| News of 2007 by month |
| January |
The first concert of 2007 was a 'Mini Festival' at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Haydn James conducted the Welsh Choirs that appeared at the Royal Albert Hall Festival in October. It was almost a repeat performance with outstanding performances form the soloists Rebecca Evans, Wynne Evans, Eddie Wade and Dafydd Iwan. there were solos also from Peter Totterdale and David Williams from the London Welsh MVC. Tim Morgan at the organ and Jeffrey Howard at the piano gave a splendid accompaniment. There were over 400 choristers on stage and they sang to a sell out audience.
The Teenage Cancer Trust benefited to the tune of £60,850 from the concert.
Also in January on Saturday 27th we had a well received concert at All Saints Church, Royal Leaminton Spa. This concert was in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and we sang to a very appreciative audience in what is reputed to be the largest parish church in England. |
| February |
On Saturday 17th February we were in the magnificent setting of Eton College School Hall for a concert in aid of the Child Bereavement Trust. The concert raised over £6000 for the trust and everybody was delighted. The concert was well received by a capacity audience and the setting and acoustics produced an outstanding concert. We we treated to virtuoso trumpet playing by Joe Atkins and fine solos by Susan Piggott (soprano). Annabel Thwaite was in fine form accompanying both the choir and soloists. Haydn James conducted and soloists from the choir were Michael Wyn Jones and David Williams. Guitar and mandolin accompaniment to 'Working Man' was by Mike Charlesworth and John Edwards. Patrick Hodges was in good form as compere.
see what the Child Bereavement Trust had to say ......Review
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| March |
March was a bit of a rest month but despite that we did appear on Blue Peter on St David's Day singing Cwm Rhondda with Gethin the Welsh presenter. A very interesting day - 3 hours, we sang Cwm Rhondda endless times and appeared for less than a minute - that's television.
We performed for longer when we were singing on the pitch at the Millennium Stadium on 24th March for the double header EDF semi-finals. We were joined by a contingent from Cardiff Arms Park Choir and before the first game entertained the Leicester and Sale fans with Swing Low, Jerusalem, Sloop John B and a new arrangement of Abide with me by Haydn James. But we couldn't resist adding in Cwm Rhondda and Delilah
We waxed a little more Welsh for the Cardiff v Ospreys game and belted out Cwm Rhondda, Calon Lan, We'll keep a Welcome and Delilah.
On both occasions we had a tremendous reception and the occasion was very enjoyable. |
| April |
The weekend of 14th April saw us at Lincoln where we sang in the magnificent Cathedral to an enthusiastic audience for the local branch of Macmillan Cancer Support .
Our soloists were Caryl Hughes the Welsh mezzo soprano who gave us a superb performance obviously warming up for her appearance in the semi finals of the Kathleen Ferrier competion in London next week. Peter Totterdale, tenor, improves with every performance and he gave a delightful solo performance.
Choir soloists were Eirian Lewis and David Williams while Haydn James conducted and Annabel Thwaite was our accompanist. The concert finished to a rapturous standing ovation. |
| May |
The Choir had a light month in May with no concerts but we did perform as a cabaret in the Grosvenor House Hotel in London at the Annual Dinner of the FDA. The break has allowed the choir to concentrate on new repertoire items such as 'The Drinking Song' , 'Buddogoliaeth' and 'Give me that old time religion' |
| June |
The concert in Ferneham Hall was part of the Titchfield Music Fesival and was in aid of restoration of St Peter's Church Tichfield. We sang to a very appreciative audience in a theatre setting. Out soloists were magnificent with sharp contrast between David Stout's Masochism Tango and the lovely stains of Sian James and her harp. |
| July |
The concert at Salisbury Cathedral was very successful and we sang to an appreciative audience of 700. The concert was in aid of the Salisbury branch of the Alzheimer's Society. We all enjoyed the singing of our soloist Emily Rowley Jones and welcomed Anita D'attelis as our guest accompanist. |
| August |
August was suposed to be a quiet month but we were asked to sing in the pre match entertainment for the Carnegie Rugby league Challenge Cup Final, Saturday 25th August. We were joined with the Band of the Royal Marines and the Icelandic Tenor, Cortes, and conducted by Haydn James. It was a very memorable experience
We were the last choir to sing at a game at the Old Wembley in 1999 and the first to sing in the New Wembley.
We had a grest response from the crowd especially when we sang 'Amarillo and Abide With Me'. We also had another choir first , singing the Catalan National Anthem in the Catalan language |
| September |
On Saturday September 22nd we sang at the lovely setting of the Great Hall in Reading University. it was a concert put togethr at short notice by the local branch of the Wooden Spoon Society. We were very lucky to be joined by the Laurie Holloway trio and 3 soloists fron the Holoway Montgomery Trust. We were treated to a master class in jazz.
The choir has a tremendous reception from the audience and the acoustics of the hall helped it it be a memorable concert . Anita D'attelis stood in admirably as our guest accompanist. |
| October |
| On 20th October the choir travelled to Llandudno and a magnificent weekend was had in the bright North Wales sunshine ( really!). The concert was at the Venue Cymru and was a Charity Gala presented by the High Sheriffs of Clwyd and Gwynedd. We sang to a very appreciative audience of some 1400 who had turned out despite it being the night of the World Cup Final. We were enthralled by the singing of mezzo soprano Eleri Owen and the virtuoso playing of the world renown harpist Elinor Bennett. In the first half Aled Jones made a break from his busy schedule to sing some of his favourite songs. |
| November |
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The 10th of November saw the Choir in Sunny Eastbourne for a concert in aid of the St Wilfrid,s Hospice. The choir was conducted by Michael Wyn Jones, our deputy conductor and Annabelle Thwaite was the accompanist. There was a good turn out from the choir and we sang well to a very appreciative audience at the Kings Centre. The two female soloists mezzo Soprano Sally Martin and soprano Emily Griffiths were excellent and Geraint Lewis excelled in his solo spot. |
| December |
We had a very good Concert at The Dorking Halls on December 1st with a very
appreciative audience, including a very good response to quieter items such
as Y Darlun. The audience also appreciated the singing of the principal soloist, Gwawr Edwards, who is clearly a “star in the making” ! Haydn James conducted and the accompanist was Annabel Thwaite. Choir soloist Peter Totterdale sang a superb rendition of his two items and Geraint Lewis joined Gwawr Edwards for the duet from Hywyl and Blodwen,
Eirian Lewis sang the solo in Yma O Hyd, including guitar accompaniment by John Feltham, and David Williams sang the
solo in Working Man. The compère was Berwyn Evans who reinforced the empathy that
soon developed between Choir and audience.
The Concert
at St Clement
Danes
Church
on
Thursday, 13th December, 2007
was the fourth Choir Concert organised by
1475 (Dulwich) Air Training Corps Squadron in memory of Jack Lane DFC (a keen
supporter of the Choir) and in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund. The Concert
was also dedicated to the memory of our late Choir Marshall, Keith Roberts,
who was himself an ATC member in his youth.
, the Choir sang
well in a splendid venue, especially in the second half, and the audience
gave us an enthusiastic response and clearly enjoyed the communal carol singing ! In fact, the Concert attracted the largest
audience yet seen at this event. The
Squadron C0, Flight Lieutenant Kevin Mehmet, was most
appreciative of the Choir’s performanc
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