A world champion brass band has been honoured with a Blue Plaque to commemorate its 125 years of celebrated music making.
The internationally-renowned Cory Band received the distinction from the Mayor of Rhondda Cynon Taf at a special concert performance which brought its anniversary year to a thrilling climax.
Members of the Vintage Cory Band – which includes former members of the Cory Band itself – gave another first-class performance at St Peters Church, Pentre. The Mayor Cllr Robert Smith unveiled the Blue Plaque to an appreciative audience before it was transported to the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea to be showcased on stage for a spectacular anniversary concert by the Cory Band on the following evening.
The Blue Plaque has now been installed on the Band’s practice room behind the Post Office in Ton Pentre. It comes only a few months after the Cory Band claimed the World Championship title in their field.
Cllr Smith praised the Band for their music prowess, “You are fine ambassadors not only for Rhondda Cynon Taf, but for the whole of Wales as your achievements are recognized throughout the world as champions of the highest honour.
“We all applaud you for 125 years of exceptional standards of musical performance and congratulate you once more on all the honour and glory you have bestowed on the communities you represent in our county borough.
“The Blue Plaque is richly deserved and I hope every time you see it as you walk into the rehearsal room you will think of the incredible legacy which you currently protect and enhance in memory of the many past members and for the benefit of those players of the future.”
For almost two years Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Libraries & Museums Service has been working closely with various voluntary organisations and individuals to determine 30 sites in the county borough as yet unrecognized for their historical background with the placing of a Blue Plaque
Due to £49,200 of Heritage Lottery funding, the project has set out to identify icons, events and buildings, culminating in the placing of blue plaques to commemorate their history and achievements.
The Cory Band was formed in 1884 and was originally named ‘Ton Temperance’ until 1895 when Sir Clifford Cory, Chairman of Cory Brothers heard the band and offered to provide financial assistance for them resulting in the band’s change of name.
In 1920 the band gained championship status and three years later achieved the distinction of performing what is believed to have been the first radio broadcast by a brass band. A significant honour was bestowed on the band in 1976 when they were chosen to represent Wales and the Brass Band Movement on a tour of the USA as part of their bicentennial celebrations
The culmination of their contest successes came in 2000 following the appointment of Dr. Robert Childs as their Musical Director. During that millennium year they won both the British Open and the National Championships and made history in taking the British Open Shield home to Wales for the first time in the contest’s 148-year history.
This triumph was repeated in 2002 and again in 2007 when the band won their third British Open title. In 2008, the band won the European Brass Band Championships in Stavanger, Norway.
