Dolgellau Music Club brings top young performers to Meirionnydd in its 42nd season

For four decades, music lovers in Dolgellau have not needed to travel far to hear first-class concerts. Dolgellau Music Club has been bringing chamber music, choirs and recitals to the town since 1985, and its latest season is well under way.

On Friday 30 October the club presents a song recital by Indian soprano Anusha Merrin and pianist Iwan Owen. Anusha is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, where she completed a postgraduate diploma and an MMus in Vocal Studies and Opera with distinction. Iwan is a familiar face, having appeared at the club as accompanist and soloist in a memorable 2023 concert, and he was awarded a Pianist Prize at the 2025 Ashburnham English Song Awards.

The club's first concerts, in October 1985, were organised under the leadership of cellist Nicholas Jones, who also founded the Aberystwyth International Music Festival. Concerts were first held at Neuadd Idris before moving to the hall at what is now Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor, whose 1930s wood panelling, created when the site was Dr Williams School, gives a fine acoustic admired by many visiting musicians.

Over the years the club has hosted players at the start of their careers, including viola player Lawrence Power and the Belcea String Quartet, often through the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, which makes promising young musicians available and affordable to clubs.

Song recitals have featured established names such as Helen Field and Jeremy Huw Williams, as well as Blue Riband winners Sian Meinir and Trevor Lloyd Evans, often accompanied by club president Eirian Owen. Choirs are a big part of the programme too. Côr Bro Meirion, Côr Eifionydd, Côr Rhuthun, Cantorion Monteverdi and the Sirenian Singers have all performed, and the 2025 to 2026 season opened with Côr y Brythoniaid, the male voice choir formed in Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1964.

The club also runs school workshops and has helped young musicians meet the cost of lessons, music, travel and exams, making sure the next generation in Meirionnydd gets its chance on the stage.

Full details of this season's concerts and tickets can be found at dolgellaumusicclub.org.uk.