Kelvin Thomas

Born in Grangetown, Cardiff in 1919 of Charles and Lena Thomas, Kelvin was immersed in music from an early age. He was a boy soprano and had a test recording for the Concord record label at the age of 12 [possible link to the audio recording]. Unfortunately his voice broke just days after the recording so a commercial release was never undertaken. During the economic crisis of the 1920s the family moved to Bathampton near Bath. He married Megan who was from Anglesey and has five children. He is now in his 99th year and still lives in Bathampton although remaining immensely proud of his Welsh heritage.

Kelvin continued music studies throughout his childhood years. He maintained his early interest in singing and became an accomplished baritone. However, his main achievements lay in the field of choral singing. He founded the Silver Ring Choir of Bath in 1951 and this choir went on to great success under his leadership, including first in its class in the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales. Kelvin composed and arranged many SATB pieces for the choir some of which are available from this site. One such composition, Samuel’s Hymn can be heard here [link] featuring Kelvin singing the hymn while backed by the choir. Kelvin received an MBE for his outstanding contribution to music in 1981.

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