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Twenty-five of our choir members visited Tondu, near Bridgend in South Wales to participate in the first of two massed choir rehearsals for the Royal Albert Hall, London on 27th April. You can pick us out in our team white polo shirts amongst the over 300 attending choristers, about half the full choir of 650 for London. The set list above was enthusiastically worked through and we learned of Alwyn’s requirements for each piece feeling all the better for his interpretations of each piece. We were guided, corrected and improved by the masterful Alwyn Humphreys who delivers the serious challenges with humour and effortless control. These adjustments will be worked on under the guidance of our MD Ian Grice. To hear 300 chaps in full voice is something rare and wonderful to witness. Even more of value is the social interaction between choristers of colleague choirs where long term friendships are developed. We have already received invitations to sing with choirs in the South Wales area which will undoubtedly take up.

Ian was so pleased with the friendship and camaraderie enjoyed by every member of our choir during the trip down to Tondu, the meal in the hotel and the inevitable singing in the bar. Four chaps went to the Mansfield Town vs Newport football match and revelled in the 0-1 away win which further cements our top of the table position and our promotion chances. This was a great weekend as shown in the photos and comments below.

Great company in the car and after 2 CDs for classic choral music, we had the sounds of the sixties and Ob-la-di-ob-la-da, Sugar Sugar, etc. Then the Bee Gees live, 4 nutters in the car singing Staying Alive at the top of their voices …. phenomenal. Phil Donovan.

Thank you all for today and generally this weekend, the discipline has been exemplary. We have had credit from other singers too, so hats off to you all. I am proud of you and I got to enjoy singing too. See you all on Tuesday. Ian Grice.

Brilliant weekend, thank you all. Tony O’Connor

One fantastic weekend, really, really enjoyed it, roll on next month. Peter Baugh

Instead of a composition describing our successful concert on Saturday I have gathered comments and views from Facebook entries, Whats App messages and anecdotes picked up during the evening. This was indeed a landmark concert in our area and the church was packed; no surprise there then!

Stand out pieces.
The range of songs performed from Sempre and the two male voice choirs made for a well-structured and entertaining concert. How to choose the best items; probably unfair and not possible given the rich performances of both male voice choirs but here are my favorites of the evening.
• Sempre – Mister Sandman, Sentimental Journey and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
• Cor Meibion De Cymru – Gwinllan a Roddwyd, Tell My Father, Y Tangnefeddwyr
• Mansfield – Shine, This is the Moment
• Joint MVC’s – Deus Salutis, Ar Hyd y Nos and World in Union

Comments on Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night)
• Ardderchog! (Excellent!) I love this arrangement and the warm /rich sound of both choirs – Rhi Williams
• Da iawn (very good) – Wayne Rowles
• Great pronunciation gents. Nailed it . Treorchy Male Choir says hello. – Tony Jones

Skill
• Two choirs that have never met before jointly performed three songs, two in Welsh.
• The conducting and directing skills of both Rhiannon and Ian made for confidence and sureness in pace and dynamics. The sound extracted by each of them was warm, rich and of high integrity.
• Tony Jones cheers Tony, thanks for releasing Rhiannon for the tour, she is amazing. – Ian Grice.
• Super concert tonight to a sellout audience, with Sempre and the amazing The South Wales Male Choir. Rhi Williams and Sian you were so good to work with, it was like we had been with each other for ever. – Ian Grice
• Thank you, Ian. Both choirs combined fantastically well together and your dedication to the Welsh language and pronunciation was so impressive! Gwych (great). Loved it! – Rhi Williams.
• The accompaniment skills of Sian and Margaret at the piano were exemplary. Margaret played fantastically as usual. – Terry Ashmore
• The compere, Phil Howells, had a welcoming and measured pace which suited everyone, making the audience and choristers feel at home.
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Dedication
• Andrew Marsh (Baritone) returned from a cruise holiday at 4pm on Saturday and was with us at 5.15 pm for joint rehearsal.
• Three family members of Matthew Wootton (1st Tenor) travelled up from South Wales especially to attend this concert.
• Amazing concert – proud of you Matthew Wootton. – Louise Norgrove
• Mario Curtis was recognised for 20 years’ membership and was presented with a certificate by Chairman, Geoff Hursthouse and President, David Marriott. That concert will take some beating! And the afterglow was great. It won’t be easy to get to sleep now. I am proud to be a 20-year-old! 😀 (chorister). – Mario Curtis.
• Justin (Bass) sang tonight in only his second concert and was surprised by the whole room singing happy birthday to him. Many thanks gentlemen. You’re all an inspiration. I very much appreciate your camaraderie and support in my new found interest (singing beside you) – Justin Agah – Gilbert

Hwyl (Having fun)
• There was a natural camaraderie between the two male voice choirs. The Afterglow was wonderful, especially the free singing afterwards.
• The Welsh choir members commented on how welcome they had been made to feel.
• The four ladies dressed in Welsh National costume looked just right and they contributed significantly by helping to run the raffle.
• The church staff did a wonderful job providing refreshments.
• The stage was set beautifully with bunting and national flags of our two nations.

In summary
• Just to say two top choirs tonight, very good sound from all plus our visitors felt wanted and appreciated. – Lynden Lowe
• Fabulous – Adele Stenton
• It was amazing – Kate Curtis
• What a night. Isn’t it fab that our reach includes such quality as Cor Meibion De Cymru. All due to contacts, trust, hard work and our reputation. – Geoff Mansfield
• Amazing concert well done to you all. I am so looking forward to the Christmas one. – Jo Witton
 

We began our 2023 concerts programme with two early spring concerts both with well-established choirs, namely Radcliffe on Trent Male Voice Choir for the first concert in Nottingham and the at the second concert in Swanwick, Derbyshire our friends Sonara, the talented ladies choir from South Normanton.

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Arnold, Nottingham
The first concert was arranged as a fund raiser for The Church of the Good Shepherd in Arnold, Nottingham which is the church attended by our accompanist Margaret Ball. The 1960s designed building is constructed in concrete and has wonderful stained-glass windows, the effects of which were unfortunately not visible as we remain in British wintertime. Radcliffe on Trent MVC have a long and respected history and we were pleased to share a stage with them to support the building improvement programme for the church.
The singing by both choirs was enjoyed by a large audience and of note were the four joint items performed by the choirs, “The Rose” and “An American Trilogy” conducted by Deborah Davies from Radcliffe in the 1st half and then “My Lord What a Morning”, and “Morte Criste” conducted by Mansfield’s Ian Grice to close the concert. These are male voice choir classics and were delivered with skill, variation in dynamics and pleasure. It never ceases to amaze me that whenever we sing such standards with another male voice choir the songs, after just one rehearsal, are delivered with such accuracy and sympathy for the music whilst accommodating the distinct differences between each choir; this is due to the skills of the conductors who interpret the piece in their own way and blend the choirs into a seamless performance.
Here is a link to two of the joint songs and although the visuals are hazy as it was taken using a mobile phone you can get a sense of the sound quality.

St. Andrews Church, Swanwick, Derbyshire.
The ladies of Sonara invited us to sing with them following a concert we previously did together in Mansfield which raised £1,500 for a local charity. The event was extremely well organised with the ladies having provided wonderful baked goods and refreshments at half time. Sonara’s music, led by conductor Nicola Hunt was just perfect with vivid contrasts between items such as “Here Comes the Sun” and “Dona Nobis Pacem”. The female voice brings a lightness and such colour to the music which haunts you send you home with such pleasant warm feeling.
Interspersed with the choral presentations were several comedic poems read by two ladies from the choir which added interest and cheer to the whole event.
Our choir brought the power and also subtlety to that only a male voice choir can when singing such varied pieces as “Due Salutis” (Llef) sung in Welsh, popular tunes like “The Wonder of You” and a pop classic “Shine” which has been specifically arranged for our choir. The audience cheered!
The evening was closed by both choirs being conducted by a very enthusiastic Nicola as we performed “You Raise Me Up.” There is no doubt that we shall share the stage again at future date because the contributions of both choirs made for an uplifting evening. That is what it’s all about isn’t it?