Choir History: 1986 - 2005

In October 1986, the choir made a return journey to the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the tenth London Welsh Festival of 1,000 Voices.

The choir travelled to Scotland in February 1993, and gave a charity concert at Blair Gowrie. Later that year, they participated in the World Choir at the National Stadium in Cardiff.

The choir's inaugural Annual Concert took place in November 1994, and was followed closely by a trip to Swindon to take part in a "multi-choir concert" hosted by Swindon Male Voice Choir.

Thirty years of the choir were celebrated with a concert on 2nd May 1997.

1998 was a busy year, with a trip to Ireland in March, which included a concert with Kilkenny Youth Choir in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, and a massed choir event in a dome tent on the Arms Park in June, with soloists including a young Charlotte Church.

In 1999, the choir performed with the Elgin Choral Union from the USA in June. Later in the year, the Rugby World Cup was held in Wales, and this was a particularly busy time for the choir, with filming for the BBC, Sky Sports, New Zealand and Australian television, as well as many concerts and events for visiting supporters.

In September 2000 the choir changed its name to become the Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir, helping to raise the profile of the choir and perpetuate the name of the Arms Park. One of the highlights of that year was hosting the Welsh Male Voice Choir of South Africa in a concert at St James' Church on the 3rd November.

In 2002 the choir sang live on BBC's Grandstand during the Six Nations, and sang on the pitch of the Millennium Stadium before Wales beat Fiji in the Autumn internationals. They also hosted the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir and gave their Annual Concert at Llandaff Cathedral with Peter Karrie, the Wessex Male Choir and the Llanishen Fach Primary School choir.

The Welsh team performed well at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and the choir met them at their Hensol base to welcome them home. Earlier in the year, the choir had performed with Max Boyce at a St David's Day dinner.

In 2004 the choir opened the Macdonald Holland House Hotel on Newport Road, Cardiff, sang for over 5,000 people at the Millennium Stadium and once more performed at the Royal Albert Hall. The highlights of the year, however, were the two tours undertaken in May. The first was to the Czech Republic, with concerts in Plzen and Karlstejn Castle, whilst the second (only eight days later) was to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Male Choir of Brittany in Pleyben, France.

If you have any further information about what the choir got up to between 1986 and 2005, please let us know!!