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Previous
decade: the 2010's
January 2020
We had a quiet January, with
regard to concerts. We were sorry to hear the sad
news that Alan Short had lost his battle with a short-term
illness and had passed away. Alan was a keen sportsman and
a very good 2nd tenor and had been with us for nine years.
He leaves his wife Eileen, children and grandchildren and
will be sadly missed by the choir and his family. It was
great to sing at his funeral at Swansea Crematorium.
February 2020
Our first performance of the
year was at the Three Lamps, on Saturday 22nd, to provide entertainment for the Wales v France
rugby match. We sang for about half an hour before the
game and managed to squeeze in a few items at half time.
After the game we moved around the various floors singing
a few songs to each group of people, including a hen party
on the top floor! The response we get from these is
amazing and most of the partygoers are youngsters who
would probably never hear a male voice choir singing.
On Saturday 29th we
were back at All Saints, Oystermouth for a fundraising
concert for the choir and a local charity ‘Therapy for
Swansea Kids’. The concert entitled ‘March into March’
feature d the choir and the newly formed ‘Rock Choir’,
which comprises members of choirs from Swansea, Mumbles,
Neath, Carmarthen and Llanelli. The concert started with
Roger Gadd presenting a cheque of £2000.00 to the charity
which has established a Therapy Centre at Hill House and
is entirely run by volunteer parents, therapists and
friends. We opened the concert with ‘Cwm Rhondda’, with
Steve joining Rhian on the organ, and also performed
‘Pacem’. This is relatively new to our repertoire and is
accompanied by Rhian and Gareth Widlake on viola. During
this set Nick presented our service ties to Geoff Jones,
for completing five years, and Adrian Crowley and Anthony
Marmont for ten years. There was also a tie for our
youngest member who was actually celebrating his 18th birthday!
Mike Phippen received his tie for five years’ service and
we all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. We finished our first
set with ‘The Impossible Dream’. The Rock Choir then sang
and started with ‘Since You’ve been Gone’ and included
‘Super Trouper’ and ‘Don’t Stop me Now’ in their first
set. The first half finished with a terrific solo by Lee
Ellery who is the ‘Special Ambassador’ for the charity. He
sang ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ from ‘Les Miserables’ and
received a deserved standing ovation at the end. The Rock
Choir started the second half with Justin Timberlake’s
‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ followed by ‘Only You’. Their
performance is always very lively and are well directed by
Dan Rogers, who’s enthusiasm is affectious. They finished
their second set with ‘Shut Up and Dance with Me’. We
finished the concert with our second set, and we started
with our ‘Abba Medley’. It was great to see our previous
MD, Simon Oram, in the audience, who arranged this medley
for the choir. We sang a number of our favourites and
finished with ‘An American Trilogy’ to a standing ovation
from the packed audience. This was possibly Nick’s last
concert and it was a fitting end to all his hard work over
the past 13 years. Special thanks must go to the sponsors
of the concert Swansea Building Society, Liberty Homes,
Designer Outdoor Lighting, RDM Electrical and Mechanical
Services, and Morganstone. Also, to our Ladies Committee
who looked after ‘front of house’ and CD sales. Lastly to
our fundraising committee who put the concert together.
Following the concert, we all adjourned to the West Cross
Inn, arranged by Meirion Howells, and they provided a
lovely buffet for us.
Nick Rogers, our outstanding MD for the past 14 years, had
announced that he would be standing down after the concert
at the end of February. Nick is staying with the
choir and has joined the second bass section.
March
2020 - June 2021
 Sandra Knight was
appointed as the new Musical Director of the choir
starting in March.
She was appointed from several applicants and we
are very lucky to have found a person with her
qualities. She
gave her first full rehearsal with the choir in
preparation for a concert at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
for the Young Singer Bursary Winners with West Glamorgan
Youth Music. However, unprecedented events took over. Toward the end
of March, the Coronavirus Pandemic came into being. As a result,
"lockdown" throughout the UK was brought in by the
government with self-isolation and gathering of people
strictly banned. Government
rules were to "Stay at home and Stay safe".
This had a
profound effect on all choirs- unable to meet and
rehearse! 2020 was to be a very busy year for the
Gwalia Singers. All
future concerts were cancelled. This included a
retirement dinner in honour of former MD Nick Rogers, a
combined concert with the Kronshagen Choir from Germany,
a choir tour to Cornwall as well as singing at several
weddings and at other events.
With the new
MD eager to commence her appointment and no choir
rehearsals, technology came to the forefront. Regular monthly
newsletters from the Chairman, Clive Walters and the
Music Team were forwarded to choristers along with new
pieces of music to add to the choir's repertoire. This was
important so that sectional parts could be learnt in
readiness for when rehearsals could resume. (Also to
keep everyone busy during lockdown). Zoom has come to
our aid – we had a committee meeting, a social gathering
and a quiz, thank you Gareth John for being our Quiz
Master. Sandra
also met with the four sections of the choir over a
period of weeks via "Zoom". A new chapter had
begun.......
Dr Carl Sullivan, who sings with the second tenors and a
former committee member, is leaving the choir. He was a
doctor at Morriston hospital and is now taking up a
promotional position in Sheffield. He leaves with
our thanks and good wishes.
Unfortunately,
a very loyal and participative member of the Gwalia
Singers – Edwin [Ed] Parton passed away on 20th March
this year. He
had been unwell for some time with lung cancer and was
having regular treatment in hospital where he contracted
the coronavirus.
He was a very
much loved and intelligent member of the choir which he
joined in May 2008. His potential was soon recognised
when he was elected to the committee at the AGM in 2011.
In the same year
he took on the role of Patron’s Secretary, communicating
regularly with all those many individuals who support
the choir. In 2013 the choir Chairman at the time –
Clive Walters, invited him to be Vice Chairman which he
gladly accepted and was elected Chairman in 2015. He added a
special mature and hard-working dimension to this role
which he held for the normal two years. On completion of
his chairmanship he continued to serve as an experienced
committee member.
He will be
greatly missed by all the choir, especially the second
tenors and certainly by the many golfers who played with
him. Our
deepest sympathies are with his wife Janet.
February
2021
Our first performance of the year was at the Three
Lamps, on Saturday 22nd, to provide
entertainment for the Wales v France rugby match. We sang
for about half an hour before the game and managed to
squeeze in a few items at half time. After the game we
moved around the various floors singing a few songs to
each group of people, including a hen party on the top
floor! The response we get from these is amazing and most
of the partygoers are youngsters who would probably never
hear a male voice choir singing.
On Saturday 29th we were back at All Saints,
Oystermouth for a fundraising concert for the choir and a
local charity ‘Therapy for Swansea Kids’. The concert
entitled ‘March into March’ feature d the choir and the
newly formed ‘Rock Choir’, which comprises members of
choirs from Swansea, Mumbles, Neath, Carmarthen and
Llanelli. The concert started with Roger Gadd presenting a
cheque of £2000.00 to the charity which has established a
Therapy Centre at Hill House and is entirely run by
volunteer parents, therapists and friends. We opened the
concert with ‘Cwm Rhondda’, with Steve joining Rhian on
the organ, and also performed ‘Pacem’. This is relatively
new to our repertoire and is accompanied by Rhian and
Gareth Widlake on viola. During this set Nick presented
our service ties to Geoff Jones, for completing five
years, and Adrian Crowley and Anthony Marmont for ten
years. There was also a tie for our youngest member who
was actually celebrating his 18th birthday!
Mike Phippen received his tie for five years’ service and
we all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. We finished our first
set with ‘The Impossible Dream’. The Rock Choir then sang
and started with ‘Since You’ve been Gone’ and included
‘Super Trouper’ and ‘Don’t Stop me Now’ in their first
set. The first half finished with a terrific solo by Lee
Ellery who is the ‘Special Ambassador’ for the charity. He
sang ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ from ‘Les Miserables’ and
received a deserved standing ovation at the end. The Rock
Choir started the second half with Justin Timberlake’s
‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ followed by ‘Only You’. Their
performance is always very lively and are well directed by
Dan Rogers, who’s enthusiasm is affectious. They finished
their second set with ‘Shut Up and Dance with Me’. We
finished the concert with our second set, and we started
with our ‘Abba Medley’. It was great to see our previous
MD, Simon Oram, in the audience, who arranged this medley
for the choir. We sang a number of our favourites and
finished with ‘An American Trilogy’ to a standing ovation
from the packed audience. This was possibly Nick’s last
concert and it was a fitting end to all his hard work over
the past 13 years. Special thanks must go to the sponsors
of the concert Swansea Building Society, Liberty Homes,
Designer Outdoor Lighting, RDM Electrical and Mechanical
Services, and Morganstone. Also, to our Ladies Committee
who looked after ‘front of house’ and CD sales. Lastly to
our fundraising committee who put the concert together.
Following the concert, we all adjourned to the West Cross
Inn, arranged by Meirion Howells, and they provided a
lovely buffet for us.
Nick Rogers, our outstanding MD for the past 14 years,
had announced that he would be standing down after the
concert at the end of February. Nick is staying with
the choir and has joined the second basssection.
March
2021
It is with great sadness that we have lost one of our
Choristers - Raymond Pelzer who passed away on 9th March
2021. Tony Brooks
(from the Bass Section) has written the following tribute to
Ray.
"Whenever I think of Ray I always smile, he had a wicked and
infectious sense of humour and was always laughing and
telling stories, so much so, you just couldn’t help but
laugh along with him." Ray was a gifted singer with a
beautiful Top Tenor voice, he will be especially missed in
the Top Tenor section and significantly by the Gwalia
Singers as a whole. Ray joined the Gwalia Singers in
January 1992 and soon became a valued chorister, his
attendance at Rehearsals and Concerts was exemplary. Ray
remained with the choir for 29 years, playing an active role
at Concerts and the Afterglows wherever the Gwalia Singers
performed around the world. - "Rest in Peace my
Friend."
It was very pleasing to see Dr Carl Sullivan returning to
the choir.
June
2021
An announcement was
made by the Government that Choirs would be permitted to
sing together again, face to face under restrictions with
Risk Assessments, Health and Safety Procedures, Social
Distancing and the wearing of masks becoming the norm. What great joy
to finally rehearse and to sing together face to
face! There had never been a greater time to
appreciate being a chorister and that special feeling of
belonging to "a Choir Family". The Gwalia Singers
took up the mantle of further widening their repertoire in
rehearsals, enjoying the benefits of singing together
again .
Emyr Price left the choir as he moved away to Burry
Port. He will be missed after 15 years as a second
tenor and as committee member. We thank him and
Mandy, who was treasurer of the Ladies Committee, for all
they have done for the choir and wish them all the best in
their new home.
July
2021
We are very
pleased to welcome Cliff Gapper into the choir as a
full-time singer with the second basses, we wish him a
long and enjoyable time with the Gwalia Singers.
September
2021
September was a busy
month for the choir, having being invited to sing at two
weddings and also at The Mumbles Festival of Music and the
Arts 2021 (see photos). The successful
festival concert, alongside Swansea Soprano Ros Evans, was
an excellent platform for the Gwalia Singers to introduce
three pieces of work from their new repertoire.
During the evening we were able to present Gareth John and
John Haslam with their 10 year service ties,
congratulations to them. It is very encouraging to
see the choir numbers growing and over the last few months
the choir has welcomed nine new probationary
choristers.
October
- November 2021
We have now
started rehearsing our Christmas repertoire ready for our
December concerts. We have been very pleased to see
our probationers becoming full time members of the choir,
we welcome the following members into the choir and wish
them all a long and happy association with the Gwalia
Singers.
Top Tenor - Richard
Lewis. Second Tenors - David Lloyd, Phil
Renowden, Roger Spring and Robert Walters. Baritone
- Gordon Reed. Basses - Robert Parker
and Phil Webster.
It is with very
great sadness that we have to report the passing of Thomas
George Bowen - ‘George’.
He was one of our Choristers and passed away
peacefully in his sleep, after a long illness, on the 21st
October 2021. George joined the choir in
March 2007 and served as a reliable and conscientious
chorister until the Coronavirus pandemic closed the choir
down in February 2019.
He had a lovely baritone voice and seldom missed a
rehearsal, concert, wedding or concert tour. Towards the end
of his time with the choir he would sing from his wheel
chair as he could no longer stand or walk.
George will always be remembered for his entertaining
stories about his time in the Royal Navy and the Police
Force and for his deep booming laugh. He will be
greatly missed by all his friends in the Gwalia Singers.
December
2021
Sandra
Knight’s tenure as our Musical Director came to an
end in early December. Sandra has
been with us throughout the pandemic and we thank
her for all she has done for the choir during that
time. We
are very fortunate that our former MD, Nick Rogers
has agreed to step in while we search for a
replacement. Our permanent accompanist, Rhian,
is unable to be with us at the moment so we are very
grateful to Steve Wilson and Gareth Widlake who have
stood in to fill the gap, we are very fortunate to
have such talented musicians in the choir.
We were very
disappointed that our first Christmas concert at
St Hilary’s Church had to be cancelled due to
coronavirus restrictions.
Our second concert went ahead in All Saints
Church on the 16th December in Oystermouth and it was a
great success. We, along with the soprano Ross
Evans, sang to raise funds for Maggie’s, a local Cancer
support charity. We were able to christen our new
staging that we had purchased before the pandemic.
We sang a mixture of music including some new songs from
our repertoire and well as some of our traditional
Christmas songs (see the programme).
During
the concert ties were presented to some choristers in
recognition of their long of service to the choir, this
should have been done before but lack of formal
concerts, again due to Covid, has caused a build-up of
recipients.
 35
Years - Clive Walters.
25 Years - Nick Rogers and
Mike Williams.
20 Years - Des Criddle and Steve
Wilson. 15 Years - John
Morgan.
10 Years - Peter Jacobs and Craig
Thomas. 5 Years - Clive
Dowell, James McCarry, Carl Sullivan and Phil Withy.
Brian
Warwick (5 Years) and Geoff Wheel (10 Years) will have
their ties presented at the next opportunity. We
congratulate them all and thank them for all they do for
the choir.
It is with sadness that we have to
report the news that Dewer Neill passed away on New
Years Eve. He died peacefully in Brynfield Manor where
he had been for three days. Dewer had been
struggling with painful arthritis for several
years. He had been a very loyal choir member
for 15 years since January 2007, and had attended nearly
all choir concerts and tours in that time. We
send our sympathy to his wife Patsy, a valued Gwalia
supporter, and to his family.
January
2022
In the New Year we returned to
rehearsals after our Covid/Christmas break with Nick still
running the rehearsals and Stephen on the keyboard. We spent the
time polishing the songs we had
learned since July and some of our past
repertoire.
February
2022
This month we met our new Musical
Director, Matthew Sims.
Matthew is an enthusiastic and very capable
musician/conductor and he has exciting plans to help to
develop the choir and move us forward. He took two
rehearsals with us and then on the 22nd of February the
choir unanimously voted him in as their permanent MD. It was also very
pleasing to see Rhian, our accompanist, back after a long
break. She
will continue playing at our rehearsals on alternate weeks
and at our public performances while Stephen will continue
on the other weeks. We
are very fortunate to have such a strong Music Team.
We are very pleased to announce that Ian Bengeyfield (2nd
Tenor), Barry Jones (Baritone) and Neil Lewis (Bass) have
passed their voice test with Matt and we welcome them as
full members of the Gwalia Singers.
March 2022
On
Sunday the 6th March the Gwalia Singers performed their
first concert of the year at Mumbles Rugby club.
This was a concert to celebrate St David’s Day and
was the first event for our new conductor, Matthew Sims.
We also a welcomed the return of our accompanist Rhian
Stone. The concert was a resounding success as the choir
performed to a capacity crowd, singing some traditional
Welsh items, together with items from our repertoire. It
was a wonderful afternoon crowned by a final standing
ovation. We had a collection for the ‘Ukraine Appeal
Fund’ which was generously supported and raised £350.
Our thanks go to  Mumbles
Rugby Club and their Chairman Simon Evans for their
invitation and hospitality. We hope to make this an annual
event in the future.
It is with very great sadness that we have
to report that Peter Jacobs, one of our First Tenors,
passed away on the 11th March. He died in hospital
having been fighting against cancer for a long
time. He will be greatly missed by all of our
choir members especially for his lovely tenor voice and
his great sense of humour. Our thoughts go out to Rae
and his family.
At our rehearsals we are learning a new
version of “Calon Lan” by John Hughes and arranged by
Jeffery Howard. We are looking forward to learning
“To Where You Are”, arranged by Alwyn Humphreys with
Words and Music by Richard Marx & Linda Thompson.
April - August 2022
As
my first duty in writing this Choir News update, I
would like to thank all the Music Team, Choristers,
Supporters, Patrons, Committee, and our President for
such a wonderful warm welcome since being appointed as
Musical Director in February. Since then, the Choir
has been very busy, not just singing at weddings and
other engagements but hard at work at rehearsals too.
Adapting to new techniques and building a bond between
myself and the Choir.
In
June I was honoured to preside over my first annual
concert, and it was an emotional moment when being
presented the ‘Choir Baton’ from our former Musical
Director, Nick at the start of the evening. This
concert is our flagship for the year, where we measure
our success and showcase the Choir, and its abilities,
to our followers and the public. The concert was a
huge success. This was evident by the standing ovation
that was received following the final number. This was
the first annual concert for 3 years, due to the
pandemic, but the way in which the Choir performed and
responded to the occasion made me feel very proud,
especially being able to include some new repertoire
in such a short space of time. Rhian, our accompanist
supported the choir, accompanying with confidence and
sensitivity. I would like to thank Rhian for her
continued hard work. I would also like to thank all
the ladies who helped make the evening such a success,
and who are always ready to help. On the evening we
were very pleased to welcome our Irish guest artiste
for the evening, Karl McGuckin, who entertained us and
added so much to the evening. Karl was expertly
accompanied by our guest accompanist Jeffery Howard.
We are already looking forward to next year’s concert,
and the plans for that are already underway.
In July, following the annual concert, we took the
Choir on a short ‘Roadtrip’ with our ‘Rehearsals on
the Road’. We would like to thank the Commercial Inn,
Killay, Uplands Rugby Club, Swansea Yacht Club and
Mumbles Rugby Club for the welcome and the use of
their facilities. Recruitment is very important, and
as a result we have welcomed 5 new choristers to the
ranks, including 2 new 1st tenors, who are difficult
to find. I extend a warm welcome to all the new
members, “you are already an important part of our
family, and I wish you long and fruitful membership of
the Choir”.
As
we look forward, the Choir have 2 engagements on the
horizon. September 10th at All Saints Church, as a
part of the Mumbles Festival, and our own Autumn
Concert to be held at the Calon Lan Centre with our
guests ‘Cor Y Gyrlais’. This is ahead of our trip to
Greece, where we will participate in a music festival.
I look forward to writing to you all again soon with
an update, following the return of our tour. I look
forward to seeing you at one of our concerts
soon.
Greece - 5th to 12th
October 2022
There
can be no doubt that the highlight was a superb tour to
Greece, but, prior to that, we had a well received
‘pre-tour concert’ at the famed Calon Lân Centre, with a
predictably knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience.
Shortly after that, we were off to Greece, meeting one
dark early October morning in pouring rain to board buses
to Heathrow! Bad traffic delayed us but spirits were fine,
with some tricky quizzes to keep the brains moving. We
should also remember the contribution to this tour by our
hardworking Ladies’ section.
Once on
board the plane, the crew had evidently realised that
there was a Welsh Male Voice Choir on board and we
responded to a request by entertaining the other
passengers to a song. Acoustics are not wonderful on a
plane, but we managed well enough. We spent the first
night in Athens. Apart from a view of the Acropolis from
the rooftop restaurant, memories of that city seem to be
mainly of congested traffic. However, many of us had wife,
friend or family with us and it was a great social
success, as the party totalled 87 people. On, then,
eventually, to Nafpaktos, our base for a few days,
stopping to view the amazing Corinth Canal en route. We
were greeted by hotel staff at the Lepanto Beach Hotel by
the excellent Danielle and her staff and enjoyed plentiful
food, mostly at the neighbouring restaurant.
Here
began the real highlight for all of us. We lounged on the
beach, most of us testing the warm waters as well, despite
certain exuberant personnel trying to drown half of
the choir and wandered around this delightful and historic
area. Our first concert was memorable, on the lovely
harbour and surrounded by history as we followed a
local host choir and a very good string quartet in this
dreamy location where they were celebrating the battle of
Lepanto, the l
ast
major battle fought between rowing vessels. The opposing
Ottomans were defeated, by the way. To add to this
highlight, we were entertained by and with our ‘Host’
choir at a local restaurant. The duo of guitar and
bouzouki soon had lots of us dancing and there was lots of
singing, including solos, from Dan or Matthew being
serious and others letting out some humour. The
entertainment might have stopped there, but some of the
younger element, along with a few elders who might have
known better, continued to sing back near our hotel – and
on the beach or in the water – well into the night!
Well,
the tour continued, with concerts at the Agrinio Festival
and at Mesologgi, which went down well with the locals,
although audience numbers were not huge. The choir was in
good voice and much appreciated by all. However, the stay
in Nafpaktos will stay long in our memories. Then it was
back to the traffic of Athens and the return flight (yes,
we were asked to sing again) and a late return for about
50 choristers and lots of friends. Sadly, there were a
couple of injuries from trips and slips, but most were
treated by our resident doctor, Carl. Stalwart bass Pip
had to remain in Greece for a week or two because his fall
had led to a hip fracture 
but, as a stalwart, he
came to rehearsals just a couple of weeks after his return
to take his place in the front row.
It is with
great sadness that that we have to report that
William John Morgan (John) passed away suddenly on
25th October 2022. Our
sympathy goes to Pauline, his wife, and to all his
family. John
had been a valued member of the choir for over 15
years, and was a stalwart baritone. He will
be remembered for his sense of humour and as a
very caring man who always kept in touch with
choristers who were ill and not able to attend
choir events.
He also ran the weekly choir draw. He will
be greatly missed by all his friends in the choir.
The Winter Season
So,
it was now back to rehearsals and the build up to our
Christmas Concert season, with a few minor appearances
to keep the variety going. Our first seasonal
concert was held on the 10th December at St Hillery's
Church in Killay where we received a very warm
welcome.
One
of our consistently successful venues is All Saints
Church, Oystermouth, with a good seating
capacity and lovely acoustics. Thus, our annual
concert for Maggies was held on the 15th December, also
featuring the Pontardulais Brass Band, was the biggest
event of the season and once again hugely popular. The
Ladies’ section once again organised their annual
concert at the Scout HQ on the 13th December and this
was another success. A Christmas Concert that
always receives a really great reception is at the
Vivian Hall, Blackpill, on the 19th December where we
have trouble fitting in the choir and the
audience.
Somehow, they managed to get us all in and the
crowd, including the Lord Mayor Mike Day and his good
lady, gave us a very warm response.
We’ve
also been learning the basic principles of singing, at a
Singing Workshop held on the 21st January. Our guest
for the day was Jeffrey Howard who
delivered a thought provoking session for the choristers.
Looking Ahead.
Gwalia
Singers
is bucking the trend and getting bigger and better at a
time when many choirs are diminishing and reducing their
loads. Matthew, along with our top rate music team, the
wonderful Rhian as pianist and former MD Nick Rogers,
assistant accompanist Steve Wilson and violinist Gareth
Widlake, has plans that will project the choir even
further along the road to success. Naturally, those
plans include the continuation of our road to top
performance. We have a really unusual date for March
5th, singing at Ffos Las racecourse, then back to our
regular venue at All Saints for Marie Curie. The same
venue will be used for our own Annual Concert on June
11th, as well as having a number of weddings to attend,
including one in Ireland! We have plans for another
record to be made and will be singing at other music
festivals.
Watch
out
for announcements linking us with the ‘Gwalia Prostate
Choir’, not actually related to us, but we will be
associated with them for their fundraising for this
important cause. Our own travel plans will work towards
another October highlight, this year being a visit to
old friends in Mannheim, Germany. Life with Matthew
will, without doubt, be a continued roller coaster and
we look forward to it with enthusiasm. Life is about
high quality performance and fun with a great crowd.
We
want more members to come with us on our exciting
journey. You don’t need to be a ‘professional’ musician,
just somebody who enjoys singing, good company and the
sense of ‘belonging’ to a happy bunch of like-minded
people. Many of us have a history of sporting days and
love the camaraderie, so come to a rehearsal to meet the
gang, ask any of us about it, or drop us a line. You
will be assured of a welcome and then you can start on
the road to our next adventures.
Serendipity
Serendipity
generally
means a chance finding of good luck. However, it was
more than just luck that, a year ago on the 22nd
February 2022, this excellent choir met with Matthew
Ioan Sims. It took just two rehearsals for the
boys to vote him as our new Musical Director. What
a year we have enjoyed since then!
A Day at the Races
Sunday, March 5th introduced us to an
interesting new type of venue. Whilst the Marx Brothers’
film of the above name was a renowned comedy, our
experience was ‘funny’ in a different way! Despite very
short notice, close on 40 of our rugged band made their
way to the Ffos Las racecourse to take part in a ‘Proud
to be Welsh’ day. We soon discovered that there were
more than hurdles to be overcome!
Thankful that we were not, as originally
suggested, to sing in the cold open air by the gates, we
found ourselves inside one of the bars, immediately
realising that the low ceiling was covered in
polystyrene tiles, wonderful for damping sound. Any bar
provides other distractions; the sound of ordering
drinks, louder conversations etc., plus in this case the
accompaniment of piped music to distract from our
singing. We persevered and found a number of people
paying attention and applauding in appreciation. Moving
to our second bar, we found slightly better acoustics,
but this time a competition with the racecourse’s
loudspeaker system.
However, the boys persisted and ‘walked
through the storm’ to deserve some applause and
laudatory comments from some of those present. All we
can say was that it was a new experience and we
survived, our name was spread further and we made at
least some new friends. On to the next with heads held
high!
A Home Win
For
Gwalia Singers, the lovely church of All Saints in
Oystermouth is one that we consider ‘home’. We have
held many concerts here and our Annual Concert on June
17th will be here yet again. With a large capacity,
excellent acoustics and great facilities, this is a
first rate venue. Also ‘home’ to us is the excellent
charity for Marie Curie, one of our long-established
groups of friends.
So, on
the 11th March, when ‘Away’ victories were the trend
(at least for Wales and France), it was a sweet taste
of home success indeed. Despite Covid and other
distractions, over 50 took to the stage and what an
evening it was! The choir was on song, Musical
Director Matthew brought the best out of all (as well
as performing a popular solo verse himself), Rhian was
as usual brilliant on the piano and Gareth spot on
with the violin for the two established numbers. In
addition, local saxophonist Mick Luck played a couple
of fine sessions with some smooth music.
The
evening ended with the large audience giving a
standing ovation and then remaining standing to join
in with the National Anthem, including the last lines
under the direction of Matt, of course – followed by
the final chorus with the accompaniment of the choir.
An undeniable ‘home win’ and we hope for many similar
fixtures in the future! The evening raised the grand
amount of £2652 for the charity. Thanks to the
Marie Curie committee for organising such a lovely
evening.
Rings & Ruby
Themes are
emerging for the next couple of months as the Gwalia
Singers continue to develop their excellence and, defying
trends, expand their membership with new and keen
choristers taking the total number to over 70.
Saturday, April 29th saw us invited to
sing at the wedding of the delightful couple Jon and Lucy
at St Peter’s Church, Newton. Once again, the challenge
was there, in that lovely floral arrangements meant that
50 choristers were almost on top of the congregation!
Weddings are not always easy, as we never know how keen
the audience may be towards Male Voice Choirs, but we
performed five numbers, mixing English and Welsh songs, as
the guests were being seated. There was a short delay due
to some vehicle problems and then we joined in with the
congregation on two hymns that everybody knows – Cwm
Rhondda (Guide me, O thou great redeemer) and All things
bright and beautiful. Not much was needed from prompt
sheets!
Finally, we added two numbers as the couple signed the
register and then we were asked to remain for a photo with
the bride and groom. Thanks to the Reverend Chris Darvill
for running the service and introducing us to the
attendees.
We are now anticipating a big rugby event. On the 26th
May, our venue will definitely be bigger as we
perform at the 150th Anniversary of the famous
Swansea RFC at the new Swansea Arena. This is
a big honour for the Gwalia Singers and we look forward to
a great night. We hope our President, the Whites’ legend
Geoff Wheel, will be proud to see us there!
Back to the ‘Rings again, June 2nd will
see us performing at another wedding at St Catherine’s,
Gorseinon and we look forward to taking part in another
happy day.
However, the highlight of the first half of 2023 is
undoubtedly the Gwalia Singers’ Annual Concert on the
17th June, 2023. This will be a
spectacular evening at All Saints Church, Mumbles, when we will sing
some established favourites, plus a range of new numbers
that we have been working on with Musical Director Matthew
Ioan Simms, our outstanding accompanist Rhian and the rest
of the musical team of Nick Rogers, Gareth Widlake and
Stephen Wilson. Tickets will be in great demand, so make
sure you get yours for this extra special occasion! More
news for the latter half of the year will be published
soon.
Proud to be Gwalia
Mumbles RFC bar
may not be the biggest venue and, indeed, it was as well
that our entire membership did not try to squeeze
in! However, in the afternoon of Sunday 14th May, we
are told that we are now Swansea’s biggest Male Voice
Choir as our turnout was pretty good. It is not
surprising, as this concert was in aid of the funds for
THE UKRAINE. Enthusiasm from the audience was, as
usual in this club, excellent and it really boosted us as
we went through a full programme, along with a couple of
solo numbers from our renowned Musical Director Matthew
Simms.
A heartfelt speech from the Ukrainian charity’s local
organiser, Svetlana, explained how their brave soldiers
hope to push to reclaim some of the lands stolen by Russia
and how funds raised would be used to provide medical aid
to the region in these distressing times. It was
very moving and it was splendid to see how many of our own
choir pressed forward to contribute when the collecting
tankard was circulated. It probably also made one or two
of our songs more emotional and meaningful.
Throughout all our numbers and, indeed, Matt’s solos, our
pianist Rhian was her usual brilliant self.
It would have been hard to ignore the attractive young
ladies with floral garlands in their hair (naturally, the
flowers were in the colours of the now familiar Ukrainian
flag). Once we had finished our programme, these young
ladies delighted the guests and our members with a display
of folk dancing.
We had an afternoon to remember and one to be proud of as
we made our own contribution, both musical and practical,
to this excellent cause! We’ll be back!
Honoured to be
invited
As the famous
Swansea Rugby Club (The All Whites) celebrated 150 years
of playing, they chose the famed new Arena for a
spectacular dinner and event with many famous names both
attending and providing the entertainment on such a
special occasion. Thus, it was a matter of some pride that
The Gwalia Singers male voice choir was invited to
open the proceedings.
We started by singing in the concourse, where guests were
arriving and it was, for many of us, an opportunity to
spot some star names of past and present in appropriate
evening dress. We then switched over to the stage where,
after a little delay, we had the crowd’s undivided
attention as we sang Cwm Rhondda to enthusiastic applause
and then led the congregation in the National Anthem.
This was an honour fitting the growing popularity of our
choir and our numbers approaching 60 on stage reflected
the status we have been earning as the top of the range in
the region. We now look forward with great enthusiasm to
our Annual Concert at All Saints Church in Mumbles on the
17th June. It will be a great night!
Part of a perfect day
On Friday, June 2nd 2023, the Gwalia singers
sang at the wedding of Ian and Rebecca in St
Catherine's church, Gorseinon. The weather was
perfect, the sky was blue and cloudless and the bride
and groom had, in the words of the wonderful Reverend
Adrian Morgan, "scrubbed up well". The choir performed
four songs during the arrival of guests before
carrying out a tricky lateral manoeuvre to clear space
for the ceremony itself.
The bride was fashionably
late, giving time for choristers time to suck on a
mint or two or sit for a moment before singing 'You
Are So Beautiful' as Rebecca walked down the aisle.
She was beautiful.
The choir then retired
to the stalls to muse over their own marriages, past,
present or future, as Ian and Rebecca exchanged vows.
The Reverend Morgan declared them man and wife and
went on to profer excellent marital advice.
The choir left the stalls to
line in their appropriate sections on one side of the
church to sing while the couple signed the register.
With the exception of one bass, the move went without
incident given that the sections were randomly mixed
in the choir stalls. The Gwalia's contribution to the
wedding ended with 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' as Ian
and Rebecca walked down the aisle to their new,
married life. Musical Director Matthew Sims, in a post
match interview, enthused that the performance had
been 'Alright'.
If Carlsberg did
concerts....
Saturday, June 17th saw our long-awaited Annual
Concert at All Saints, Mumbles and the reaction of the
packed audience was positively tremendous. A widely varied
programme included, of course, many of our established
favourites and blockbusters, but Musical Director Matthew
Simms has introduced much that is new to Gwalia, including
the Welsh hymn ‘Y Darlun’ and the soulful ‘To Where You
Are’. Our regular followers were delighted with a
first-class concert and there is no doubt that new
supporters now understand why Gwalia Singers is now such a
fast-growing choir in both numbers and reputation.
Our young guest performers, tenor Harri Morgan and soprano
Kathryn Forrest, delighted everybody with performances that
were of the highest quality and superb entertainment and our
guest accompanist Jeffrey Howard was faultless as always. In
addition, our own wonderful Rhian showed just why we would
never change her! An additional crowd-pleaser was our own
soloist, Daniel Davies and all were charmed by the lovely
young Ukrainian ladies who performed a folk dance, prompting
a big boost to our bucket collection for that charity. Of
course, we thank Matthew for his energetic direction, as
well as his usual contribution with a solo verse here and
there.
During the evening, long service ties were presented to
choristers as follows: 30 years - John Davies, 25
years - Lawrence Sutton and Pip George, 15 years - Walter
Jones and Walter Carey, and 5 years - John Ashmole, Steve
Barker, Bill McCarley, Keith Riley and Gareth Widlake.
Congratulations to them all.
The church eventually
rang to a great all-round rendition of the National Anthem.
It was, as many people averred, a simply splendid
evening! To see more photographs please click here.
   
To read
more of our news going back to the choirs beginning click
here
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