January
After a very busy Christmas season with five concerts, January has been very quiet. We missed the first rehearsal due to inclement weather but are now settling in to the run up to our 60th Anniversary Annual Concert that will be held in the Brangwyn Hall on the 20th June 2026.
We have started to learn two new songs for this special occasion. The first one is ‘Fix You’ that was released by Coldplay in September 2025, a very modern song for us! The members of Coldplay wrote it to help Gwyneth Paltrow overcome the death of her father. The second song is ‘Will Ye Go Lassie Go’, a traditional Scottish/Irish folk song.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our Choristers, Families and Friends a very happy and successful new year.
February
Happy Birthday Cliff! 15/02/2026
What an evening! celebrating Choir member Cliff Gapper’s 80th birthday with his family and friends in Clyne Golf Club on his very special day!
The evening unfolded with a warm welcome address from Cliff. Then his Choir friends singing a selection of his favourite songs, including some Welsh hymns, ‘Benedictus’, the jovial ‘Five Foot Two’, 
and a rousing ‘American Trilogy! Everyone was delighted-and appreciated the entertainment and good humour.
The interval’s buffet was really superb, and a great opportunity to socialise.
The second half continued with wonderful solos from Musical Director, Matthew Sims and Chorister Daniel Davies. Incredible talent! Then three more items from the choir: ‘And Can It Be’, ‘Siyahamba’ and ‘finishing of with the lovely ‘If We Only Have Love’.
A fabulous contribution to Cliff’s birthday from the Gwalia Singers, Matthew Sims, Daniel Davies and acclaimed accompanist Rhian Liles to the evening!
Many thanks, Cliff, for the invitation and kind generosity. Such an enjoyable celebration with a much-loved fellow Chorister! ‘Penblwydd Hapus’ Cliff!
Marie Curie Concert – 28/02/26
We started supporting the Marie Curie cancer charity in 2023 and on Saturday 28th February 2026 we sang at our fourth St Davids Day Concert for them. The concert was organised by the Mumbles and Gower Fundraising Group and held at All Saints Church in Oystermouth. The church was full and everyone was in good form.
We performed four sets during the concert and for the first we sang ‘There is a Land’, ‘Calon Lan’, ‘Rhys’ and ‘Five Foot Two’.
Our first guest performer was Welsh soprano Erin Jones. Erin attended the Chetham’s School of music in Manchester and then graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has a beautiful soprano voice and sang ‘Habanera’ from Carmen by Bizet and ‘Till There Was You’ from the Music Man.
Our second soloist, Daniel Davies, fell in love with Musical Theatre when performing in an Olchfa School production of ‘Les Miserables”. He went on to train at WAVDA, University of Wales Trinity St David, Achieving a First class honours degree in Musical Theatre. He is now a Gwalia Tenor, and he sang ‘Go The Distance’ from Hercules for us.
For our second set we sang ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’, ‘What Would I Do Without My Music’, ‘Y Darlun’ and ‘Cwm Rhondda before the interval when the bar opened and the audience were able to get a drink and socialise.
After the interval we sang ‘Let All Men Sing’, ‘O Gymru’, ‘Siyahamba’ (a traditional Zulu song from South Africa) and ‘You Are So Beautiful’. Erin then sang ‘Like To A Damask Rose’ by Edward Elgar and ‘O Mio Babino Caro’ by Puccini followed by Daniel Davies who sang ‘Anthem’ from Chess.
For our final set we sang ‘And Can It Be’, ‘Always On My Mind’ and ‘If We Only Have Love’ before everyone rounded off the evening with a rousing rendition of Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.
During the concert, Long-Service ties were presented to James McCarry for 10 years and to Des Criddle for an amazing 25 years.
The concert was very well received and we were given a standing ovation by the audience. Our thanks must go to Matthew Ioan Sims, our Musical Director. Without his hard work and dedication in rehearsals and performances we would not be able to perform the way we do. Our thanks also go to our fantastic accompanist, Rhian Liles. She played for every item that we sang, as well as for the guest singers – a total of 22 different pieces of music, all with a broken foot, very well-done Rhian.
All in all it was a great concert that raised over £2700 for a very worthwhile charity.
More photographs from this Concert.
March
Capel Y Crwys Concert, Three Crosses – 01/03/2026
A delightful evening celebrating St. David’s Day with performers soprano Ros Evans and accompanist Sharon Williams, Penclawdd Junior Brass Band, Ysgol Y Crwys Choir, and their conductors. Ros Evans compered the evening and indeed set the tone for the whole performance interacting wonderfully with the young Choir, Band, Gwalia and the audience.
The first song was the rousing ‘Cwm Rhondda’ from Gwalia and Ros Evans. The Gwalia Singers continued with some other favourites, very much a Welsh flavour e.g ‘There Is A Land’ and ‘Rhys.’ Ros Evans then performed some wonderful renditions, in particular, ‘Nella Fantasia’. Ysgol Y Crwys sang their popular Welsh repertoire including ‘Anfonaf Angel’ and a lively, fun medley-delighting the audience and older performers.
The Brass Band also played a selection of Welsh tunes e.g ‘Ar Hyd Y Nos’ enjoyed by all, such incredible musical talents! At the end of the evening all performers sang the powerful ‘O Gymru’ with Gwalia chorister Daniel Davies singing a solo verse-and then a mighty rendition of ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’
An exceptional evening of talent across all ages, and such an enjoyable St. David’s Day celebration. Many thanks to all performers and audience. ‘Diolch yn fawr’ Matthew Sims, Gwalia’s Musical Director and Rhian Liles, accompanist!
April
Two Proud Welsh Choirs – One Stage
Saturday 25th to Sunday 26th March.
We left Swansea Airport by coach at 11:20 and travelled to Llangollen, breaking the journey near Welshpool. We booked into the Wild Pheasant Hotel and after a short rest we changed into our uniforms and drove to the Stiwt Theatre in Rhosllanerchrugog for a quick pre-concert rehearsal.
We were hosted by the Fron Male Voice Choir. They are based in the glorious Dee Valley in North East Wales. The village of Froncysyllte is at one end of the world-famous Poncysyllte Aqueduct, designed by Thomas Telford to take the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee and its broad, beautiful valley. Next year the Fron will celebrate 80 years since their founding. This year is also the 20th anniversary of their release of ‘Voices of the Valley’, the first of a five-album recording set, that introduced their sound to audiences far beyond North Wales.
The concert began with 6 items from the Fron MVC. We then filed onto the stage and our Tenor soloist; Daniel Davies sang the wonderful ‘Anthem’ from the musical ‘Chess’. Following on from this the Gwalia Singers sang five items from their repertoire, all very well received by our hosts and the audience. We were then joined on stage by the Fron MVC to sing ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’ led by our MD, Matthew Ioan Sims, and accompanied by Rhian Liles, followed by ‘You’ll never walk alone’ led by Leigh Mason, the Fron Musical Director, with their Accompanist, Jason Ellis).
We began the second half with five more items before Daniel sang ‘Till I Hear You Sing’ from ‘Love Never Dies’. We then handed over the stage to the Fron MVC who sang their second set. To finish off the performance the two choirs joined together again for the singing of ‘Morte Christe’, led by Fron Music Team and then ‘Gwahoddiad”, led by Matthew & Rhian.
What a sound – two choirs coming together for a wonderful appreciative audience. It was a great concert to celebrate 60 years of the Gwalia singers and 20 years of ‘Voices of the Valley’. The evening was a real celebration of Welsh male voice singing and we are looking forward to their return visit in March 2007.
After the concert we were invited to remain for a buffet & beer After Glow where there was lots more singing before we headed back to our hotel. The following morning we left at 11:00 for the long journey home stopping at the Fountain Inn in Builth Wells for a Sundar roast and more singing. A great concert weekend, thanks to all those involved in organising it. (More photos and videos)
