

During his career, he held positions including Director of Music at the University of Warwick[4] from 1974-80, Director of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music (now Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University)[5] from 1981-87, and Principal of the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire)[6] from 1987-89.

Through his career he has founded many choirs and choruses including the London Student Chorale and London Chorale, Southend Festival Chorus[7][8], Brisbane Chorale in 1983[9][10], and the English Concert Singers and Chorus in 1989.[11]

In May 2003, Wales founded the Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival[12], and he is the Festival Vice President. The first Festival featured 50 choirs from Cornwall, the wider UK and internationally.

In 2011, Wales founded Rottingdean Arts and he is currently Chairman and Artistic Director[13]. In 2013, Wales was nominated as a finalist in the Argus Achievement Awards for Contribution to Arts and Culture for his work with Rottingdean Arts[14].

Premieres of repertoire by notable composers

On 11 November 1965, Wales conducted the Camden Opera Group in the concert performance London Premiere of Aaron Copland's folk opera The Tender Land in Chelsea Town Hall. The Premiere performance was reviewed in The Daily Telegraph on 12 November 1965[15] and The Financial Times on 12 November 1965.[16]

On 6 June 1966, Wales conducted the first London performance of Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with the London Academic Orchestra, London Student Chorale and Pro Arte Singers in the Duke's Hall of the Royal Academy of Music. Bernstein's work also featured in the official opening concert of the University of Warwick Arts Centre in 1974, in the presence of the Composer, who was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the University.

On 1 November 1966, Wales conducted the UK Premiere of Laudes Organi by Zoltan Kodaly, performed by The London Student Chorale and Malcolm Cottle (Organ) at St Pancras Town Hall. This was reviewed in The Daily Telegraph[17].

On 28 November 1966, Wales conducted the Camden Opera Group in the concert/semi-staged UK Premiere of Zoltan Kodaly's folk opera Hary Janos in St Pancras Town Hall with a cast including bass Frank Olegario, tenor David Johnston, baritone Michael Rippon and mezzo-soprano Jean Temperley. The Premiere was reviewed by The Daily Telegraph[18], The Times[19] and The Daily Mail.[20]

Wales commissioned and premiered Phyllis Tate's Secular Requiem for choir and orchestra, for Hampstead Arts Festival in 1967.

Wales has worked closely with English composer Paul Patterson over several decades. Wales's choir the London Student Chorale commissioned Patterson's piece Kyrie[21] for choir and prepared piano, and Wales conducted the World Premiere at St John's Smith Square on 17 March 1972 with the composer at the piano. Kyrie[22] was also performed by the choir a month later at the Third International University Choral Festival at the Lincoln Centre in New York. The piece was recorded for the BBC in October 1972. Patterson's companion piece, Gloria, also written for Wales and the London Chorale, was premiered on 24 March 1973[23] at the Royal Albert Hall. Gloria[24] was performed by the same forces again at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 24 June 1973, reviewed by The Daily Telegraph[25]. Both pieces were recorded in September 1975 at Abbey Road Studios for the HMV label under the title Choral and Organ Works and released in July 1977[26].

Wales received personal permission from Leonard Bernstein to give the UK Premiere of his Bernstein Mass in Coventry Theatre on 16 May[27] and the Royal Albert Hall on 17 May 1976. Performers included the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Chorale, Cycles Dance Company, The London Chorale and University of Warwick Chorus. The London performance was reviewed in The Guardian[28], The Times[29], The Daily Telegraph[30] and The Financial Times[31].

Wales also conducted the Australian premiere of the Bernstein Mass on 11 April 1986 in the Concert Hall of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, with the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra and celebrant Jonathon Welch amongst the performers. The premiere was reviewed in The Australian,[32] The Courier-Mail,[33] and The Sunday Mail.[34].

References
  1. "New Year Honours list 2020". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  2. "Roy Wales British Empire Medal". The Gazette Official Public Record. 27 December 2019.
  3. Wales, Roy (2020). My Musical Journey. Portsmouth, UK: Tricorn Books. pp. 33, 53, 64, 78, 84, 89. ISBN 9781912821358.
  4. "Music Centre History". www.warwick.ac.uk.
  5. "Peter Roennfeldt: Brisbane Chorale – Our Journey". Griffith University. 2017.
  6. "Birmingham Conservatoire 125 Years" (PDF). jobs.bcu.ac.uk.
  7. "Stunning Performance of the Oratorio, Israel In Egypt". Leigh Times.
  8. "Honour for Southend Festival Chorus' Founder". www.leightimes.co.uk. 9 January 2020.
  9. "Brisbane Chorale". Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
  10. "About the Chorale – Brisbane Chorale" (PDF). Brisbane Chorale.
  11. "English Concert Chorus – Music Director". English Concert Chorus.
  12. "Previous Festivals". www.cimcf.uk.
  13. "About Rottingdean Arts". Rottingdean Arts.
  14. "Argus Achievement Awards 2013 Shortlist Revealed". Brighton Argus. 2 October 2013.
  15. D.J.M. (12 November 1965). "Copland Folk Opera – Freshness and Spontaneity". The Daily Telegraph.
  16. Cairns, David (12 November 1965). "Chelsea Town Hall – The Tender Land". The Financial Times.
  17. Stadlen, Peter (2 November 1966). "Reputable Performance By Two Young Pianists". The Daily Telegraph.
  18. Mason, Colin (29 November 1966). "Delight Of Folk Opera By Kodaly". The Daily Telegraph.
  19. Aprahamian, Felix (30 November 1966). "40 Years On". The Times.
  20. Mason, Eric (29 November 1966). "Hary Janos, by Zoltan Kodaly". The Daily Mail.
  21. "Kyrie – Opus 13 (1971) | Paul Patterson". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  22. "Kyrie – Opus 13 (1971)". www.paulpatterson.co.uk.
  23. Loppert, Max (26 March 1973). "London Chorale at Albert Hall". The Financial Times.
  24. "Gloria – Opus 21 (1972)". www.paulpatterson.co.uk.
  25. R.W. (25 June 1973). "Accuracy of Boy's Choir". The Daily Telegraph.
  26. "Paul Patterson – The London Chorale, Roy Wales, Dr. Arthur Wills* – Kyrie • Gloria". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  27. Grayson, Barrie (18 May 1976). "Bernstein Mass At Coventry Theatre". Birmingham Post.
  28. Greenfield, Edward (18 May 1976). "Bernstein's Mass". The Guardian.
  29. Mann, William (18 May 1976). "Crisis Of Faith". The Times.
  30. R.L.H. (18 May 1976). "Bernstein Mass". The Daily Telegraph.
  31. Griffiths, Paul (18 May 1976). "Bernstein's Mass". The Financial Times.
  32. Prerauer, Maria (15 April 1986). "Theatrical Impact Of Bernstein's 1971 Opus". The Australian.
  33. Villaume, John (12 April 1986). "Bernstein's Mass Packed Concert Hall to Capacity". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane.
  34. Hebden, Barbara (14 April 1986). "A Spiritual Statement". The Sunday Mail. Brisbane.
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