January/February

With Christmas fast becoming a fading memory, the choir kicked off 2008 with a January concert in Pontardawe for local senior citizens.

Preparations began for our visit to Disneyland, Paris, for their St. David’s Welsh Festival, taking place from 29th February to 2nd March.In preparation for our trip to Disneyworld, new polo shirts were presented to the choir by Gwalia Housing. Here is the South Wales Evening Post article from 28 February 2008

The choir began learning (or relearning) many of the old favourite Welsh songs for the occasion. Meanwhile, both Jeff Mogford and Wally Carey passed their auditions to become full members which meant that there were now 45 singers in the choir. A further 4 probationary members were also attending rehearsals.

March

Grand Slam Winners!

Yes, for those who missed the Six Nation Championship this year, the Welsh rugby team won the Grand Slam on 16th March. Further information was available at the South Wales Evening Post website along with a slideshow set to music from the Gwalia Singers.

St David’s Festival – Disney

The choir arrived in Paris as planned on Friday 29th February. After 2 rehearsals and a good night’s sleep, we were ready to perform on stage at Disneyland, Paris. Unfortunately the weather was not good enough for us to perform on the outdoor stage as planned so an alternative indoor venue was prepared. After 4 concerts on Saturday 1st March and another 4 on Sunday 2nd March, the choir enjoyed a marvellous buffet at a nearby hotel, followed by singing in the bar (with an Italian waiter leading and conducting the Italian anthem with much enthusiasm). We returned home on Monday, but not before being treated to guest passes to the resort to enjoy the magic of Disney.

A fuller report of the visit, along with a video clip taken during a performance, is available here. A selection of photographs from the trip can be viewed at the gallery.

April

The choir held its annual dinner on 19^th April, a little later than usual due to the choir’s visit to Disneyland and the early Easter this year. The evening was organised by Terry Osbourne and held at the Gower Golf Club. Over 90 choristers and guests attended and the music for after dinner dancing was provided by Clive Reynolds. Our Chairman, Paul Smith, formally thanked outgoing Chairman Clive Walters for holding the post for the past four years. Paul then presented Clive with a watch in appreciation of his hard work.

A highlight of the dinner each year is the presentation of ‘˜The Skull’. As with every organisation, small mishaps, mistakes and monumental ‘cock-ups’ occur during the year and this is given to the one chorister who we believe has made the biggest of them all. There were two nominations and the winner was John Davies for missing the last bus from our hotel in Disneyland on the Monday morning. We had been given free tickets to the Park, and John’s absence was only realised when we had 2 tickets left after everyone had got off the bus in the Park. Paul Smith was also with him, but John had the blame, as he had a dodgy stomach and had to return to his room before catching the bus. Apparently, this had nothing to do with the amount of beer consumed the night before!! Of course, getting into Disneyland without a ticket is another matter!

Further photographs from the day’s shoot can be seen at the gallery

A ‘quiz night’ was held at the Commercial, Upper Killay, on Thursday 1^st May. The evening was organised by Gareth John, who runs the pub and also sings baritone in the choir.

Annual Concert 5th July, 2008

Our annual concert was held at All Saints Church, Oystermouth on 5th July and was, again, a very successful event. The church was almost full and the audience was well entertained by the choir and artistes.

The guest soloists were two young local singers – Joe Morgan, baritone, and Bronwen Beckett-Evans, soprano. Joe started with a selection of arias from various operas, including ‘Largo al Factotum’ from ‘The Barber of Seville’ and his final selection contained ‘Myfanwy’, finishing with ‘Stars’ from ‘Les Miserables’. Bronwen also sung from musicals and opera and included ‘Think of Me’ from Phantom of the Opera and ‘Climb Every Mountain’ from ‘Sound of Music’.

We started the concert with ‘A Llawenydd Cenwch’ by Martin Shaw and followed this with the wonderful ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’ by Faur – which was brought back into the repertoire for this concert. The second half included ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ from The Lion King, which we performed in Disneyland earlier in the year, and once again the concert finished with a medley of Sinatra songs arranged by Alan Simmons.

A very busy person at the concert was our accompanist Rhian Liles, who not only played for the choir, but also for both soloists, and a huge ‘thank you’ must go to her for this. Another feature was that Stephen Wilson accompanied us on the organ for the final verse of a number of the pieces including ‘Anthem’ from Chess and the two Welsh hymns Gwahoddiad and Cwm Rhondda. We are so fortunate to have such talented people in our ranks. During the evening Vernon Simons was presented his tie for 40 years’ service

The evening was beautifully compered by Colin Hodges and the evening ended with the choir chairman Paul Smith making presentations to the soloists and our musical team, and thanking them for their wonderful performances during the evening.

August

We sang at two weddings this month. Firstly, we sang at the National Waterfront Museum for the wedding of Faye Lawlor. This was a new venue for us in Swansea and it was a great place to sing. The second took us to deepest Devon, to the small village of Upottery, between Illminster and Exeter, for the wedding of Caroline Wells and Toby Thomas. We started out by coach from the Diamond Coaches depot (once all the drivers had found their way there!), and made our way down the M5. We sang before the wedding ceremony only to be informed that there would be a delay in the wedding taking place, as the vicar had been caught up in traffic, after an accident on the A3! However, everything went well in the end and we sang ‘The Rose’ at the signing of the register. A buffet had been organised by our Chairman at the Sidmouth Arms following the wedding, where a few more songs were sung and the local ale tasted.

We were also pleased to announce that Ed Parton and Dave Wisby had become the latest members to pass their auditions. This brought our numbers up to 48.

Congratulations to Only Men Aloud for winning the BBC choir competition ‘Last Choir Standing’. They make a truly brilliant sound. Just a bit of trivia – we actually stood in for them at a concert a few years ago, when they had to pull out at short notice.

September 2008

We had a very successful trip to Birr, a small Georgian town in County Offaly, in the Irish Midlands. Two buses left Swansea on Friday 26^th and arrived late in the evening, with just enough time to check into our accommodation and visit a local hostelry.

Saturday saw an early start with a visit to the very impressive Birr Castle. Although we were unable to enter the castle itself (it is the current home of the seventh Earl of Rosse), the grounds are extensive and also feature the “Great Telescope”. This was followed by a rehearsal in St Brendan’s, Church of Ireland, and also at Birr Town Hall, where we performed our concert later. We had a great reception from a packed hall which culminated in an encore following our last piece, a medley of Sinatra songs. A standing ovation followed the singing of the Welsh national anthem and The Soldier’s Song. Although we sang this in English it was great to hear the Irish words sung by the audience! After the concert, a barbecue had been arranged for us at Kelly’s bar and further singing took place into the early hours of Sunday morning. There appeared to be some confusion here as two of our members turned up in fancy dress. Elvis didn’t leave the building that night. Well, not until very late.

On Sunday we sang at the church for their harvest celebration. Again, we were well received by the congregation who burst into applause, following a rousing performance of Cwm Rhondda. After the service we were treated to a reception at the town hall and a number of presentations were made. We must thank the Birr Stage Guild for their part played in the organisation of the weekend and also the Birr Lions Club, who covered our costs of entry into the castle and the monastery at Clonmacnoise, which we visited later in the day. We also gave a short performance there, in a restored part of the monastery where the acoustics were brilliant. In the evening we attended a ‘grand’ buffet at The County Arms, which was, indeed, ‘grand’!

The weekend ended with a trip to Dublin on Monday and our return to Swansea in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A big thank you must go to Paul Smith, whose idea it was to visit Birr, and to Alan Clewett who organised the weekend so efficiently. Also to the performances of our musical team Nick, Rhian, and Steve, who added the organ accompaniment for a number of items at both venues. Finally, thanks to Tony and Margaret Hogan, our contacts in Birr, who organised the various trips, entertainment, and concert venues throughout the weekend.

More photos from this trip can be viewed at the gallery.

October

We were pleased to be able to announce that we had been asked back to perform in Disneyland, Paris, for their Welsh Festival over the weekend of March 6^th to 8^th 2009. This was great news and recognition of our professionalism, and the quality of performance, given at last year’s event. This time we hoped that the weather would prevail and that we would be able to sing outdoors.

On Thursday 23^rd we sang at the Welsh Assembly, Cardiff. We had been invited by the DVLA to perform to over 100 delegates, who represented other Licensing Agencies from all parts of the world and were visiting Cardiff to share ideas. They were being shown around the Assembly building, and we added the ‘Welsh’ flavour to the evening. We had an excellent reception and one of the delegates even joined our bass section when we finished our programme with ‘We’ll Keep A Welcome’! On the way back we stopped at the Red Lion, Bonvilston, where further singing took place washed down by a few beers.

December

Following a quiet November we had a very busy Christmas. Our first concert was held at The Scout Hall, Brynmill, which is an annual event organised by our Ladies committee, where we also raise funds for a local charity. This year, money was donated to Stepping Stones, a children’s charity based in Killay. We followed this with another ‘annual’ event when we sang at the Vivian Hall, Blackpill, raising funds for the hall itself. Both concerts were played to full houses and we included a number of new Christmas items including a version of The First Nowell, which has been set to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The accompaniment is written as a piano duet, which allowed Steve Wilson to join Rhian on the piano. 

We were also fortunate to be asked to sing at Craig-Y-Nos Castle for the wedding of Phil Gittoes’ daughter. Phil is a past member, and chairman, of the choir and we have now sang at the wedding of each of his children. It was great to be able to sing in the famous ‘Opera House’ and after in the sun lounge. A number of the bridegroom’s family joined us for a rendering of Blaydon Races, as they had travelled down from the north east for the wedding. Phil also joined us for Cwm Rhondda. 

The final event of the Christmas season saw us participating in the annual Swansea RFC carol service, which this year took place in the St Helens Lounge. This was again well attended by the current players, committee and supporters, and Garin Jenkins, former Swansea and Wales hooker, gave a short, but passionate, address. The funds raised from this event were given to Swansea Gladiators Rugby Club which is a team made up of children with various disabilities.