We are pleased to welcome Glyn Williams to the choir following his audition. He has joined the baritone section and we wish him a long and happy stay with us. We have also started planning a trip to France for next year’s concert tour. We have arranged to go to St Paul Les Dax, which is about an hours drive inland from Biarritz. Our chorister, Walter Carey, has been very involved in organising this, as he has a property in the town which he regularly frequents. We are really pleased that, after booking 70 seats on a flight from Gatwick next September, all places have already been taken!
Our annual Christmas lunch was organised by Hefin Jones, and held at The George, Mumbles. We had a lovely meal and were able to watch the Wales – Australia match after. Thanks to Hefin for organising the event and congratulations to him and Molly Malan, who announced their engagement on the day. We all hope they have a long and happy life together.
We started our Christmas concerts at the Vivian Hall, Blackpill, on Thursday 5th where we sang a mixture of Christmas items and some from our usual repertoire. We also sang a number of carols and invited the audience to join with us. Following the concert we adjourned to the ‘Woodman Inn’ to continue the singing.
The next day we sang a lunchtime recital in Fulton House at Swansea University. Again we sang a mixture if items and it was pleasing to see the hall full of students, many of whom stayed for the entire performance. Les Carmichael organised the event again, and he provided a lovely buffet following the singing. Many thanks to Les.
On Tuesday 10th we sang at the annual Ladies Christmas concert, organised by the Ladies Committee. We always use the event to raise money for charity and this year we raised over £400 for Prostate Cancer. The event was held at the Scout Hall, Brynmill, and was full to capacity. We enjoyed a buffet provided by the ladies and the evening ended with community carol singing.
We had a social evening on Tuesday 17th at the Commercial, Killay, where we sang a number of Christmas items interspersed with community carol singing. Steve Wilson provided the accompaniment on his keyboard and Gareth and Nova provided an excellent buffet and an enjoyable evening was had by all.
On New Year’s Eve we sang at the wedding of Ed Bevan and Diane Putica at St Peter’s Church, Newton. We sang a few items, as arranged, before the ceremony, but the bride was not on time. There was a great atmosphere in the church and we were encouraged by the guests to sing a few more songs and ended up doing 9 in total! We also sang at the signing and had a huge ovation when we finished with ‘All You Need Is Love’. It was a great end to a very busy year and just reward for the choristers who turned out on a ‘working’ day.
Just before the end of the year, a couple of newspapers came across some information about a recording the choir made in 1981 along with the Cory Band – a version of Jona Lewie’s “Stop The Cavalry”. The song is still quite popular in the USA but unfortunately the choir receives no royalties from any copies that may be sold. An article appeared in both Wales on Sunday and the South Wales Evening Post.
