The choir was formed in October 1909 with about thirty members to enter an Eisteddfod in Tredegar which they subsequently won. The first 25 years of the choir was better known as the “John Davy” years who was the original conductor. This era was a story of success at Eisteddfodau. 71 first and second prizes were achieved, including a narrow defeat in the 1919 Corwen National Eisteddfod, as well as numerous concerts.

In May 1920 outstanding concerts were given at the City Temple, the famous London Palladium, Alhambra, Finsbury Park and the Hammersmith Palace where these buildings resounded to the wonderful singing of the Orpheus.

When Ieuan Davies took over the baton in the sixties, the choir grew in number and in the 1970’s boasted 145 singing members and again came a close second at the Ruthin National Eisteddfod in 1974 also gaining first prizes at Pontrhydfendigaid, Porthcawl and Kerry Newtown on several occasions.

Concerts have been performed at many famous venues including the Dome, Brighton; Usher Hall, Edinburgh; Fairfield Hall, Croydon; and the QE2. During two visits to Plymouth, concerts were given in Dartmoor Prison, the first Welsh choir to do so. Tours to France and Germany were undertaken during this period.

In 1993 Ian Waite was appointed conductor and under his leadership many concerts have been given, tours undertaken to Switzerland, Ireland, Canada and Germany.

In 2018, Ian Celebrated 25 years loyal service to the choir as our Musical Director and he led us through some difficult years where the choir was unable to perform due to the COVID pandemic and the restrictions placed upon the choir at that time. Also during this period, we sadly lost many valuable members of the choir and numbers were reduced to original levels when the choir was first formed in 1909.

Now after 29 years of dedicated service Ian has resigned and his brother Jonathan Waite now leads us albeit on a temporary basis whilst we seek to recruit a more permanent replacement for Ian. We continue to perform and the choir is looking ahead to the future and to continuing the tradition of choral singing in our community.