AMDANOM NI ~ ABOUT US
Cafodd Seindorf Arian Deiniolen (fu'n bodoli dan yr enwau Cynfi ac Ebeneser ) ei sefydlu yn y flwyddyn 1835 , fel band pentref chwarel. Mae mwyafrif o'r aelodau heddiw, tra'n hanu o deuluoedd chwarelwyr ran amlaf, yn gweithio mewn amrywiaeth eang o swyddi; gweithwyr ffatri,swyddogion llywodraeth leol,nyrsus,syrfewr siartedig, swyddog cyllid,pobydd,athrawon,swyddog gyrfaoedd …ynghyd â nifer o fyfyrwyr a disgyblion ysgol. Un aelod yn unig sydd â chyswllt â'r chwarel ar hyn o bryd-mae'n gweithio yn Amgueddfa Chwarel Gogledd Cymru.
Er fod Band Ieuenctid (sy'n cael ei arwain gan Mr Hefin Goronwy Jones, sydd hefyd yn drysorydd y band) mae'r prif fand ei hun yn cael ei ystyried yn fand ifanc iawn, gyda 16 allan o'r 35 sydd wedi eu cofrestru o dan 25 oed. Fodd bynnag mae gan y band nifer o aelodau sydd wedi rhoi oes o wasanaeth i'r band, gyda rhai wedi rhoi dros 40 mlynedd o wasanaeth
Drwy gydol hanes y band bu nifer o ferched yn aelodau a bellach mae 8 o ferched yn aelodau llawn. Band Deiniolen oedd y band cyntaf yng Nghymru i gael merch yn aelod, sef Gwyneth Jones oedd yn chwarae â'r band yn 1929.
Ym Mawrth 1974 cafodd y band anrhydedd mawr pan dderbyniodd Ryddfraint Dinas Bangor. Band Deiniolen oedd y band cyntaf i dderbyn y fath anrhydedd yng ngwledydd Prydain ac ers hynny un band yn unig sef Black Dykes Mills o swydd Efrog sydd wedi derbyn anrhydedd tebyg pan gawsant Ryddfraint Dinas Bradford ym 1976.
Roedd y Cwt Band gwreiddiol, adeiladwyd tua 1820 yn ran o hen felin lechi. Pan chwalwyd hen stad y Faenol yn 1968 fe roddwyd yr adeilad yn rhodd i'r band ar 1af Fai 1968, oherwydd bod y band wedi bod yn denantiaid am flynyddoedd ar yr adeilad.
Yng nghanol y 1980'au gwnaeth y band benderfyniad i ymgeisio o ddifrif am Bencampwriaethau Prydain, h.y. cystadlu y tu allan i'w maes arferol o Bencampwriaeth Gogledd Cymru, yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol a chystadlaethau Pontins . Cymerodd 4 mlynedd i'r band lwyddo i ennill lle ym Mhencampwriaethau Cenedlaethol Prydain Adran Pedwar. Ers dyfodiad y gystadlaeaeth ragbrawf i Gymru Gyfan ar gyfer y Bencampwriaeth Brydeinig , mae'r band wedi ennill y drydedd adran ar dair achlysur, ac yn wir deiniolen yw'r unig fand sydd wedi ennill y gystadaeaeth dair gwaith yn olynol. a chynrychioli Cymru dair gwaith yn olynol yn y Gystadlaeaeth Brydeinig. Yn y rownd derfynol yn 1997, gwobrwywyd gwaith caled y band gyda'r drydedd wobr ynAdran Tri trwy Brydain i gyd ar ôl derbyn clod mawr gan y beirniaid. Yn sgil y llwyddiant, dyrchafwyd y band i'r ail adran ym mis Ionawr 1998 gan ennill yr ail wobr yn eu cystadlaeaeth gyntaf wedi hynny-sef Pencampwriaeth Cymru 1998 yn Abertawe. Dilynwyd y llwyddiant gyda'r bedwaredd safle y flwyddyn wedyn , ac fel canlyniad dyrchafwyd y band ymhellach ar Ionawr 1af 2000 i'r adran gyntaf am y tro cyntaf yn ein hanes.
Mae'r band yn eithriadol o falch o'r hyn mae wedi 'i gyflawni yn meithrin chwaraewyr mor ifanc o'r Band Ieuenctid i'r Band Hyn , ysgol a sir ac wrth gwrs Band Ieuenctid Cenedlaethol Cymru. Yn ddiweddar mae pump o aelodau'r band wedi gorffen eu cwrs yng Ngholeg Cerdd Salford ac maent i gyd wedi dod yn chwaraewyr rhagorol gyda bandiau o'r safon uchaf yn Lloegr ( Iwan Williams a Gavin Saynor gyda Yorkshir Building Society tra bo Eiliar Williams ac Euros Williams yn eu tro wedi bod yn aelodau o YBS a Sian Griffiths sy'n aelod o Fand Marple. ) Ar hyn o bryd mae Urien Sion Huws yn dilyn yr un cers yn Salford.
Mewn cystadlaethau cymharol ddiweddar roedd y band yn cael ei arwain gan Mr Bob Wyatt o Stockport , sy'n gyn-aelod o fand enwog Fairey's ac arweinydd Bandiau Ieuenctid Ysgolion Stockport , ac fe gyfansoddodd ymdeithgan ar eu cyfer yn ddiweddar a'i galw'n "Deiniolen" ac mae hithau'n rhan o'n repertoire erbyn hyn.
Mae'r rhestr o'n cyn-arweinyddion proffesiynol yn cynnwys Mr R John Childs a'i feibion Nicholas a Robert , Mr Graham Sanders, Mr Alan Lawton , yr Athro Walter Hargreaves , Mr Derek Broadbent a Mr Ray Farr.
Mae'r band hefyd wedi bod yn ffodus o gael cyfeilio i rai o unawdwyr pres gorau'r byd yn ystod y blynyddoedd diwethaf. Mae'r rhain yn cynnwys Nicholas Childs, Peter Roberts, Chris Jeans, Russel Gray, Shaun Crowther ,Glyn Williams ac Iwan Williams.
Mae pobl o bob rhan o'r wlad yn troi i mewn atom yn Neiniolen o Swydd Efrog a Chaerhirfryn ac aradl Manceinion heb son am fandwyr o dros Gymru gyfan. Mae misoedd yr haf yn arbennig o brysur yn yr Hen Felin gydag ymwelwyr yn galw i mewn yn ystod eu hymweliadau â Eryri ble saif pentref Deiniolen wrth droed Elidir - fu ei hun yn ysbrydoliaeth i gyfansoddwr lleol gyfansoddi a chyflwyno i fand Deiniolen ymdeithgan o'r un enw- sef Elidir. Cyfansoddwyd yn y 1950'au ac mae'n parhau yn un o ffefrynnau'r band. Mae sgor a rhannau gwreiddiol y gerddoriaeth i'w gweld ac yn cael eu trysori hyd heddiw yn yr Hen Felin.
Trwy edrych ymlaen, mae'r band yn awyddus i barhau'r traddodiad o gomisiynu cerddoriaeth i'r Band a gobeithiwn wahodd cyfansoddwyr Cymreig i'r Hen Felin , gyda'r bwriad o gomisiynu darnau newydd a threfniadau o waith Cymreig newydd a chyfarwydd.
The Deiniolen Silver Band (previously known as the Cynfi and Ebenezer Band) was founded in 1835, as a quarry band. The majority of today’s members, whilst being descendants of quarry workers, come from all walks of life: factory workers, local government officers, nurses, a chartered surveyor, a finance officer, a baker, a double-glazing salesman, a data analyst, a nuclear technician, a hospital porter, a warehouse assistant, together with schoolchildren and college students. Currently, only one member of the Band continues the tradition of being a quarryman
Although there is a Junior Band (conducted by Mr. Hefin Goronwy Jones, who is also the band’s treasurer), the Senior Band is considered to be a very young Band, with 16 of the 35 registered members being under the age of 25. However, the band also has a number of long serving members, with some having been with the band for over 40 years.
Over the Band’s long history, there have been many female members and the Senior Band currently has 4 registered female players. The Deiniolen Silver Band was the first Band in Wales to have a female player - Gwyneth Jones, who played with the Band in 1929.
In March 1974 the band achieved a great honour when it was awarded the Freedom of the City of Bangor. The Deiniolen Silver Band was the first band in the UK to achieve an honour of this kind, and since then, it has only been achieved by the Black Dyke Mills Band, who were awarded the Freedom of the City of Bradford in 1976.
The Bandroom was, originally, an old slate mill, built around 1820, to complement the nearby quarries. When its owner, the Vaynol Estate, was disbanded in 1968, the building was donated as a gift to the Band on 1st May 1968, due to the Band having been long-standing tenants since 1929.
In the mid 1980’s, the Band made a conscious decision to challenge for the British Championships, i.e. compete outside its traditional experience of generally, only competing in the North Wales Championships, the National Eisteddfod and Pontins Competitions. It took 4 years for the Band to qualify for the British Championships Fourth Section. Since the creation of the ‘all-Wales’ Regional heat for the British Championships, the Deiniolen Silver Band has won the Third Section Championships on all 3 occasions that they have taken place. Indeed, it is the only Band in Wales to have won 3 consecutive Welsh Regional Championships, thereby representing Wales in the UK Finals for 3 years running. In the 1997 UK Finals, the Band’s hard work over the last few years was rewarded when it was placed third in the Section Three Championships and received excellent remarks from the adjudicators. Due to this outstanding performance over the last 3 years, the Band was promoted to the Second Section on the 1st of January, 1998 and obtained second place in it's first ever contest in this section - the 1998 Welsh Regional Championships in Swansea. The Band continued it's amazing run of results in the Welsh Regionals by being placed fourth in the 1999 Championships, and as aresult of this consistency, from January 1st 2000 the band will be competing in the First Section for the very first time in it's history.
The Band is extremely proud of it’s achievements in nurturing members of the Junior Band into the Senior Band, schools and County Youth Brass Band and importantly, the National Youth Brass Band of Wales. Presently, five of the former youth members are music students at the Salford College of Music, and they have all become members of prominent Championship Brass Bands in England (Iwan Williams and Gavin Saynor are members of the Yorkshire Building Society Band and Eilir Williams and Euros Williams have also been members of YBS, while Sian Griffith is a member of the BT Band).
In recent years, the band has been conducted by Mr. Robert Wyatt of Stockport, who is an ex-member of the Williams Fairey Band and was conductor of The Stockport Schools Band, for whom he has recently composed a march called ‘DEINIOLEN’, and this march has become a very popular part of our repertoire.
The current conductor is Mr. Wynne Williams, of Trefor, a brass peripatetic teacher and a former Flugel horn player with the Beaumaris Band.
Past professional conductors of the band include Mr. R. John Childs, his sons Nicholas and Robert, Mr. Graham Sanders, Mr. Alan Lawton, Prof. Walter Hargreaves, Mr. Derek Broadbent and Mr. Ray Farr.
The band has also been very fortunate to have accompanied some of the world’s leading brass soloists in the last few years. These include Nicholas Childs, Peter Roberts, Chris Jeans, Russel Gray, Shaun Crowther and Glyn Williams.
The Deiniolen bandroom is visited regularly during the year by bandsmen from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, in addition to bandsmen from other Welsh regions. The summer months are particularly busy in the bandroom when visitors call in during their summer holidays to picturesque Eryri (Snowdonia) where the village of Deiniolen proudly sits in the shadow of Elidir mountain which inspired W. M. Hughes, a former conductor of the band, to compose and dedicate to the Deiniolen band, the famous march ‘Elidir’. This music was composed in the 1950’s and remains a regular item in the musical programme of today’s band. The historic and original music score and individual instrument parts can still be seen today at the bandroom.
Looking forward to the next century of banding, the Band is desirous of continuing the tradition of commissioning music for the Band and we hope to invite Welsh composers to the Bandroom, with a view to obtaining compositions and arrangements of both new and popular Welsh music.
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