If your musical tastes run to classical music, you are richly served in Wales, with performances of all kinds being given throughout the country in an assortment of venues.
From state-of-the-art concert halls and theatres in the towns and cities to village halls and churches in more remote areas, music making can be found across the length and breadth of Wales.
The Welsh appetite for classical music ranges from viol music of the 16th century to Brahms symphonies to classical piano recitals to the work of ground-breaking contemporary composers to classical chart-topping mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Singing is part of the national psyche, from the 19th century when a high proportion of the population sang in choirs associated with chapels or local industry, and the trend for all types of choral singing continues today. There may not be as many male voice choirs today as in the middle of the 20th century but they are re-inventing themselves into successful groups such as the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir and Only Men Aloud, bringing this particularly Welsh format to a new audience both inside and outside Wales.
Much of the passion for music has been developed through the strong Eisteddfodic tradition, with children and adults taking part in these music festivals, from those in the smallest villages to the mighty National Eisteddfod of Wales.
The Eisteddfodau are an important breeding-ground for talent, and internationally-renowned opera singers such as Bryn Terfel, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Dame Margaret Price, Rebecca Evans, Sir Geraint Evans, Stuart Burrows and Dennis O'Neill received valuable early performing experience on the Eisteddfod stage. See our opera feature for more on opera in Wales.
But the Eisteddfodau also nurture instrumental talent, providing an important platform for classical instrumentalists as well as exponents of traditional music to polish and display their skills. Wales was also the first country in Europe to establish a national youth orchestra, and supports the orchestra as well as other instrumental and choral groups of young talented artists performing at national level.
