Top honour for John Hywel Williams

A leading Welsh musician and conductor has been given a prestigious musical honour for his contributions to British music.
Llanelli-based John Hywel Williams has been honoured with an esteemed Fellowship of the London College of Music for his contribution and achievements to British music, which span many decades, organisations, international tours and broadcasts.
“I am humbled to receive the Fellowship”, explained John Hywel Williams.

“Music, choirs, performances are all a great joy to me without the need for award. I am grateful to the London College of Music for this recognition which will definitely put an extra beat into my conducting and musical endeavours.”
This coincides with celebratory anniversaries for both the Hywel Girls’ Choir & Hywel Boy Singers and the Llanelli Choral Society, both of which were founded by John Hywel Williams.
In the middle of last night’s choral and orchestral rehearsals with the Llanelli Choral Society for a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, great excitement was had when a personal message of good wishes was received from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to John Hywel Williams’ Hywel Girls’ Choir & Hywel Boy Singers and Llanelli Choral Society.
Renowned opera star Stuart Burrows, a friend and professional colleague of John Hywel for many decades, said, “This recognition to such a superb musician gives me immense pleasure. Some people make the world more special just being in it. John Hywel is a shining example of this.”
Former Director of the BBC Welsh Orchestra of Wales, Huw Tregelles Williams said “This Fellowship is richly deserved in acknowledgment of an exceptional record of contribution to choral music to Wales as a whole. It recognises John’s work on behalf of several generations of young people to say nothing of the appreciation of the culture of other nations through the extensive international tours and broadcasts.”
John Hywel Williams’ achievements and contribution to British music makes extensive reading. As conductor, director, trainer, lecturer, educationalist, composer or adjudicator, John Hywel has driven the development of numerous choirs and choral initiatives, pioneered the export of British choral singing around the world – with countless national and international performances at world leading concert halls and a stream of radio and television broadcasts and recordings.
Achievements include TV broadcasts spanning 120 countries around the world and 25 international concert tours including pioneering the first British choir to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first British amateur choir to tour Russia. He has personally tutored over 5,000 choristers and is no stranger to performing at world leading concert halls spanning UK, Russia, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Slovakia, France, Germany, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Canada, USA – enjoying performances to and accolades from Royalty, Prime Ministers, celebrities and even His Holiness The Pope.