A hundred and twenty-five years of song.

The choir was formed in 1901, when four local musicians attended a concert in Oakengates given by a party of unemployed Welsh miners — and were so moved that they resolved to form a male voice quartet of their own.

They called themselves the Hadley Orpheus Male Voice Society, later becoming the Hadley & District Orpheus Male Choir. What began as four voices soon became famous, not only in this country but in other parts of the world.

Champions of the Eisteddfod

Over the years the choir enjoyed many competition successes across the country — the most notable being three victories at the Welsh National Eisteddfod, in 1923, 1925 and 1933. It is a record the choir is still justly proud of: no other English choir has won the Welsh National three times. Indeed, it is said that following these successes, entry to the competition was afterwards limited to Welsh choirs only.

Singing the country over

Alongside the competitions, the choir has given hundreds of concerts throughout the country, raising many thousands of pounds for charity — from Eastbourne, Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, to Scarborough, Weymouth, Blackpool, Torquay and Bournemouth, to name but a few.

The choir has also performed at the “Hundreds in Harmony” concert at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and joined a massed choir in aid of the Tsunami Disaster at the Telford International Centre.

A wider family of choirs

In 2011 the choir joined the English Association of Male Voice Choirs and has performed in its annual charity concert. In June 2016 the Orpheus hosted that concert at Oakengates Theatre, with over 220 singers on stage and guest soloists including the BBC Young Musician of the Year pianist, Lauren Zhang.

Singing for good causes

Charity has always been at the heart of what we do. Major fundraising events have included a “Sing-a-Thong” for Children in Need, support for the homeless charity KiP and for Hope House Children’s Hospice, and — together with Rotary — the End Polio Now project, for which the choir raised £4,000.

The choir is a member of both the National Association of Choirs and the English Association of Male Voice Choirs, and is proud to be a corporate member of the Rotary Club of The Wrekin.