Press Releases

The Green Mountain Choir from Poultney, Vermont, USA, regularly perform Welsh hymns and folksongs and perform for Welsh communities across the United States, but also visit Wales every four years. As part of their north Wales tour, the GMC choir will receive a special tour of the National Slate Museum at Llanberis on 12 March and will give a lunchtime performance there.

 Many Welsh immigrants, attracted by the local slate industry, settled in and around Poultney at the turn of the last century, producing one of the strongest Welsh-American communities in the country. The Green Mountain College Welsh Heritage Program seeks to maintain and cultivate that cultural legacy. The Griswold Library at the college houses a special collection related to Wales and Welsh culture and each October, the College holds a Welsh Festival, as well as offering an exchange program with its sister college The University of Wales in Aberystwyth

 “We are delighted to welcome the Green Mountain College Choir to the National Slate Museum Llanberis,’ said Keeper Dr Dafydd Roberts. “With so many Welsh Quarrymen having emigrated to this part of the USA we have long since established links in the area, having twinned our museum with the Slate Valley Museum in Granville, New York State a few years ago. This visit reinforces that relationship and we are very much looking forward to hearing their renditions of our Welsh songs’.

 The 44 strong choir have six concerts planned in their tour of North Wales from March 8 through March 13.  Musical highlights of the tour will include works that were popular at 19th century Welsh-American music festivals. Welsh hymns to be performed will include such favorites as "Mae D'Eisiau" and "Calon Lan"- the latter hymn was adapted for the College's anthem "This Green Place."

 Music director and associate professor of music James Cassarino explained further:

"We have a standing repertoire of Welsh language music. We've been fortunate to have so many friends of Welsh descent right here in the Poultney area to help us with pronunciation, not to mention our friends from Wales but this will be the biggest test of all - singing traditional Welsh music for audiences in Wales.”

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Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales sites is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government. Amgueddfa Cymru operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

For more press information and photographs please contact

Julie Williams on 01286 873707 e-mail: julie.williams@amgueddfacymru.ac.uk  or  

Kevin Coburn, Director of Communications Green Mountain College coburnk@greenmtn.edu   (802-287-8926