CHOIR PRESIDENT
William Owen Jones MBE

Born in the USA of Welsh parents, "Bill" Jones was brought home to Pwllheli, North Wales, at the age of four. He spent his early life there until his departure to Bangor, where he studied for the teaching profession. His first teaching post was in 1944 in Smethwick, and his first headmaster was the founder conductor of the Warley Male Choir. He returned to the same school as Head of Music, after military service with the US Army between 1945 and 1947. He remained in service with the authorities of Smethwich, Warley and Sandwell until his retirement in 1985, after 20 years as a Junior School headmaster.

In 1981, Bill was awarded an MBE for services to Education and the Community. He joined the Warley Male Choir in 1947 and was appointed Musical Director in 1952. His great love is in composing and arranging music for choirs and instrumental ensembles. In 1990, he composed, in collaboration with his daughter, Glenys, a full-length Easter Cantata, entitled "Son of God". Many of Bill's compositions and arrangements have been published and are now included in the repertoire of choirs all over England and Wales.

Bill retired from the post of Musical Director of the Warley Male Choir in 2002 and was appointed the choir's first "life president". He still has a very close association with the choir and its member, and has continued to produce arrangements of music, which help give the choir its own unique sound.