The first thing everybody asks is ‘Where is Grado!’  Grado is situated on the North-east coast of Italy between Venice and Trieste, and is a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway across lagoons. Yes, sounds very pretty, and it really is, with long sandy beaches and a number of small harbours. The weather was also beautiful with long, hot sunny days. One of our choristers, Emyr Price, had spent a few years coaching rugby in the area many years ago, and also played rugby for Udine while he was there. He has kept in touch with many friends since then and knows the area well, so was able to recommend Grado to us.

We took a party of 72, with choristers and ‘wags’, and left Swansea at 6.30am on Thursday morning. We flew from Gatwick and arrived at our destination in time for an evening meal in the Hotel Abbazia, which was to be our base for the weekend. We had a lazy day on Friday before going to our first concert, which was in Udine. We left in plenty of time to have a wander around the town and then went to Chiesa di San Marco Evangelista and met with our host choir, Corale ‘San Marco’ di Udine. We had a quick rehearsal with them and then waited for the concert to begin. The church was packed and Corale ‘San Marco’ started their set with ‘Signore delle cime’, and they sang beautifully. We were then introduced and started with ‘Morte Criste’ with Rhian on piano and Steve on the organ and we had a huge ovation. This continued throughout our performance and a really enjoyable evening was had by all with both choirs joining to finish with ‘Ave Maria’ by Beppi De Marzi, which is a really powerful piece of music. During the evening, as a surprise, we sang ‘Nella Fantasia’, which we had learnt in Italian and this was also very well appreciated. We were treated to a 3 course meal after the concert and there was plenty of wine being passed around. Many thanks to Corale ‘San Marco’ for allowing us to perform with them, and providing us with very generous hospitality. There is talk that they may come over to Swansea in the future and we really hope they do. We must also thank Antonella Zoratti for welcoming us and introducing each choir. Antonella was also a great help to us as she organised the event and helped with posters and advertising, which ensured such a successful concert.

Saturday followed the same format as Friday, but this time we went to Lavariano to sing at Chiesa parrocchiale di San Paolo Apostolo. However, on the way, we stopped at Palmanova which is a very interesting town, as it was originally a fortress in the shape of a nine pointed star. From each point a straight road runs into the massive square and it was certainly worth a visit. We had a quick rehearsal in the church and, this time, we were ‘n our own’. Once again the church was packed and we really sang well and were very well appreciated by the locals. We finished with ‘An American Trilogy’ and again, with Steve on the organ, we had a standing ovation. There were many presentations following the concert which was arranged by the parish of Lavariano. The parish priest spoke and made presentations on behalf of the parish and representatives of the Alpini Group also presented the musical team with gifts. The Alpini Group are all ex-military personnel who provide rescue teams in the Alps and they also gave us a 3 course meal after the concert but, on this occasion, there was no end to the wine and prosecco, which flowed well past midnight! Huge thanks to them for their amazing hospitality. Another person who deserves mention here was Pierpaolo Gratton who arranged the concert and publicity for us, again, ensuring such a large and appreciative audience.

On Sunday, many of our party went on a day trip to Venice and some went on a boat trip on the lagoons around Grado. We had arranged an evening meal in the hotel and we presented the head waitress with a bunch of flowers and we shared all the wine that was given to our musical team the night before. Following the meal many went to the bar close by for a final impromptu ‘afterglow’, which was interrupted on occasions by the many soloists and joke tellers we have! A lovely finale to a very successful weekend. 

The weekend was wonderfully organised by our hard working committee, but huge thanks must go to Emyr Price and Mandy for arranging everything at Grado, including the hotel, concerts, transport and trips. A truly fantastic effort. Also to our hard working Secretary Alan, for arranging the buses and dealing with the group booking with BA especially taking care of all the late changes we had to make. Our treasurer, Lawrence, also had a tremendous amount of work to do on the financial side of the trip taking in our deposits and instalments and paying the relevant invoices as they come in. It doesn’t sound much, but it needs a lot of organisation. Mention must be made of our Chairman, Clive who works so hard to keep us in order and to our stage manager, Rob. Lastly, to our musical team, Nick, Rhian and Steve, who spend so much time ensuring we are well prepared for the concerts. 

Since 2008 we have had an annual trip to Europe, including 4 appearances at Euro Disney, and this was our sixth European tour in the last seven years. This year we took 43 choristers, which makes this the biggest choir we have taken abroad since the first time we went to Euro Disney in 2008, when we also had 43 choristers. However, only 20 of that choir were on this trip, and for 7 choristers, this was their first. This is fantastic when you consider that male voice choirs are said to be in decline, and it gives further evidence that our recruitment policy is proving very effective and the enthusiasm of our choristers is very evident.

Well done, everybody!