Choral Societies were founded in the Hunter Valley from the 1860s. Prior to these formal bodies, there is evidence of choirs in Maitland and Newcastle associated with churches, chapels and temperance groups. In 1861 a Temperance choir opened proceedings at a Temperance soiree in Borehole and in the same year the Welsh choir at the Junction chapel was praised in the Newcastle Chronicle (10/4/1861).
The newspapers reported on the founding of choral societies (also referred to as choral unions) from 1865 when the Lambton Choral Society was formed under director John Williams. The original meeting to form the Lambton Choral Society was held in the Welsh Chapel, Lambton and it would seem likely that the society drew on the chapel choir for much of its membership. This was followed by the Newcastle Choral Society, founded in 1866 and the Wallsend Choral Society which was founded in 1867.
Despite their stated aims of raising the taste of the region through regular concerts of sacred and secular music, the choirs were principally employed in performing in various township fundraising concerts and other events in the region. Since the outer townships such as Wallsend, Lambton, New Lambton and Waratah were only founded in the early 1860s, such fundraising was important for new buildings such as Waratah public school for which a number of benefit concerts were held (see programme below)
Chronicle 4.2.1871 Sacred Music Concert
During the 1870s the Lambton Choral Union gained a reputation as an outstanding choir in the region. It had a strong connection with the Welsh community and in 1875 welcomed Mrs Parker to its ranks, a singer who had formerly been a member of the famous South Wales Choral Union, that won the cup and 1000 guineas at Crystal Palace under ‘Caradog’, Griffth Jones in 1872 and 1873. The first time she performed as a soloist, the audience greeted her with an ovation and her rendition of the Welsh air “Now strike the harp gladly” was met with a demand for an encore (Miners’ Advocate, 11/9/1875). In 1876 members of the choir, including Mrs Parker were invited to perform in Sydney for St David’s Day . This was something of a triumph for a mining township’s choir.
helenenglishblog 
How wonderful. Yet now not one Welsh choir seems to have survived in the Hunter or the Central Coast. Yet Wollongong has one and Sydney
Is there a person with more musical talent than I who might start one?
A Welsh Choir in the Valley would be wonderful. The Welsh were hugely important in choral activities and in raising the levels of choirs but they sang with non-Welsh community members in the 19th C, as part of their desire to form strong communities. The eisteddfods were Welsh and in Welsh until the English appropriated them. There were male voice choirs in the early twentieth century but they weren’t identified as Welsh either as far as I know