Church, Mumbles for the final concert of the music festival with the Gwalia Singers.  The choir was conducted by accomplished Musical Director Matthew Sims and accompanied by Rhian Liles. The choir took up their positions in their immaculate uniforms.  The concert and the choir did not disappoint, they opened with a rousing version of ‘There is a Land’ followed by ‘What Would I Do Without My Music’, ‘Y Darlun’ and ‘You Raise Me up’ which included individual performances from Craig and Tom.

One huge strength this choir has is that they sing without music, there is no need to look at the score and all eyes are on the conductor. The control that this allows lifts the performance of each piece and the balance of voices was excellent throughout.  The programme was very well planned, each half started with a rousing piece and ended similarly.  During the first half Matthew Sims gave an excellent solo performance of ‘Cilfan Y Coed’, ‘Hushaby Mountain’ and ‘I’ll Walk With God’ which ended with a standing ovation.  Then the choir sang ‘Benedictus’, ‘You are so beautiful’,  ‘O Gymru’ and ‘How Great Though Art’.

The second half started with ‘Calon Lan’ followed by ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’, ‘The Impossible Dream’ and the audience and choir had a bit of fun singing together ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’.  Daniel Davies brought the house down with three songs from the West End, ‘Till I Hear You Sing’, ‘This Is The Moment’ and ‘Maria’ from West Side Story.  Daniel had a standing ovation and loud applause.  His performance was of an exceptionally high standard, there is no doubt Daniel has a very promising future.  The choir then completed the evening with ‘Cwm Rhondda’, ‘One Day I’ll fly Away’ and ‘If we only had love’, before ending with the National Anthem.  It was a lovely evening with excellent varied music and the audience standing at the end thoroughly enjoyed it.
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