Our European tour took us to Kiel, North Germany this year and had its origins in Mannheim in 2012 when we sang with a mixed choir from Kronshagen (a suburb of Kiel). We had kept details of their MD, Imre Sallay, and asked whether they would accommodate us and they dutifully obliged. Just by sheer chance they have an annual concert on the last weekend in September! We had 42 choristers and a number of wives and partners and arrived on Thursday 27th at around 7.00pm and went straight to the ‘Alte Muhle’ (Old Mill) restaurant and had a lovely meal. 

On Friday we had a guided to tour around Kiel, by coach, which was very interesting. Kiel is a harbour city and is on the north east coast of Germany facing the Baltic Sea. We finished up by visiting the Laboe Ehrenmals (Naval Museum) where, in the Great Hall; we sang 3 items and laid a wreath at the memorial which has been set up for drowned and fallen sailors everywhere. This was a very emotional time with many of the choristers suffering from ‘lumps in throats’ and some were even moved to tears. Many of our ladies were also overcome by the occasion too. We then had a meal at the restaurant ‘Heimathafen’ (Admiral Scheer) and many took a lift to the top of the tower of the Great Hall, which gave splendid views of the Harbour and surrounding countryside. 

In the evening we went to Rendsburg to sing at St Mary’s church. We were joined by the Rendsburg male voice choir and ‘Liedertafel’ (another local male singing group), who joined together for the very first time for the concert. The concert took a different format to what we usually do as, following 2 sets by each of the choirs we went, with the audience, to have the refreshments. After this we went back to the church to finish the concert by singing another set each! It was great to see that the audience returned too! We finished our final set with ‘An American Trilogy’ and the appreciative audience; together with the other two choirs, got to their feet to give us a terrific ovation. Indeed, the church was a lovely place to sing and we had given a splendid performance. There were some presentations made at the end of the concert and we then returned to our hotel much later than we had anticipated!

The next day we were up early and travelled to the small town of Plon and went on a boat trip around Lake Ploner. This took a couple of hours and we returned to the hotel to get ready for the evening concert. This was the main event of the tour and we sang with Chor Kronshagen at the Burgerhaus, Kronshagen. It was a very large hall and there were over 400 people in the audience with many local dignitaries there also, including the Mayor. It was also 99th year of the existence of Chor Kronshagen. It really was a special event and Chor Kronshagen sang a very varied programme with music from all ages. They finished their first set with ‘Ar Hyd Y Nos’ (They have had a long association with a choir from North Wales) which they sang in Welsh! We then sang our first set, which included ‘Sanctus’, by Schubert, which we sang in German, and finished with ‘Cwm Rhondda’ which brought the 400 strong audience to its feet in appreciation. We don’t remember having a standing ovation in the middle of a performance before! Following the interval it was pleasing to hear Chor Kronshagen singing some modern songs and they included ‘Can you feel the love tonight’ and finished with Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’. A lovely performance, and the 50 singers in the choir made a very beautiful sound, and were well directed by their MD, Imre Sallay. We then sang our final set and again received a standing ovation where another item was demanded. We obliged by singing ‘As Long As I have Music’, which was a fitting end to another great performance by the boys. However the concert did not finish there as both choirs joined together to sing the amazing ‘O Fortuna’ and ‘Fortune Plango Vulnera’ from ‘Carmina Burana’ by Carl Orff (Many will remember ‘O Fortuna’ as the music from the ‘Old Spice’ advert many years ago!). This was directed by Nick and accompanied by Imre, on the piano, and Stefan Bihary on percussion. The choirs made a great sound and did really well to keep everything together. Many presentations were made to conclude a wonderful evening of singing, and hopefully, we may all meet up again someday. The most sumptuous buffet followed the concert and wine and beer flowed which was much appreciated by everyone and many thanks must go to Chor Kronshagen for providing this. We even managed to sing a few more items including ’Freunde Schenket Ein’ which we sang in German to our hosts.

We had a leisurely start to Sunday and were even more delayed, as the bus company sent the usual two buses to pick us up, but realised that one of them was not big enough for our party!  The problem was eventually solved and we made our way to the beautiful city of Lubeck. The old part was very interesting with a large cathedral and church and the architecture of the buildings was quite stunning. When we returned to Kiel, in the early evening, we all had a lovely meal together at the Kiel Brewery and enjoyed their beer, which is brewed on the premises. We then returned to the hotel and a good number of us then went back to the ‘Alte Muhle’ and had a final afterglow. We returned to Swansea on Monday and arrived at around 8.00pm.

This was another wonderful tour and there are so many people to thank. The coach company was ‘Reisebyer’ and they had organised the hotel and arranged for buses to carry us around to every event. Apart from the one slight mishap, they were excellent. Our own secretary Alan Clewett, as usual, worked tirelessly before and during the tour to make it such a success. Lawrence, our treasurer, also worked so hard to collect monies during the year and during the trip with his usual efficiency. We had 2 of our ladies, Patsy Dewar and Jan Davies, to sell CD’s at the venues, and they took nearly 300 Euros over the two concerts. Adrian Crowley took charge of one of the buses and carried the CD’s around with him. Thanks to our musical team of Nick, Rhian and Steve, who never fail to bring the concerts together, and ensure a high quality of performance. Lastly, to the members of the choir, who committed themselves to the tour and sang so well.

Back to the grind now and rehearsals start for our busy Christmas period!