David Lewis (cricketer, born 1940)

Lewis played first-class cricket between 1960 and 1973. He represented Glamorgan County Cricket Club and later Transvaal Cricket team. A bowling all-rounder, he was a right-handed batsman and leg-spin bowler (leg-break and googly). In a limited career of 14 first-class matches, Lewis scored 122 runs and took 21 wickets, with best bowling figures of 4/42. He was part of the wider Glamorgan squad during their 1969 County Championship-winning season, though not a regular first-team player. == Early Music Career and the World Choir ==

Lewis began producing large-scale choral events in the early 1990s, drawing on the tradition of the Welsh male voice choir. His first major production of the World Choir was staged at the Cardiff Arms Park in 1992, where a choir of around 10,000 voices performed alongside Sir Tom Jones, Dame Gwyneth Jones, tenor Dennis O'Neill and the massed bands of the Brigade of Guards under conductor Owain Arwel Hughes. The performance was recorded by EMI Classics and released as the album "10,000 Voices", which entered the UK albums chart later that year. The following year Lewis produced a further World Choir mass choral event featuring Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh tenor Wynford Evans, Irish soprano Suzanne Murphy, Georgian bass Paata Burchuladze and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This event too was recorded and released by EMI Classics as "10,000 Voices II" He subsequently went on to stage choral concerts in St. Peter's Square for Pope John Paul II, in Cape Town in honour of Archbishop Desmond Tutu featuring Ben E. King, and in Atlanta featuring Maya Angelou. == Young Voices ==

By 1995, primary schools had begun writing to ask whether children could take part in the concert series. Lewis judged the existing format unsuitable for younger performers and created a separate children's event at the Point Theatre in Dublin, which featured around 9,000 children across three performances. Drawing on this pilot event, Young Voices was established in 1996, the year the company recognises as its founding year. Lewis has cited the marginalisation of music in state education as a key motivation for creating the programme. The format provides participating schools with sheet music, rehearsal recordings, teaching guidance and choreography in advance of each concert, empowering teachers without specialist music training to prepare their pupils.The repertoire combines classical, folk, pop, and world music, and concerts feature professional staging, lighting and sound design.[https://www.britanniarow.com/news/young-voices-and-britannia-row-create-opportunity-for-children-to-be-heard By 1997 the series had expanded from Dublin to Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham and London, and has since grown into the largest school choir concert series in the world with events also held in Ireland, Germany, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Young Voices states that over 2.5 million children have taken part in its concerts since 1996, with over 500,000 children annually across six host countries, and cumulative attendance of more than 4.4 million. == Records, Charity and Partnerships ==

Young Voices holds the Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous sing-along in multiple venues, set on 9 December 2005 when 293,978 participants at 1,616 locations across the United Kingdom sang "Lean on Me". The organisation also holds a record for the most backing singers to one vocalist, accompanying Connie Talbot in her rendition of "Run" at The O2 Arena, London, on 6 March 2012. In 2010, Lewis established the Young Voices Foundation, a registered UK charity that provides grants and bursaries, supports teacher training, and funds participation for pupils who world otherwise be unable to attend. Young Voices has also raised funds in partnership with UNICEF, Barnado's, and Save the Children. == Retirement and Recognition ==

Lewis stepped back from running Young Voices in 2012 and was succeeded as Chief Executive by his son, Ben Lewis. He has continued to support and attend Young Voices concerts each year and Young Voices remains a family-run organisation, headquartered in Cardiff, with his three children playing key roles in its management and development. In 2022, Lewis received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Music & Drama Education Awards, sponsored by the Incorporated Society of Musicians, in recognition of his contribution to music education in the United Kingdom. He was subsequently appointed Order of the British Empire in the King's Birthday Honours for Services to Music in 2025. A keen fly fisherman, he often enjoys days in Usk, while his passion for art and photography has lead to his portrait picture of close friend Donald Woods appearing in Woods' biography "''Rainbow Nation Revisited: South Africa's Decade of Democracy''". Lewis has also self published a book of local artists from his hometown in Pembrokeshire. ==Notes==