The founder conductor of the reborn Dowlais Male Choir was D.T.Davies, a musician of great repute throughout South Wales as conductor, adjudicator and accompanist. In 1968 he was awarded the MBE for his services to music and in 1974 he received further recognition when the Freedom of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil was conferred upon him.

During his years as Musical Director the Choir grew in number from 13 to 120 choristers in 1973, when it reached the first of many musical peaks in winning the Chief Male Choral competition at the Royal National Eisteddfod at Ruthin.

This was a “Triple Crown” for “DT” as he had won the National Eisteddfod previously, conducting a ladies’ choir and a mixed choir and he achieved five “National” successes in his distinguished career.

The aim of the D.T.Davies Award was the encouragement of promising young musicians, and the bursary is given each year to a student of one of the high schools in the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil.

The recipient of the award had previously been decided on a rotational basis from each of the schools. However the choir had been conscious for several years that promising students had not been offered the opportunity to display their talent, as it had not been their schools turn to select the recipient of the award. So, in 2013 the choir changed the format by offering the opportunity to a student from each of the schools to enter an annual competition and potentially be the recipient of the award.

After cancelling the competition for two years during Covid, the competition was expanded to offer two different awards. The DT Davies was restricted to young instrumentalists and a new second one, the J. Michael Jones award, for young singers. After gaining a Bachelor of Music degree in 1987 from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Michael gained a scholarship to study pianoforte accompaniment with Jeanette Massocchi at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

Following a brief return to Aberystwyth to gain a post graduate certificate in education, Michael secured a teaching post in Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar, a role he loved, in which he excelled, and one that spanned his entire teaching career of some thirty years.

Michael’s unique and exquisite ability as a musical director and accompanist caused him to be in constant demand, and saw him work with numerous operatic groups and choirs, Colstars, Cytgord, Con Voce to name but a few.

In 2011, Michael joined Dowlais Male Choir as their accompanist. His performances with the choir were renowned and just as with Con Voce, many audience members would comment that they had attended concerts just to hear him play! The choir are indebted to Michael for his time with them. His memory is cherished, his presence sorely missed.

Unfortunately, due to too few entrants over the next three years both competitions were closed in 2023