January
On January 14th we sang at Oldwalls, Llanrhidian, for the wedding of Sara Thomas and John Morgan. Sara is the granddaughter of Vernon Simons, one of our longest serving members and, from a very small girl, always said that she would have the Gwalia Singers at her wedding. Her dream came true!!
We recorded a CD over the weekend of 20th and 21st, a Friday evening and Saturday morning. The recording took place in All Saints, Oystermouth, and was done by Black Mountain Records. After the session we had agreed to be ‘guinea pigs’ for a new initiative by Black Mountain, where a video was shot of 2 of the songs, The Longest Time and Light A Candle. These will appear shortly on our website. The CD will take about 6-8 weeks before it is available and has been entitled ‘A New Dawn’. Watch this website for details.
March
 After a quiet February we had a busy fortnight at the beginning of March. On March 1st we sang at the Woodman, Blackpill as part of their St. David’s Day celebrations. Although staging the choir was difficult we managed to squeeze in by the bar in the hope that everyone could hear. We sang two groups of items and were given some refreshments and a free ‘pint’ for all the boys.
The next day we sang a lunchtime recital in the first floor main hall at Fulton House, Swansea University. There was a good mix of students, staff and visitors present and we are told that many people stayed to listen, as there were no tables available at one stage for anybody wishing to eat! Again refreshments were provided after the singing by Les Carmichael’s team and they were excellent. Thanks to Les for organising the event.
    
On March 10th we went on our travels to Penybont, near Llandrindod Wells. We sang at the Village Hall in aid of the Welsh Air Ambulance. The evening was compared by Phillip Gayther and also taking part were Christine Burbridge (soprano) and Gareth Davies (tenor) who hail from Crickhowell. They sang a number of solos and duets of varying styles. We sang very well and were well received and also had many comments about our varied repertoire, which was enjoyed by all. The evening was organised by Lynda Price and it was announced that over £1,900 was raised by the event. After the concert we were treated to a buffet in the Severn Arms, next door to the hall, and many stayed overnight in the Commodore Hotel l, Llandrindod Wells.
We have secured the services of Joshua Mills, baritone and Andrew Millard, violin for our Annual Concert which will be held at All Saints Church, Oystermouth on Saturday June 23rd. Tickets will be available from choir members and it is advisable to obtain them before the evening to avoid disappointment.
Two of our members, Frank Quinn and Roy Wood, have decided that they can no longer commit to the choir. This is always disappointing, but we know that they have both left for good reasons. Frank is not enjoying the best of health and Roy finds that he is often away in London on Tuesday evenings, with work commitments. He also intends to move to the Cheltenham area in the future. However, a number of new probationary members have started with us during February and March, so hopefully we will see a further increase in our numbers in the next few months. It also lead to us having 52 singers in rehearsal on March 27th.
April
On Saturday 28th April, we had 2 functions. Our first engagement was at Oldwalls, Llanrhidian, for the marriage of Sam and Danny. Sam is the stepdaughter of Anthony Marmont, one of our first tenors. We sang a number of items and included ‘All You Need Is Love’, requested by the bride and groom, which featured Steve Wilson on the trumpet, who also arranged the song for us.
In the evening we held our Annual Dinner which was at the Gower Golf Club. There were over 60 people at the event and the entertainment was provided by Paul Tabram. Our president, Geoff Wheel, made a short, but entertaining, speech and our chairman, Clive Walters, thanked all the officers for their work during the year. There were a number of contenders for the ‘skull’ but he presented it to himself for his ‘solo’, during ‘Amen’, in the wedding at West Haddon, last year. Yes, he did take a bit of stick over that!! The evening was well organised by Lawrence Sutton and thanks go to him.
May
We had another busy weekend at the beginning of May. On Friday 11th we sang at St Hilarys, Killay. The church was full and joining us for the evening was Jonathan Lycett, who was accompanied by John Davies. We sang ‘Hiraeth’ arranged by Alwyn Humphries and ‘America’ from West Side Story which has been arranged by Les Ryan, both of which were performed for the first time at this concert, and both went well. The evening was humorously compered by Fr Tim Williams, vicar of St Hilarys. Following the concert we called at the Commercial, Killay and once again Gareth very kindly put on food for us.
On Sunday 13th we sang at Pennard Village Hall, for a fundraising concert for Christian Aid. Joining us on this occasion was Reuben Nicholas, who has featured on a programme about young Welsh tenors on BBC Wales with Tim Rhys Evans. This was an afternoon concert and was well attended by a very appreciative audience. The concert was organised by Clive Rees, who also acted as compere.
 We were pleased to welcome another new member to the choir. Nigel Norman passed the audition and became a member of the 1st tenor section. Congratulations to him.
Our CD, ‘A New Dawn’, was finally released. Please see the Recordings page for further details.
June
On Friday 15th June we sang at the wedding of Nicola Kelly at St Joseph’s RC Church and the following day we were booked to sing at the re-opening of Oystermouth Castle. However, due to the high winds and impending rain, we decided to cancel the performance. There was no way that either Nick or Rhian could have stopped their music from blowing away! This month Alan (Curly) Davies passed his audition and we are pleased to welcome him into the bass section of the choir, well done Alan.
Annual Concert
Our annual concert took place at All Saints Church, Oystermouth, on Saturday, June 23rd. The church was full, with about 350 people present. Our soloists were Joshua Mills, tenor, and violinist Andrew Millard. Joshua is a final year undergraduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and his ultimate ambition is to become an operatic tenor. Andrew sits his finals next year and hopes to complete a masters in violin at the Royal College of Music. They both delighted the audience with their renditions and we are sure that they will fulfil their ambitions.
The evening was compered by Father Tim Williams, vicar of St. Hilary Church, Killay, and it was good to see a number of guests including the Lord Mayor of the City and Council of Swansea, Councillor Dennis James and our own president, Geoff Wheel, attending the concert. Our chairman, Clive Walters, spoke at the start of the second half and he gave a brief resume of the past year.
We were once again accompanied by Rhian and Steve Wilson played the organ for a number of our items including The Lost Chord and An American Trilogy. We also included an arrangement of Shenandoah, by Steve, for the first time.
This was another wonderful ‘annual’ and thanks must go to Nick and the music team for their tremendous commitment and effort to ensure a well performed programme. Once again, the choir broke a record, as we had 52 choristers on stage. (more photos)
July
On Saturday 21st July we travelled down to the Kiln Park, Tenby. to entertain at the Executive Members Summer Ball. This was an outdoor event, but fortunately the weather was hot and sunny, and there were over 200 visitors at the event. We had a little trouble staging the choir on a small platform, but everything went well. Other performers appearing included ‘Nu Skool’, a young dance group from Port Talbot who won through to the finals of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. We stopped at the Fox and Hounds, Bancyfelin, on the way back for a meal and ‘afterglow’.
September
This has been a very busy month for us. Our first performance was on Friday 7th at the wedding of John Hopkins at Christchurch on Oystermouth Road. Then we had a busy weekend with 2 weddings and a concert. Friday 21st saw us singing at St Hillary’s, Killay, for the wedding of Sian Hopkin and then on Saturday 22nd we sang at St Peters, Newton, for Lisa Morgan. We have added ‘Pan Fo’r Nos Yn Hir’ to our repertoire and were asked to sing it at this wedding. It was very pleasing to see over 30 choristers for each of the Friday weddings, especially as so many members are working on those days. Then, in the evening, we sang at the Gala concert for the ‘All Saints Alive Music Festival’ at All Saints Church, Oystermouth, where we were joined by Joshua Mills and Celline Forrest.
‘GV Teutonia 1862 e.V. Mannheim-Feudenheim’ – 150 Years Jubilee
On Thursday September 27th we left Swansea for a 5 day trip to Germany following an invitation from GV Teutonia 1862, a male voice choir from Feundenheim on the outskirts of Mannheim, with whom we have had a long relationship over the past 20 years. As their title suggests they have been in existence for 150 years and they were celebrating with a number of events over the weekend.
On Friday we went to Oppenheim to visit the underground labyrinth of cellars and were fortunate to have the opportunity to sing at the church of St Katerine. We gave a rendition of ‘Cwm Rhondda’ where we were able to use the amazing acoustic, with the ends of phrases ringing around the building for a number of seconds (see video below).
We stopped at Nierstein for lunch and from there we went to Bad Durkheim. We visited ‘Weingut Wegner’, a winery, where we were treated to a meal and a wine tasting session. In all, we tasted 6 different wines, and were given a guided tour around the winery.
We had free time on the Saturday morning, so most of us went into the city of Mannheim. There was a festival taking place in the gardens by the Water Tower with a variety of musical acts performing on the main stage. We then returned to our hotel to change for the main concert in the evening. We arrived at the SportHalle in Mannhein-Feudenheim and were supplied with a meal where we met up with the 3 other choirs that were singing at the concert. The choirs were ‘GV Teutonia 1862 e.V. Mannheim-Feudenheim’, ‘Teutonia 1854 Pittsburgh’, a German Ex-Pats choir from USA and ‘Chor Kronshagen’. There was an audience of around 1000 at the hall and we started the second half and gave a wonderful performance, getting a number of standing ovations after individual items. One came after we sang ‘You Raise Me Up’, the copies of which were bought for us by the Teutonia choir following our previous trip in 2007. We finished with ‘An American Trilogy’, which again brought the audience to their feet and a request for ‘more’. We duly obliged with ‘I’m Gonna Walk’ arranged by Alwyn Humphreys. Our chairman, Clive (Cliff!) Walters, then spoke on behalf of the choir, aided by chorister Nigel Norman, who was able to translate into German. A number of presentations then took place, and the concert continued with Chor Kronshagen, an excellent mixed choir from Northern Germany. They ended their set with ‘Ar Hyd Y Nos’, in Welsh, which they learned following their trips to the Harlech area. The evening ended with all the choirs singing ‘Klinge Lied, Lange Nach’ which we learned in German for the event. The concert did not finish until 11.00 o’clock, but we were able to get back to our local pub to finish off the evening in style!
We unfortunately had an early start on the Sunday when all 4 choirs sang again at the morning service at the Kulturhalle, which adjoins the Sporthalle, and this was followed by more food and drink (!) in the form of a Bavarian Afternoon. An excellent band, ‘The Happy Bavarians’, played for many hours containing a number of the traditional Bavarian items and also some more modern songs. Dancing and socialising continued and some impromptu performances from the choirs also took place. We ended the day by all going back to our local pub for an evening meal, but a reasonably early night was had due to the tiring weekend.
This was another great weekend for the choir. We took 40 choristers, and a number of wives came along as well. Huge thanks must go to our secretary, Alan, and chairman, Clive, for organising the itinerary, which ensured that we all turned up at the right time and at the right place! Also to our musical team of Nick, Rhian and Steve for their hard work in preparing the choir, which gave such a wonderful performance
We sadly announced the passing away of Frank Quinn. He had a lovely top tenor voice and we were very sad when he left the choir due to ill health. He will be remembered most for his job as a ‘Lollipop Man’ at Oystermouth Primary School and he also acted as Father Christmas for many years at events over the festive period. (more photos)
December
Following our trip to Mannheim we had a quiet few months before the busy Christmas period. However, this gave us the opportunity to have some additional rehearsals to learn some new items.
We started December by welcoming another new member, David Ambrose, who has joined the 1st tenor section. Congratulations David. We also arranged our next trip which will take us to Bruges in September 2013 and so far we have had 39 ‘deposits’.
We had an excellent Christmas lunch on Saturday 1st in ‘The Wig’, which was organised by Hefin Jones and Lawrence Sutton. The food was excellent and the afternoon coincided with the Wales – Australia rugby match. We ran a sweep for the final score which was won by Mrs Lynn Jones, wife of Walter. Unfortunately Wales lost by the narrowest of margins 14-12, but the mood was lightened when we were able to watch the end of the Swans’ match at Arsenal. The Swans won 2-0. This was the first time a social event of this type has been organised and, hopefully, will become an annual event. Thanks to Hefin, whose idea this was, and Lawrence, for ensuring that everything went smoothly.
On Tuesday 4th we sang at lunch time at Swansea University, once again organised by Les Carmichael, who also provided an excellent buffet after.
On Thursday 6th we performed at the Vivian Hall, Blackpill. This is now an annual event and the hall was packed. We were able to perform our new pieces ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ and ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ along with others from our Christmas repertoire. We also sang a number of our usual items, but included ‘All You Need Is Love’, which we have only previously done at weddings. All the items were well received, with a bit of ‘audience participation’ in some!
On Friday 7th we sang at Clyne Golf Club for the Captain’s Charity and on Tuesday 11th we had our annual Ladies Christmas concert at the Scout Hut, Brynmill, organised by the Ladies Section. This took its usual format with the choir singing first, followed by refreshments. We then had a carol singing session to end the evening. Thanks to Linda Lewis, chairwoman, and all the ladies for organising the evening and providing excellent food and drink.
We did not practice on Tuesday 18th, but instead, a social evening was organised at the Commercial, Killay. Thanks to Gareth and Nova who provided a wonderful buffet and this was followed by an evening of impromptu singing.
We have a break from practice over the Christmas period, but we had a call from Dan Rodde on the Thursday before Christmas requesting us to sing at his wedding to Rachel Parnell in St Hillary’s, Killay, on New Year’s Eve at 11.30am! Apparently they had been let down at the last minute by another choir. Both Nick and Rhian were available and in true Gwalia fashion, a choir was assembled in no time. Although it was a ‘working’ day we managed to get 35 singers and both the bride and groom’s mothers thanked us after the wedding for helping out at such short notice and performing so well.
