National Champion Cory enjoyed further Welsh award winning success at the Ty Cerdd Conference in Cardiff on the weekend.

Promoting music making

The band was one of four organisations shortlisted for the prestigious WS Gwynn Williams Award, in recognition of the work undertaken through the Cory Academy in enhancing opportunities and promoting music making with young people within their community.

Cory shared the £1,000 prize with Caerphilly Community Chorus, which encourages singers of all abilities to enjoy choral music making.

Short listed

The short list also featured the City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) Band, who has helped promote an explosion of community brass banding in their area with the formation of four new ensembles in the past few years, and Cor y Gors, a unique musical ensemble from the coastal village called Borth in mid Wales.

The 2014 award was presented by Welsh Assembly Culture Minister John Griffiths AM to Cory Band Manager Austin Davies at the opening of the Ty Cerdd Conference held at the Welsh Assembly Senedd in Cardiff Bay.

Outstanding

In congratulating the band, the Minister spoke of the ‘outstanding work’ the Cory Academy had undertaken in reaching out into their community.

The success of the Cory Academy is down to the passion we have to help create generations of young players with a love of playing in a brass bandAustin Davies

Generations

A delighted Austin Davies told 4BR that he felt Cory’s commitment to the long term success of the innovative project will hopefully benefit youngsters for generations to come.

"The success of the Cory Academy is down to the passion we have to help create generations of young players with a love of playing in a brass band, and the award will be invested in that ongoing work.

We also have exciting plans for the expansion of the Academy in the years to come so that we can play our part in securing the long term future of brass banding in South Wales and beyond."