Gwalia Singers (Swansea) |
![]() Charity Number 1210553 |
Cantorion Gwalia (Abertawe) |
Curry Social Evening - Clyne Golf Club, 04/07/25 (See more pictures here) Tickets were sold out for this
social event in Clyne Golf Club,an evening of
entertainment and socialising. Friday was indeed a
fun evening of
good food and lively entertainment from the popular
‘Shantyjacs’ and Gwalia’s
own talented soloist Daniel Davies and wonderful
accompanist Rhian Liles. All enjoyed and relaxed,and a
warm
welcome extended to new members. Thank you to Clyne Golf
Club for
their excellent service and Gwalia Ladies for organising
this special event. £150 was collected and
presented to
the ‘Shantyjacs’ for their donation to Mumbles Lifeboat
funds.
Annual Concert - All Saints Church, Mumbles
15/06/25 (See
more pictures here)
Côr Merched Lleisiau’r Cwm’s
compere introduced their history and incredible
achievements over a 30 year existence -and they
performed a beautiful, varied rendition from their
repertoire. The
audience were absolutely delighted! The first half concluded on a high
with more of Gwalia’s favourites: ‘Y Tangnefeddwyr’,
‘And Can It Be’, ‘Benedictus’ in memory of members who
passed recently-and the mighty ‘Gwahoddiad’ The interval was enjoyed by all as
an opportunity for some refreshments, and socialising. The second half programme included
a variety of Gwalia’s wide repertoire with the jovial
‘Five Foot Two’ rendition and leg kicking a big hit!
Côr Merched Lleisiau’r Cwm also sang some upbeat songs
with dancing steps outdoing the gents of course with
their fine skills!The concert concluded with Gwalia’s
firm favourites and the poignant ‘If We Only Have
Love’. The audience gave a rapturous
applause to both Choirs.
Mrs. Wendy Gadd, the Ladies’ Chairperson
presented Miss Rhian Liles, Gwalia’s accompanist, and
Miss Catrin Hughes, Côr Merched Lleisiau’r Cwm’s
Musical Director with beautiful floral bouquets, and
Mr. David Williams, Gwalia’s compere and Mr. Matthew
Sims, Gwalia’s Musical Director with bottles of wine. Many thanks
to them and both Choirs for their much-appreciated
hard work and dedication .A wonderful evening with a
heartfelt rendition of ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ at the
end! All enjoyed the
‘afterglow’ celebrations at the Oyster House, Mumbles. Many thanks
for their very kind hospitality! Gwalia Rehearsal with Patrons. Guide/Scouts Hall,Brynmill 13/05/25 The Gwalia Singers invited their Patrons to a rehearsal evening to gain insight into their musical learning practices. It was an opportunity also to meet Musical Director, Matthew Sims, accompanist, Rhian Liles, and Choristers-and observe them all ‘at work’. Refreshments were served by the Ladies in the interval, and Wendy Gadd,Ladies’ Chairperson presented a cheque of £1,000 to Rhian Liles towards the purchase of a new keyboard. A good evening’s rehearsal! Many thanks to the Patrons for their continued support!
Gwalia Singers and Cirencester MVC
Concert. 26/04/25 What
a special evening!
How lovely to invite Cirencester MVC to join
Gwalia in the delightful St Peter’s Church via two
choristers from the Choirs who’ve stayed connected for
many years! The
Choirs arrived early on a beautiful evening for a sound
check, and Gwalia Ladies and Bar staff ensured good
organisation. David
Williams of the Gwalia Choir compered the evening. A warm Welsh
welcome was given to the Cirencester friends, ’God Save
The King’ was sung, and Gwalia’s first half programme
was introduced. They
started their programme with a new song ’Let All Men
Sing’, and some firm favourites ‘What Would I Do Without
My Music’, ‘Y Darlun’, and the rousing ‘There Is A
Land’. All excellent renditions! Gwalia’s
Daniel Davies was the soloist, and his performances ‘Why
God Why’,from Music Theatre ‘Miss Saigon’were truly
outstanding!The audience gave a much-deserved rapturous
applause! Cirencester’s
four songs ‘Let It Be Me’,’Stout Hearted Men’,’Poor
Wayfaring Stranger’,’A Million Dreams’ were beautifully
performed,and truly delighted the audience!The first
half concert was indeed ‘class’!The joy of music! The
interval allowed a social break and refreshments. David Williams
introduced the second half programme with Cirencester
MVC singing 5 wonderful songs including ‘Reverend Eli
Jenkins’ Prayer’, a Welsh favourite! Daniel
Davies sang ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Miserables - yet
another outstanding rendition! Gwalia
then concluded their programme with a variety of
favourites including the powerful ‘If We Only Have
Love’. The concert’s final performance was a joint
rendition of the dynamic ‘American Trilogy’-and the
Welsh Anthem ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ A
truly wonderful evening-and huge appreciation for all
the hard work of both Choirs, their Musical Directors,
Matthew Simms and James Willshire, accompanists Rhian
Liles and Michelle Howarth, soloist Daniel Davies, and
compere David Williams. Both
Choirs then moved on to a social gathering and buffet in
Langland Bay Golf Club.
Time to relax and enjoy the ’afterglow’! We hope
Cirencester MVC enjoyed their Swansea experience!
Daffodil Concert (In support of Marie Curie Mumbles and Gower Fundraising Group) – 1st March 2025 - All Saint's Church, Oystermouth. In the splendour and wonder of All
Saints, we sang in the name of our Saint; St David. Saturday
the 1st of March 2025 saw us sing our first concert
of 2025. If
a celebration of our culture was not motivation
enough, a chance to raise funds for Marie Curie,
and, also to sing in memory of some beloved
choristers who have sadly passed away in recent
months, gave emotional energy a plenty for the
evening’s song.
The choir raised the sum of £2,129 for
Marie Curie on the night. A very
special thank you to Jeff, a chorister in the
baritone section of the choir who helped organise
the evening. Our next performance welcomes
Cirencester Male Voice choir to Swansea. We are
singing alongside them on Saturday 26th of April
25, St Peter’s Church, Newton, SA3 4RA (7pm). We
hope to see you there (see the tickets section
of our website or speak to any chorister for
details).
It is
with very great sadness that that we have to report that
Roger Gadd passed away on the 29th January 2025, after
struggling with cancer for some time. Roger had been
with the choir for about 6 years and as well as his
lovely baritone voice, he will be remembered for writing
the reports of our events for the website. Our sympathy
goes to Wendy, his wife, and to all his family.
It was
a very sad occasion for the Choir to sing in Roger’s
funeral at Morriston Crematorium on Tuesday, February
18th. We were requested to sing the Welsh ‘Gwahoddiad’,
a firm favourite of his. Many members also attended the
Clyne Chapel service and reception in Norton House,
Mumbles. A Wedding and a Curry – 18th
January 2025.
Well what a journey! About 45
choristers left Swansea Airport by coach to sing at the
wedding of Charlotte Ann Goodwin in Gellifawr
Woodland Retreat, near Fishguard, with plenty of time
for the journey. When
we were about 12 minutes away from the venue, the coach
driver took a wrong turning and we ended up in a very
narrow lane with no way round a tight bend. After spending
a lot of time looking at maps and reversing a long way
we eventually arrived at the venue 45 minutes late. Our singing
was due to take place after the wedding ceremony and as
we were late the guests had been sent off to the bar to
await our arrival.
Once we arrived we assembled and the guests
returned, with drinks in hand, and in a very happy mood. We sung six
numbers: ‘Calon Lan’, ‘You Are So Beautiful’, ‘O
Gymru’, ‘Can't Take My Eyes Off You’ (with audience
participation), ‘Gwahoddiad’, and ‘God Only Knows’ which
were all rapturously applauded. For an encore we
sang ‘There Is A Land’ and ‘Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ and
the guests had to sing one chorus on their own. We left the hall
to more applause and many thanks from the Bride, Groom and
guests. The journey
home was much less eventful. We stopped at
the Carmarthen Quins RFC for a curry or lasagne
and a few beers. After
eating we adjourned to the bar for an enjoyable afterglow
led by Nick. We
eventually arrived back at the airport at 11pm having had
a good day out and where our singing had saved the day
from being a disaster.
As a younger man Geoff had played rugby union for Mumbles and Swansea and then became a Wales international player who attained 32 international caps. Later he was the organist in the Parish of St Thomas in Swansea where he also ran Geoff's Tuck Shop at the Boys Brigade every Wednesday. He will be greatly missed by all his many friends in the choir and our sympathy goes to his wife, Christine, and to all his family. New
member. On Tuesday 7th
Jan. David Owen passed his Voice Test and
was welcomed into the choir, Well done David
and welcome.
Christmas 2024 - see more picture
A day of mixed
emotions for the choir started in the afternoon with
the funeral of good friend and long serving member
Lawrence Sutton.
The choir filed into a packed Morriston
crematorium in full uniform where they sang
Benedictus as a tribute to Lawrence and his family. The song
was very moving and poignant in the surroundings of
the small Chapel. There wasn’t a lot
of time before the choir attended the last of their
Christmas concerts at St Hilary’s Church, in Killay,
where they took to the stage again in full uniform but
with bright and colourful Christmas ties. The choir
performed a variety of songs from their newly released
CD along with Five foot two which proved to be a
favourite with the audience, lighting up the Church
with many smiles and foot tapping. The second
half saw the choir perform their Christmas Carol
favourites interspersed with audience participation
and singing. During the choir breaks the audience were
entertained by Nabeel Masih local singer and husband
of the vicar of St Hilary’s. After the interval
framed souvenirs of our new CD were presented to Matt,
our Musical Director, and Rhian, our accompanist in
recognition of all their hard work. The evening
was rounded off with the choir selling copies of their
recently made CD titled ‘If we only
have Love’ a great Christmas stocking filler at £8
each.
Vivian Hall Concert, Blackpill - 16th December.
The choir sang a variety of songs from
Benedictus, You Raise me Up, Five Foot Two in the
first half of the concert and a selection of Christmas
carols and songs in the second half. Just to add
a bit of audience participation with traditional
carols and The Twelve days of Christmas. This was the 4th Christmas concert for
this year the choir has performed, the 5th and final
Christmas concert will take place on Friday 20th at St
Hilary’s church in Killay. This final concert will be a bitter sweet
occasion as we will be attending the funeral of our
dearly missed and loved long serving member Lawrence
in the afternoon.
All our thoughts and prayers go out to his
family.
Maggie’s Christmas
Concert 2024 - All Saints Church, Oystermouth -
December 12th, 2024 On |