No Welsh event can be held without a lot of music as the Welsh people are known for their music, especially choral music. The Malad Valley Welsh Festival carries on the Welsh heritage with music a part of nearly every event.

The Malad Valley Men’s Welsh Chorus sang at five programs during the Festival. Comprised of Louis Dredge, Mark Jones, George Alger, Bob Crowther, Jim Christiansen, A.C. Black, Steven Ward, and David Harris and accompanied by Maggie Lund, the Men’s Chorus sang a variety of traditional Welsh and pioneer numbers during the Festival.

Celtic and Western performers entertained people in the Park from the outdoor amphitheater. Louisa’s Legacy and Teton Skye from Idaho Falls, Rhiannon from Pocatello and Idaho Falls, the Haywire Ranch String Band from Downey, and Ken Currier, visiting from Virginia, played traditional music throughout the two days of the Festival.

The Youth Concert featured 20 talented young pianists, instrumentalists, and vocalists, including Raegan Smith, the 1st Alternate to the 2023 Idaho Distinguished Young Woman, and Alexus Tarbot, Malad’s 2023 Distinguished Young Woman. Also performing in the concert were pianists Paisley Firth, Maverick Lewis, Tenley Taylor (with Laurie Richins), Dempsie Firth, Seth Huckaby, Megan Moss, Lydia Hatch, Levi Hatch, Daisy Huckaby, Jens Huckaby, and Paisley Smith (with Christine Smith). Vocalists were Ginny Bytheway (with Becky Bytheway on guitar), Aubrey Palmer, Kaleigh Worrell, Sarah Young, and McClaren Garrett (with Addler Garrett on bass clarinet). Instrumental solos were performed by saxophonist Alex Christensen and bass clarinetist Addler Garrett. Lorna Hess and Trudy Ward were accompanists.

The Friday Evening Concert began with Janice Bunker from Provo, Utah, performing two traditional Welsh numbers on the organ in the 2nd-4th-5th Ward Building. Welton Ward then performed “The Whistler and His Dog” on the harmonica. Cory and Jill Webster, who perform as the Haywire Ranch String Band, then took the audience on a ride into the past as they presented a live “radio” broadcast from the pioneer trail. Interspersed with weather reports, commercials, and traffic reports, the Band performed songs about the pioneers heading toward the West, including Malad Valley.

Adult pianists seldom have the opportunity of performing ensembles, but the Festival provides a venue for piano duets and quartets. Duet arrangements of movie themes, classical numbers, and traditional Welsh hymn tunes were performed by Natalie Reiss, Lucie Washburn, Patsy Bybee, Trudy Ward, Maggie Lund, Jean Thomas, and Ruby Lewis (Marsh Valley’s 2022 Distinguished Young Woman). Bob Crowther, his daughter Christine Smith, and her daughters Raegan and Paisley took the audience back to the 1960s with “Surfin’ USA,” originally by the Beach Boys. As has become a tradition, the concert ended with Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of “Stars and Stipes Forever,” performed by Jan Myers, Christine Smith, Lucie Washburn, and Jean Thomas.

At the conclusion of the Finale after the 2023 Bard of the Malad Valley Welsh Festival was chaired, the Malad Valley Men’s Welsh Chorus led the audience in a gymnfa ganu (sing-along) of “All Through the Night,” “Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah,” and the Welsh National Anthem.