Welcome to The Rhondda  Symphony Orchestra

The Rhondda Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest amateur orchestras in Wales.  It was formed in Tonypandy in 1968, and gave its first concert in 1970.  The Orchestra is a past winner at the National Eisteddfod.

Today, however, it draws musicians from across South Wales and regularly has a playing strength of over 70.  We have always been pleased to give young players their first chance to play in a full sized symphony orchestra, and now former members can be found in professional orchestras across Europe and beyond.

The great symphonies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are at the core of our repertoire.  Over the last few years, we have  performed symphonies by Beethoven, Borodin, Brahms, and Dvorak.  Recently we gave one of the first performances in Wales of the Third Symphony by Elgar, as completed by Payne.  Concertos recently performed include works from Bach to Gershwin and Ravel.  Soloists who have performed concertos with us include Jack Brymer and Martin Jones.

We also enjoy opportunities to perform with choirs.  We are proud to have been an ever-present part of the Corau tradition of festivals for mixed choirs since the first performance in the Royal Albert Hall in 1983.  Other choral works performed range from Haydn masses and Verdi’s Requiem to Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.   We have worked with singers such as Bryn Terfel and Denis O’Neill.

The Orchestra appointed a new Music Director in May 2000.  We were delighted to secure the services of Huw Gareth Williams, recently described by the BBC as “Wales’s top young conducting talent”.

We celebrated our thirtieth birthday in 1998, with a very successful concert tour to Brittany.  During the tour we played for our Celtic cousins in the magnificent Cathedrals of Saint Malo and Saint Brieuc.