January

We’ve had a quiet January following our very busy end to 2014. However, we have taken the opportunity to have a few extra rehearsals to learn a new piece to our repertoire, the wonderful ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’ by Eric Jones. We have also been busy in organising our next tour, which, this year, will take us to Emmeloord, about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam. This will take place over the weekend from 8th October until 12th, and we have arranged 2 concerts and hopefully, an informal night on the Sunday. Thanks must go to Adrian Crowley for a lot of the work here. We are also pleased to have a number of new choristers joining us at rehearsals and hopefully they will all pass their auditions soon. 

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Tom Bartley following a long illness. Tom was a very popular chorister and a great ambassador for the choir. He filled many roles in his 9 years with the choir, acting as a very active publicity officer and member of the committee. Tom always made new members very welcome, quite often being the first to make himself known to them. Most of all he was an excellent 2nd tenor and rarely missed a choir event.  A native of Liverpool, he was a very keen football fan and it was fitting that we were able to sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ at his funeral. Tom will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

February

We have had a slow start to the year, which continued through February and March. Our only concert in February was on Friday 28th at lunch time in Fulton House, Swansea University. There had been a Food Festival all week and we were also celebrating St David’s Day. We, therefore, included items associated with Wales which gave us an opportunity to sing ‘Without You’ by Swansea born Peter Ham, for the first time. During the performance we were treated to 2 solo items by Jessica Rees, a member of the catering team at the University. Following the concert we had a wonderful lunch provided by Les Carmichael, the catering manager for the University, who is also in the choir. Many thanks, Les. 

We have also added another chorister to the choir, as Clive Westcott has passed his audition and has taken his place in the second tenors. Well done Clive. 

March

On March 4th we had a social evening organised by the Ladies Section. This was a curry night held at the Mumbai, Blackpill. We had a lovely buffet, and a few games and raffle were organised. Many thanks to Linda Lewis, Chairperson, and her hard working committee, for putting on this event.

We have had another 2 new members during March. First to pass his audition was Mike Phippen, and he has joined the first bass section. Then Richard Keane also passed his test and has joined the second basses. Well done to both Mike and Richard.

Our AGM was held on Tuesday 10th. The meeting was opened by our president, Geoff Wheel, and he spoke about how much he enjoys being part of the choir and appreciated the work done by the choir in raising funds for local organisations and charities. Clive Walters was voted in, as Vice Chairman, for the next 12 months and Tony Brooks was added to the committee. All other officers remain unchanged.

After a quiet time it was a bit like ‘London buses’ on Saturday March 28th when we sang at 2 events on the same day! The first was at the wedding of Kate Garland at St Peter’s Cockett and then, in the evening, we were guests of the Swansea Excelsior Ladies Choir at their annual concert in St John’s, Gowerton. It was a great pleasure to sing with the Ladies choir again, as we have not sung with them for many years. Also appearing were ‘Saxophony Cacophony’, a saxophone choir based in Ty Coch, who are all pupils of their director Lynne Novis. They were excellent and featured a number of their younger members playing solos such as Josh Williams and Sam Ludbrook playing alto sax. The ladies were also excellent, under their musical director, Lynda Richards and accompanist, Yeojin Chi, and sang a varied programme including Bugelioi’r Gwenith Gwyn and the lively ‘Ev’ry Time I Feel The Spirit’. We included ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’ for the first time and the concert finished with both choirs joining together to sing ‘Cwm Rhondda’. 

April

On April 20th we sang at the Waterfront Museum at a conference organised by Swansea University College of Engineering. It was for Ser Solar, and the conference was entitled ‘Printed Photovoltaics: From Materials to Manufacture’. We sang while the delegates arrived for their pre dinner drinks and we were well received.

We have added our support to Blaenafon Male Voice Choir’s film project aimed at attracting more people to join male choirs before the wonderful Welsh tradition literally dies out. We have had a number of illnesses lately affecting our numbers, and this is a problem for just about every male choir. Although we have been successful in attracting a few younger members over the past few years, we still require a lot more to ensure our continuing existence. We wish them every success and will give as much help as we can.

Our annual concert line-up has been finalised and we are pleased to announce that LaSe will be joining us for this year’s concert. LaSe are a group made up of sisters from South Wales and will sing a variety of items including classical, jazz, pop, gospel and traditional Welsh and Irish songs. Their name is made up of their initials Laura, Alex, Sarah and Emma. We are also doing something different this year, as we have obtained the services of ‘Crying Out Loud’ to accompany us for the second half of the concert. They are a band, which include our own Steve Wilson on keyboards, so we will also have drums and guitar, as well as Rhian, to accompany us. We will include items such as Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’, ‘He Ain’t heavy, He’s My Brother’ and a version of Joe Cocker’s ‘You Are So Beautiful’ incorporating ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’, with a few others as well.

June

On Saturday 13th we sang at the wedding of Daniel Lloyd Jones and Christina Viviani at St Paul’s, Sketty. Christina hails from the USA and a number of her family were at the wedding and Daniel is a local man, having played football for Mumbles Rangers in his early years and later, rugby for Swansea RFC. He now lives in America. We had a good turnout but had to wait nearly 45 minutes for the bride to arrive, which meant that we sang a few more items before she arrived. At the end we sang the happy couple out with ‘All You Need Is Love’ to rapturous applause.

Annual Concert, 27th June

Our annual concert was held again at All Saints Church, Oystermouth, and our guest artistes were LaSe. We also added an extra dimension to the concert by inviting ‘Crying Out Loud’ to join us. Our Chairman, Ed, started proceedings by welcoming everyone to the concert, thanking our sponsors, and thanking our Ladies Committee for looking after the ticketing and seating on the night. We opened up with the great Welsh hymn ‘Cwm Rhondda’, with Steve Wilson playing the organ for the last verse, and this set the atmosphere for the rest of the evening. We finished our first set with Eric Jones’ ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’, and we welcomed LaSe to the stage. LaSe are made up of four sisters Laura, Alex, Sarah and Emily, and come from Penpedairheol, near Caerphilly. They sang beautifully in the wonderful acoustic and included Lloyd Webber’s ‘Pie Jesu’ in their first set which ended with ‘Calon Lan’. We then finished the first half with ‘Rhythm of Life’, ‘The Rose’ and our own compilation of songs from the First World War entitled ‘Memories of the Great War’.

During the interval we were entertained by ‘Crying Out Loud’ who played four items. They are made up of our own Steve Wilson on keyboards and vocals; Jason Davies, lead vocals and guitars and Steff Rees on drums.

We started the second half with ‘Delilah’ not only accompanied on piano by Rhian but with ‘Crying Out Loud’, as well. This was a total break from ‘tradition’ and we sang the entire second half with the same accompaniment. We included Robbie Williams ‘Angels‘, ‘He Ain’t Heavy’, ‘He’s My Brother’ and ended our first set with Peter Ham’s famous ‘Without You’. It was, indeed, a thrilling experience to have the additional accompaniment and it really worked well. After all, these pieces were originally written, and recorded, with such an accompaniment. During this set our President, Geoff Wheel, presented long service ties to Tony Marmont and John Haslam for being in the choir for five years. Tony Porter was presented with a fifteen year tie and Roy Snaydon was also due to receive his ten year tie, but unfortunately, he has had to leave the choir due to serious illness. We then heard the second set of LaSe who sang another five items and included ‘Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree’ and they ended with ‘You’ll Never walk Alone’ to a great ovation.

Our last set was made up of Alan Simmons’ arrangement of ‘My Way’, ‘You Are So Beautiful’ incorporating ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ and we finished with ‘American Trilogy’. During this item LaSe came on to join us for the last ‘Glory, Glory Hallelujah’, and when we finished the packed audience were all on their feet to give us a huge ovation.

This was another wonderful annual concert and we have been overwhelmed by the favourable comments regarding the second half which included the band, ‘Crying Out Loud’. Indeed the boys of the band were a credit to work with and Steve’s arrangements were excellent. We are sure that this will not be the last time that we will include them with us. Huge thanks to them for their hard work and, of course, to our own accompanist, Rhian, who held it all together. Thanks also to our MD, Nick, who, along with Rhian and Steve, has been longing to sing items with a band accompaniment for some time and we also wonder if it’s ever been done before?

Also present for the evening was Daniel Harries from Focus Shift Films. He is making a documentary with Blaenavon Male Choir about the plight of male choirs in Wales, as we are all struggling to recruit younger members, which may, eventually, see choirs folding due to lack of new choristers coming in. It is hoped that this documentary will eventually be broadcast on television. He is also helping us, and will provide a promotional video for us, which will include items from this annual concert. He will also be interviewing members of the choir at a later date. We feel that choirs have to change and be more ‘up to date’, and hopefully, our concert format tonight is a start, and will help to attract new members to our choir.
(More Photos)

July

Following our annual concert we had a week off from rehearsal to recharge the batteries. On July 18th the Ladies Committee organised a barbeque at The Commercial Inn, Killay. We were very lucky with the weather and there were a number of stalls lined up selling various items. The cooking was done by Gareth, the landlord and member of the baritone section, and a great time was had by all. There were about 60 choristers, family and friends altogether and thanks to Gareth and Nova for allowing us to use the venue. The ladies raised almost £500 towards their fund.

We were pleased to welcome Daniel Harries to our rehearsal on 28th. Daniel is heading a project by Focus Shift Films, who are trying to put together a documentary about the problem of recruitment for male voice choirs, and in particular, younger men, in Wales. He filmed around our rehearsal and interviewed our MD, Nick and Chairman Ed; and also three choristers Tony Brooks, Tony Marmont and Rob Smith. Daniel had already filmed at our annual concert and he has now put together a “promotional video” for the choir – click here to see it. Although our numbers are holding up fairly well, we know that we have to keep on recruiting to keep us in existence. Talking to Daniel afterwards he said that the film is going really well and he has had interest from Channel 4 to, possibly, broadcast it in the future. What started out as a small project has ‘mushroomed’ and Daniel has been very impressed with the co-operation and enthusiasm of many choirs.

August

On Saturday 15th August we sang at the wedding of Sara Nash and Mark Rowland at the lovely Clyne Chapel.  This is a very small church and we are limited when we can sing there, but on this occasion there was just enough room.  It was a beautiful day and we were able to use both keyboard and organ for a few items.

We do not stop rehearsing during the summer, unlike most choirs.  It has been found that we have as many, if not more, at rehearsals during this time.  In fact, we averaged over 47 choristers on Tuesday evenings, which is better than some other months during the year.  Perhaps other choirs are missing out on something!

September

On Friday we sang at a concert in Langland Bay Golf Club.  Their captain, Tony Lovell, introduced the choir and we sang our usual varied programme.

We had a very enjoyable time, created a great atmosphere in the intimate surroundings and received a standing ovation at the end.  A wonderful evening, which we hope will be repeated in the future.  Many thanks to Tony and his committee for inviting us and money raised was given to a Seve Ballesteros charity.

John Morgan completed his Parachute Jump and raise a lot of money for the choir.  Well done John. (See Photos)

We sang at the wedding reception of Sara Coltman on Saturday 19th September at the Waterfront Museum.  We started our sets by singing outside while the guests and wedding party arrived and, luckily, it was a reasonably still day, with the music for Nick and Rhian only fluttering around occasionally! We then moved upstairs to sing our final set.

October

On Friday 2nd October we sang at the wedding of Lois John at Oldwalls, Gower.  This is a lovely setting, but a bit awkward for the choir to stage.  Unusually, we did not sing before the ceremony but sang during the signing of the register, then after the wedding, in the main hall, once everything had been cleared out. 

We were, unfortunately, unable to sing at the wedding of Ria Thomas at Clyne Chapel on 4th October.  As mentioned earlier, this is a small church and we found out that there were over 100 guests invited to the wedding, so there was not enough room left for us to perform.  A great shame.

Emmeloord – 8th to 12th October – See Photos

Our annual tour, this year, took us to Emmeloord, Holland, which is a small town, about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam.  The idea came from Adrian Crowley, who has friends in the area, and he, along with our Secretary, Alan, organised the hugely successful trip.  This would not have been possible without local contacts and we are very grateful to Sjanie Sterk and her committee who made us so welcome. 

We left Swansea on Thursday 8th and we had 40 choristers, which was the largest choir that we have ever taken on tour.  We flew from Heathrow and arrived at our hotel, the Van der Valk, just outside Emmeloord, at around 8.00pm in the evening where we were treated to a ‘light’ meal, which was excellent.

On Friday we visited the ‘Orchid House’, which houses hundreds of varieties of orchid, along with a butterfly house, and various displays.  The highlight for many was a chance to feed some very colourful and noisy parrots, which flew on to your hands, arms, or anywhere (!) to feed on some nectar.  In the evening, we sang a concert at the Nieuw Jeruzalemkerk in Emmeloord and were joined by Chr.  Mannenkoor Emmeloord.  They are a Christian Men’s choir and were over 70 on stage and their MD was Johan Bredewout. 

They opened the concert with a number of items, including Samuel Wesley’s ‘Lead me Lord’.  We then sang our first half and started with Cwm Rhondda, with Steve on the organ, and combined, this made a great sound in the lovely acoustic of this modern church. 

We were very well received and when we finished our set in the second half with ‘An American Trilogy’, the audience of around 450 got to their feet in appreciation.  The concert finished with both choirs joining together to sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ which included Rhian on piano and their accompanist on the organ, which was a fitting end to a great concert. 

We went to the small fishing village of Urk an Saturday morning and received a great welcome.  We went to see a lighthouse and took a short boat trip and were treated to a local lunch of soup, fish, salad and rice.  We then went back to the hotel for a short rest before going to the village of Tollebeek, some 10 miles away, to sing at St Hubertus Kerk in the evening, which, again, was full to capacity holding around 300 people.  On this occasion we were joined by ‘Canticum’, Emmeloord, and ‘Cantabile’ from Tollebeek, both of which were mixed choirs. 
Once again, it was a modern church and the acoustic was wonderful.  We started the concert and included our medley of World War One songs and then the other choirs took it in turn to sing.  The highlight of their performance was when they joined together to sing ‘De Zegenbede’, which was a beautiful song, where the choirs formed up around the church, creating a fantastic atmosphere.  On this occasion we finished the concert and, once again, received a standing ovation from the enthusiastic audience.  We then joined together with the other choirs to sing ‘The Rose’.  Refreshments were served after the concert and many friendships were made.  Thanks to Marian and Martine, the musical directors of the choirs, for joining us in a memorable evening’s music.

We had a free day on Sunday, so a trip was arranged to Amsterdam where we took in the sights of the city and many went on river cruises and bus tours.  In the evening we went back to Emmeloord for some light refreshments and a few presentations were made to our hosts for the weekend.  We then went back to the hotel for some further drinks and singing until the early hours of Monday morning.

We arrived back in Swansea late Monday evening following another very successful tour.  Huge thanks must go to Alan Clewett and Adrian Crowley for organising the trip.  Thanks also to Nick, Rhian and Steve who ensured the choir sang to a great standard and that the concerts were excellent.

November

On Monday, 2nd we gave a short concert at Clyne Golf Club at an evening in aid of ‘Save The Children’. There were many different small stalls set up selling a variety of items and £725.00 was raised for the charity. We were delighted to help this cause and we gave our services for free. On Saturday 7th we gave a lunchtime recital at the Arts Wing (The Depot) at the Grand Theatre. This time it was in aid of Swansea Macular Degeneration Society. In between these concerts we held a ‘quiz night’, organised by the Ladies committee, at the Commercial, Killay. We had a good turnout and Gareth very kindly put on some refreshments for us. The Ladies raised in excess of £400 for their funds.

We are pleased to welcome David James to the choir. David passed his audition and has taken his place in the second tenors. However, on a sad note, Terry Green has ‘upped sticks’ and is moving to Kent with his wife Pat. Terry has been a very faithful member of the choir for 4 years since joining in November 2011. Pat has also been an active member of the Ladies committee and both will be missed.

On Saturday 28th November we gave our first ‘Christmas’ concert at All Saints, Oystermouth. Unfortunately our accompanist, Rhian, was unable to be there, as she was attending a wedding in Bath. However, our deputy, Steve, did a wonderful job in accompanying us and we were lucky to have Les Ryan playing the organ for various items. We always learn a number of Christmas songs and this time we sang the Shakin’ Stevens number, ‘Merry Christmas, Everyone’ to a keyboard accompaniment, arranged by Steve. We also sang the wonderful Chris DeBurgh song ‘One More Mile To Go’. The soloist for the evening was Keely Morgan, who sang items including, ‘The Holy City’ and ‘Nella Fantasia’ by Morriconi. There was an excellent audience who gave a standing ovation when we joined with Keely to sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to finish the concert. The concert was in aid of ‘Maggie’s’, Swansea, which is a drop-in cancer centre offering practical, emotional and social support to local people with cancer, and their friends and family. This is a wonderful facility and we raised over ‘£1400 and, once again, gave our services free of charge. Mrs Pat Steane gave a vote of thanks and dedicated the concert to Yvonne Gabriel, a great friend of the choir, who had helped to arrange the concert, but sadly lost her battle against cancer last month.

December 

Our Christmas concerts had a familiar feel about them this year, as, having been invited back, we sang at the same venues as last year. Firstly was our visit to the Vivian Hall, Blackpill, on Thursday 3rd, and then to Clyne Golf Club on Saturday 5th. We sang a number of items from our usual repertoire and also some Christmas items, as our previous concert in All Saints in November. We also had some ‘audience participation’ for ‘The Twelve days Of Christmas’ which is always well received.

Our next event was the annual Christmas concert on Tuesday 8th, organised by our Ladies Committee. This is a fund raising event for the choir and, this year, we also raised ‘£300 for the Salvation Army, to give people a lunch on Christmas Day. A great effort by everyone involved and thanks to the Ladies Chairwoman, Linda Lewis and her committee for their continued support.

On Friday 11th we sang at lunch time in Fulton Hall, Swansea University, for students and staff. Afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful meal organised by Les Carmichael, the catering manager at the University and a member of the choir. Thanks, Les.

Our last ‘official’ concert was held at St Thomas Church with the school choirs of Danygraig Primary, St Thomas Community Primary and Cefn Hengoed Community School. There were some congregational carols and each choir sang a number of items. One item was of particular interest to us, as the soloist in the Cefn Hengoed choir for ‘The Wizard’ was Caitlin Phippen, the granddaughter of our chorister, Mike. Caitlin sang beautifully and had one very proud granddad! We sang our Christmas items and created a wonderful atmosphere in the church when we sang ‘Stop The Cavalry’ and ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ with the audience joining in with us. Many thanks to the vicar, Steve Bunting, for organising the event for the 2nd year, and it was great to see the fine old church nearly full.

Following the concert a good number of us adjourned to the Commercial, Killay for a Christmas sing along. Once again we sang a number of carols and Christmas items with many of the locals joining in.  Gareth very kindly provided us with a buffet and a very enjoyable evening was had by all.

Our rehearsal was cancelled on the Tuesday before Christmas, so a social afternoon was held at the Queen’s by the Marina. We all met at about 3.00pm and had a great few hours singing. Gary, the landlord, very kindly provided us with a bottle of whiskey during the early evening in thanks for our entertainment, and, by now the pub was packed.  In fact, we went on to at least 10.00pm when many of us went to a local restaurant to finish the evening. The rest of the evening is a bit hazy…..!

We were pleased to learn that our concert for Maggies, South Wales cancer charity last month raised ‘£3000.00!   Well done to everyone and special thanks to Keely Morgan and Les Ryan for performing with us at the concert.