About us

London Olympics, British Lions tours, appearances on national TV and radio… The London Welsh Rugby Club Choir has a long and illustrious history.

Since its formation, under the presidency of Wales and British and Irish Lions legend John Dawes OBE, the choir has brought its unique sound to sell out audiences across the UK, Europe and New Zealand. With strong ties to both their Welsh roots and the exile community centred around London Welsh’s famous Old Deer Park, further high-profile appearances on national radio and television followed, including its defining moment, performing at the 2012 London Olympics in front of a worldwide audience of more than one billion.

Rugby and song have gone hand in hand at Old Deer Park since the club’s inception in 1885. It has contributed 177 players to the Welsh national team, including names such as JPR Williams, Gerald Davies, Mervyn Davies, John Dawes and John Taylor – famously the choirmaster on the victorious 1971 Lions tour to New Zealand, and the man who has picked up the presidency baton from Dawes.

And the choir he presides over goes from strength to strength too, with its 40-strong members kept firmly in line by musical director Michael Wyn Jones. Jones has been a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus and the 1998 Choir of the year Exmoor Singers, and is responsible for a development of the choir few could have predicted. The repertoire has been expanded, a new style of singing introduced and innovations developed wherever possible. The result is a choir singing with an infectious enthusiasm that is hard to resist.