A PARK dedicated to a composer who died in America more than 80 years ago has been refurbished.

A memorial plaque, that had been unveiled to Daniel Protheroe, on the house where he was born, 20 years after his death, has now been given pride of place in the restored Daniel Protheroe Memorial Park in Ystradgynlais.

The composer’s grand niece, Hannah Protheroe, who still lives in Ystradgynlais, unveiled the new memorial that has formed a centre piece of the park that is named after her relative who found fame on both sides of the Atlantic.

A choir from Sranton, the industrial town in Pennsylvania where the 19-year-old, like many other Welsh people, emigrated to in the 19th century performed at the official re-opening.

As well as the Valley Choir, from Valley View High School in Scranton, members form local choirs Côr Dathlu Cwmtawe and Côr y Gyrlais performed at the event. The three choirs sang a selection of Daniel Protheroe’s compositions to the delight of the hundreds who attended

The event, on the first Saturday in July, coincided with the Buskagynlais street music festival, and was organised by Ystradgynlais Heritage Society and the town council. Both organisations took on the project to refurbish the park with funding provided by WREN - the not for profit business that awards grants for community projects from cash from the Landfill Communities Fund.

John Owens, treasurer of the heritage society, said: “The white stone memorial to Daniel Protheroe was unveiled at the National Eisteddfod in Ystradgynlais in 1954. He emigrated to Scranton, with his family, in 1886 and wrote a number of hymns and he used to come back to Wales to attend events like the Eisteddfod.

“That would involve travelling for a couple of weeks then as opposed to hours now.”

The young composer conducted the Ystradgynlais Choir at the National Eisteddfod, aged just 16, and after moving to North America continued his musical education at the Toronto College of Music and became a Doctor of Music at the Grand Conservatory, New York while continuing to write Welsh language hymns.

He died in Chicago in 1934 and the original stone memorial was unveiled on the wall of his former home at Number 6 Gough Buildings in 1954. The house was demolished in the late 70s or early 80s and the stone moved to another site in the park.

Two other memorials, in English and Welsh, donated by the National Welsh American Society in 1999, were also placed in the park, have also been moved to sit beside the original memorial stone.

Plaques commemorating the lives and achievements of conductor and composer; John Thomas Rees, (1857-1949) conductor and composer; Thomas Levi, (1825-1916) minister and publisher and Gwilym ap Leyshon, (1863-1925) poet and minister have also been attached to the memorial.

Local volunteer group Blodau have planted the raised flower beds to enhance the park’s features.