A new choral work written by Pembrokeshire-raised composer Andrew Cusworth in response to the Covid-19 lockdown measures will soon have its online premiere.

In recent weeks, Aberystwyth based mixed choir, Côr ABC, and the London Welsh women’s choir, Côr Dinas, have been working together on a virtual choir project to produce the first performance the new piece, 'yn un rhith - a choir still'.

Weekly choral rehearsals came to an abrupt end in March as governments introduced restrictions due to the coronavirus crisis.

In response to this, Côr ABC and Côr Dinas began to meet and rehearse virtually, enabling their members not only to continue to sing and make music, but also to maintain their social connections.

These virtual rehearsals proved to be an inspiration for a new piece and a virtual choir project. After one of Côr ABC’s rehearsals, choir member and crowned bard, Dafydd John Pritchard, wrote an englyn about the experience and posted it on Twitter.

Fellow choir member and conductor of Côr Dinas, Andrew Cusworth, saw the poem and set it to music for both choirs to sing together virtually.

Speaking about his new piece, ‘yn un rhith’, Andrew said: “The piece, based on Dafydd’s poem, sings of how, albeit set apart by events, we are still united in our aims, as a community, in singing – of how we are still a choir.”

Over recent weeks, members of both choirs have been filming themselves singing the piece, and all those individual videos are now being edited together to create a virtual choir performance by Robert Russell, who also accompanies the choirs in the performance.

Gwennan Williams, conductor of Côr ABC, said: “Our hope, as a team who put the project together, was to create an enjoyable experience for our members, and something that we can all look back on, at some point in the future, as a reminder of something positive to come out of difficult times.”

The first performance of yn un rhith by the combined choir of Côr ABC and Côr Dinas will shortly be released in a YouTube première event. The choirs will also perform, separately, mixed choir and upper voices versions of the piece. Look out for further details on the project's web page ynunrhith.wales