Our Annual Concert took place on the 29fed May at the City Temple, Swansea. This year we had the Mousehole Male Voice Choir from Cornwall appearing with us and soprano soloist Laura Nicholas.
The concert was wonderfully compèred by Kevin Johns and he firstly introduced the Lord Mayor of Swansea, Councillor Richard Lewis, who welcomed the Mousehole Choir and Laura to Swansea. The concert started with both choirs singing ‘Trelawny’, the national anthem of Cornwall, and then the Mousehole Choir sang their first set. Included in this was a lovely arrangement by Stephen Lawry, their Musical Director, of ‘The Fields Of Athenry’ and they ended with our own arrangement of ‘Lân’, which they sang very well in Welsh! Next up was Laura who sang three items including Puccini’s ‘O Mio Babbini Caro’. She was accompanied by David Doidge, a fellow music student at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. We then sang, starting with ‘Let All Men Sing’ and rounding off the first half with ‘Cwm Rhondda’ accompanied by Rhian on piano and Steve on the organ.
The second half began with us singing ‘Seize The Day’ from Disney’s ‘Newsies’ and finishing with the rousing ‘An American Trilogy’, again accompanied by Rhian and Steve, which was enjoyed by a number of visitors in the audience from America. Laura then sang another three items, finishing with ‘Poor Wand’ring One’ from The Pirates Of Penzance. This was particularly appropriate for Laura, as she hails from Penzance, and it was the highlight of the evening. There were gasps of amazement from the audience, as she ended the piece, and Laura received a well deserved standing ovation. The Mousehole Male Voice Choir then sang their final set including ‘Speed Your Journey’ and ending with Eric Jones’ ‘Christus Salvator’. Both choirs then took to the stage and, directed by Steve Lawry sang ‘As Long As I Have Music’ and ‘Morte Christe’. Then Laura joined the two choirs to end the concert with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, directed by Nick. A thrilling climax to a very enjoyable evening.
Before singing the National Anthem, our Chairman, Des Criddle, thanked all who participated in the concert and made a number of presentations. The Chairman of Mousehole Choir also thanked all responsible for a wonderful concert and made presentations to Nick, Rhian and our Secretary Alan Clewett.
On May 15fed we sang at the Methodist Church in Sketty to raise funds for the church. The concert was well attended and was opened by Mike Whitehouse welcoming the choir and soloist, Laura Nicholas. This was almost a dress rehearsal for our Annual Concert in a few weeks’ time, as Laura would be joining us again. The concert raised approximately £900.
