'A vibrant mix' Brecon festival unites singers and scholars

The men of Welsh valleys community choirs from Treorchy or Tylorstown do not often stand shoulder to shoulder to sing with choral scholars from Cambridge University – but that's what happens at the Clarence Inn in Brecon each July.

- Bethan McKernan

Set up by a team of volunteers in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic as a way to bring people back together, the Brecon Choir Festival, now in its fourth year, has built on the Welsh tradition of communal singing to create a unique and ambitious celebration of song and choral music.

This year, group hikes in the surrounding Bannau Brycheiniog national park, talks and professional workshops rounded out an eclectic musical programme ranging from the medieval repertoire of the ethereal Hildegard Singers to the passion of the internationally renowned Pendyrus Male Choir and the high drama of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, performed by the BBC National Chorus of Wales.