February 2010
There were a number of personnel changes during the start of the year. One of our newest members, Dave Nicholls, had been lured out of retirement to take up a post in Abu Dhabi. We wished him the best of luck and hoped that he would continue to join us when he comes home on his fortnightly breaks. Congratulations to Haydn Crosby, affectionately known as ‘Bing’, who left for a new life in the USA, where he also got married. He had been a loyal member for over 10 years. It was also announced that Dave Wisby became engaged to Bex Taylor on Boxing Day last year. Congratulations to both of you and we wish you a happy life together.
We have also had 3 new members who passed their auditions. Anthony Marmont and Hefin Jones joined the 1st tenors and John Haslam joined the baritone section. Congratulations.
On February 5th we sang at St Catherine’s, Gorseinon, to raise money for their organ appeal. It was an excellent concert and we were joined by an old friend of the choir, Martin Bell, who played a number of pieces on the organ. Martin is the organist at St Catherine’s and has played for us on a few occasions in the past.
We held our annual dinner on Saturday 20th February at the Gower Golf Club. We had an excellent meal which was followed by some dancing by the more energetic of us. Over 70 choristers and guests attended and the ‘skull’ was presented by our Chairman Des Criddle to George Bowen. In September, we were performing at a wedding in Alltwen Chapel and wondered what had happened to George and Wally Carey. We found out the following Tuesday that they went looking for the chapel a bit further up the valley – in Onllwyn!! Thanks to Des and Lawrence Sutton for organising the event and to Linda Lewis and Val Peters for running the raffle.
We entered the final few weeks of rehearsal for our 3rd visit to Disneyland, Paris for their annual Welsh Festival. This year, a number of children, who won their various age groups at the Urdd Eisteddfod last August, would be joining us on stage on the Saturday.
March 2010
We performed at the St David’s Welsh Festival over the weekend of 6th & 7th of March (see the Gallery for some pictures). This is now the 3rd time in as many years that we have sung at this festival.
We left Swansea on Thursday 4th and travelled through the day, arriving in Paris where we were picked up and taken to our hotel in Disney Village. We had 34 choristers along with Rhian and Nick. We were aware that we would not be singing outdoors as construction work was being carried out at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. However, this was a blessing in disguise as it was bitterly cold throughout the weekend, despite the sunny skies!
On Friday we were taken to the Fantasyland Festival Stage to carry out sound checks and also meet with a number of officials of Disneyland and the Urdd Welsh Youth Movement. A new partnership is being developed between the Urdd and Disneyland following “Mickey’s” appearance at their Eisteddfod in Cardiff last year. The theatre was wonderfully decorated with a large Welsh flag behind the boys on the stage and large numbers of daffodils and leeks displayed around the hall. After the sound checks we spent some free time in the Park before having a quiet night in preparation for our heavy workload during the weekend.
We were taken to the stage for the concerts on the Saturday where we started by recording ‘Cwm Rhondda’ for television, which was to be shown later in the week on ‘Wedi 7’, on S4C. We then performed 4 concerts and were joined in the first 3 by some of the Urdd National Eisteddfod winners from last year. This was a new initiative and proved a huge success. The theatre was packed on each occasion with around 250 people, and the first concert finished with our National Anthem, which received a huge ovation and set the tone for the weekend. All the soloists were absolutely brilliant and it was a joy to perform with them. Our last performance finished at around 4.30pm, and we went into the Park again before meeting for our evening meal and a quiet night in the hotel bar.
We were up early again on Sunday morning and taken to the theatre for another 4 concerts during the day. Again we were pleased with the attendances and it was clear that the organisers had taken heed of our suggestions from previous years and much more advertising was in evidence. We ended the day with a lovely meal in our hotel and, once again, enjoyed a great ‘afterglow’ in the bar until the early hours of Monday morning!!
This was another fabulous trip for the choir and the organisation by our secretary, Alan Clewett and the officials at Disneyland was perfection. Special thanks must go to Freddie and Nora, who looked after us so well during the weekend and to Sue who was in charge overall. Also thanks to Nick, Rhian and Steve for all their hard work in preparing the choir for this weekend.
April 2010
We had just the one concert during April, which was held at All Saints Church, Oystermouth. It was organised by the Rotary Club and raised funds for The Longfields Association, a local charity. We were joined by 14 year old pianist Oliver Feng and a group of flautists from Sketty called ‘Tutti Flutti’. It was a very enjoyable occasion and well attended by an appreciative audience.
May 2010
Our Annual Concert took place on the 29th 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 15th 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.
June 2010
We joined forces with the Spirit Choir for a concert in the Workmen’s Hall, Blaenavon on 12th June. The Spirit Choir is a mixed choir and was celebrating its 10th anniversary. Their musical director is Simon Oram, who was the previous MD of the Gwalia Singers.
We met with the Mayor of Torfaen in the World Heritage Centre during the afternoon before having a rehearsal in the hall with the Spirit Choir. The concert was the first fundraising project for the Mayor during his year of office and all proceeds were to go to his chosen charities. We then had a buffet prepared by the Spirit Choir.
The hall was packed for the concert which was opened by the Mayor and compered by Simon. Both choirs were in fine form and the concert ended with the two choirs joining together to sing Simon’s arrangement of ‘Light A Candle’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which brought the audience to its feet in appreciation of a great concert. We were then entertained in ‘The Riflemans’, a local hostelry, where more food was prepared for us and the usual ‘afterglow’ took place, before returning to Swansea a few hours later.
Many thanks to the Sprit Choir for inviting us to join in their celebration. Also many thanks to everyone involved in arranging the hospitality. We were well looked after!
St. David’s Hall, Cardiff
We were busy preparing for a Remembrance Day Concert in St David’s Hall on November 6th. We would be singing with a number of other choirs in a massed choir of 450 voices and it would be a great experience for a number of our new members, who had not sung in this sort of concert before.
We started by singing at the wedding of Kelly and Craig at Llangyfelach Church on Saturday 4th and then on Friday 17th we sang at Holy Cross Church.
July – August 2010
We gave a short concert at Swansea University on July 6th for around 80 lecturers in French, from all over Britain. They were attending a conference at the university and we were asked to give them ‘a taste of Wales’, and we duly obliged. They all thoroughly enjoyed our programme and a number of the lecturers said that it was the highlight of the conference for them. We were, once again, well fed after the concert, with a buffet supplied by Les Carmichael, Catering Manager, at the university.
On Tuesday August 10th we made a return to the Mechanics Institute in Pontarddulais for a concert to raise money for Arthritis Research. The hall was full and it was obvious from the appreciative applause, and the vote of thanks at the end, that the evening was very successful. A note of appreciation has also been put in our ‘Guestbook’. Thanks to the ladies for providing the food and drink after the concert.
The Ladies Committee organised a family barbeque at the Commercial Inn, Killay on 22nd August to raise funds for the choir. We were very fortunate with the weather and over 80 people turned up. Many thanks to Linda, Haydn and Gareth for doing the cooking, and also to Linda for arranging a music quiz later in the evening. Thanks also to Gareth and Nova for the use of the Commercial.
The choir was pleased to have another new full member. John Rickard passed his audition and joined the first tenors. Not only does he enhance the choir, but will also improve our golf team!!
September 2010
Well, this was been a busy month!!
We started by singing at the wedding of Kelly and Craig at Llangyfelach Church on Saturday 4th.
On Friday 17th we sang at Holy Cross Church, West Cross. The concert was in aid of church funds and we were joined by Tutti Flutti, a flute choir from Sketty. This was the 2nd time that we have ‘shared the stage’ with them. We were also treated to a couple of piano solos from Hywel Evans, the organist for the parish of Llwynderw, and accompanist to a number of choirs in the area. We have been rehearsing a number of pieces for the Welsh Festival of Remembrance Concert at St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, in November and we sang ‘There Is No Death’ for the first time. This is a great piece of Victorian melodrama, with many moods and contrasts, and it went down well with the audience. We finished the concert by singing ‘An American Trilogy’, with Hywel joining us on the organ. The evening was a great success with over £500 being raised for the church funds.
On Saturday 25th we had 2 engagements. The first was in Penclawdd for the wedding of James and Charlene. We sang ‘The Rose’ and ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ during the signing of the register and ‘You Raise Me Up’ as the bride and groom processed out. The entire congregation stayed to listen to our rendition and we had a great ovation at the end. We then moved on to St Paul’s, Sketty, for a concert for the Soroptomists. We were joined on this occasion by a brass ensemble of young musicians who played beautifully. We were fortunate to have the organ available and Steve joined Rhian for a number of the choir items. The concert ended with piano, organ, brass ensemble, and the choir singing Gordon Langford’s ‘The Lost Chord’, which created a truly amazing sound. Thanks to James Davies for organising the brass ensemble
October 2010
On Saturday 9th we sang at a Harvest concert at St Peter’s Church, Newton. Our guest artiste on this occasion was Bronwen Beckett-Evans who recently played ‘Casilda’ in a production of the Gondoliers by Uplands Arts at the Taliesin Theatre. Bronwen sang a varied programme including ‘Show Me’ from My Fair Lady and Dvorak’s ‘Song to the Moon’. Our own Steve Wilson accompanied her on the piano. We included in our programme for the first time an original composition by Mark Burrows using the words of the famous poem by W. H. Davies called ‘Leisure’. This is another piece that we have learned to perform at St David’s Hall, Cardiff next month. The evening ended with Bronwen joining the choir for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. All funds raised at the concert went to the new Newton Community Hall.
We had another quiz night at the Commercial Inn, Killay on Thursday 21st. This was organised by the Ladies committee in conjunction with Gareth and Nova. It was a great success and the winning team included the Chairman, Musical Director and Gareth, which some might think was a fix!! The truth is that whichever team Gareth was in would have won. We raised £200 for choir funds.
November 2010
We sang at 2 events to mark Armistice Day. The first was a massed choir concert of around 400 voices in St David’s Hall, Cardiff. The evening was billed as the Welsh Festival of Remembrance and was compèred by Roy Noble, from BBC Wales. Others to take part included tenor Wynne Evans (Go Compare advert!) and the Siren Sisters. We were accompanied by Huw Tregellis Williams on the organ, and the Band of the Royal Welsh. The musical directors for the evening were David James and Alwyn Humphries.
The following Thursday we took part in the ‘Silence in the Square’ at Castle Square, Swansea. There was a wet and windy start to the day which did not deter a large crowd from attending. Mal Pope hosted the event on behalf of the British Legion, bringing a mix of reflection and smiles to the crowd. Sarah Lark, finalist of BBC 1’s I’d Do Anything sang 2 songs and Brigit Forsyth, best known for playing ‘Thelma’ in Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads performed a reading. We sang 2 items, including ‘Bring Him Home’ before the two minute silence and then performed ‘There Is No Death’ to conclude the event. An article on the British Legion website recalled ‘The superb Swansea-based male voice choir, the Gwalia Singers moved the crowd with their powerful rendition of classic English and Welsh songs’.This event was linked live via satellite to Trafalgar Square, London and these were the only 2 events broadcast live to the nation via the internet.
On the membership side we acquired a new 2nd bass, as Adrian Crowley passed his audition. Well done Adrian.
December 2010
Our series of Christmas concerts appears to be taking on a familiar look! Our first concert, on Tuesday December 7th, was the annual Christmas carol concert arranged by the Ladies Section. This took place at the Brynmill Scout and Guide Hall and was again well attended. Our next concert was on Thursday 9th at the Vivian Hall, Blackpill. This is the 6th year running that we have performed here and it is very much part of the Christmas celebrations in the community. Again the hall was packed and the audience participation in ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’ was a highlight of the evening.
Our third appearance in the week ended with a lunchtime concert on Friday 10th at Swansea University for their annual Christmas lunch. We sang a mixture of carols, Christmas music and our normal repertoire and were well received by an appreciative audience. This event was organised by Les Carmichael and he also provided a buffet after the performance.
We were fortunate with the weather earlier in the month, but our final concert at The Dylan Thomas Centre on Friday 17th was postponed due to the snow. We are hoping that this will be re arranged in the near future. Our Christmas social evening on Tuesday 21st at the Commercial Inn, Killay was also badly affected with only a small number of members able to get there.
