33rd Annual Concert, Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston
Saturday 21st May
33rd Annual Concert, Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston
The special guest at our 2014 Annual Concert was Sophie Evans, who had wowed London’s West End with her performances as Dorothy in “The Wizard Of Oz”, and following the success of that concert we were thrilled when she accepted our invitation to return again this year.
Once again she charmed the huge audience, many of whom had come to hear her again, and including quite a high proportion of young ladies who might possibly have been attracted by our second guest singer, Rhydian Jenkins.
With D. Huw Rees conducting, Hywel Evans at the piano, and our President Huw Tregelles Williams OBE at the chapel’s sonorous organ, we sang 14 pieces from our repertoire, including an arrangement of Vivaldi’s Gloria, just one Welsh hymn, several lighter songs, and, as a tribute to the recently exonerated 96 Liverpool supporters, You’ll Never Walk Alone. Our Chairman Huw Roberts was the bass soloist in Brenin y Sêr and Anfonaf Angel.
The Choir’s Secretary J. Layton Watkins has been under the weather recently, but we were delighted that he was able to come and listen to us. In his honour we sang Y Darlun, which has a special place in the hearts of Layton and his family.
We were accompanied in some songs by Chris Smith playing his cajón, a wooden box-shaped drum native to Peru. We plan to sing Wooden Heart (made famous by Elvis Presley) on our German tour starting the Saturday following this concert, so we gave it an airing tonight.
Sophie was accompanied on piano by John Quirk as she sang many light pieces, ending with, of course, Over The Rainbow. John Lennon’s Imagine was particularly moving. Her two-gown wardrobe brought murmurs of approval from choristers, and although our MD and Accompanist wore different jackets for the second half, they did not have quite the same impact.
Tabernacle chapel is a long way from Las Vegas, where Sophie ended her recent Far East/USA tour with Richard Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance tour, but we are sure she could not have received as warm a welcome there as she did in Morriston tonight.
Rhydian Jenkins is a 19-year old 1st-year Cardiff University student from the Maesteg area, and after carrying off numerous Urdd and National Eisteddfod prizes and winning the Welsh Association of Male Choirs’ Geraint Morris Award, our Secretary invited him to sing for us. How glad we were, because his voice already shows maturity, and we could see from the audience’s reaction how much they enjoyed his performance of mainly Welsh songs, including This Is The Moment, from Jekyll and Hyde, in Welsh. Rhydian was accompanied by Kim Lloyd Jones. He is sure of success if he chooses to follow a career in music.
The Choir joined our soloists in two pieces: Anthem from Chess with Rhydian, and ABBA’s Thank You For The Music with Sophie, resulting in a standing ovation for all performers.
Our compère Rev. Eirian Wyn had obviously done much research into the background of our music, and he linked the various components of the evening with his usual humour.
33rd Annual Concert, Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston
The special guest at our 2014 Annual Concert was Sophie Evans, who had wowed London’s West End with her performances as Dorothy in “The Wizard Of Oz”, and following the success of that concert we were thrilled when she accepted our invitation to return again this year.
Once again she charmed the huge audience, many of whom had come to hear her again, and including quite a high proportion of young ladies who might possibly have been attracted by our second guest singer, Rhydian Jenkins.
With D. Huw Rees conducting, Hywel Evans at the piano, and our President Huw Tregelles Williams OBE at the chapel’s sonorous organ, we sang 14 pieces from our repertoire, including an arrangement of Vivaldi’s Gloria, just one Welsh hymn, several lighter songs, and, as a tribute to the recently exonerated 96 Liverpool supporters, You’ll Never Walk Alone. Our Chairman Huw Roberts was the bass soloist in Brenin y Sêr and Anfonaf Angel.
The Choir’s Secretary J. Layton Watkins has been under the weather recently, but we were delighted that he was able to come and listen to us. In his honour we sang Y Darlun, which has a special place in the hearts of Layton and his family.
We were accompanied in some songs by Chris Smith playing his cajón, a wooden box-shaped drum native to Peru. We plan to sing Wooden Heart (made famous by Elvis Presley) on our German tour starting the Saturday following this concert, so we gave it an airing tonight.
Sophie was accompanied on piano by John Quirk as she sang many light pieces, ending with, of course, Over The Rainbow. John Lennon’s Imagine was particularly moving. Her two-gown wardrobe brought murmurs of approval from choristers, and although our MD and Accompanist wore different jackets for the second half, they did not have quite the same impact.
Tabernacle chapel is a long way from Las Vegas, where Sophie ended her recent Far East/USA tour with Richard Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance tour, but we are sure she could not have received as warm a welcome there as she did in Morriston tonight.
Rhydian Jenkins is a 19-year old 1st-year Cardiff University student from the Maesteg area, and after carrying off numerous Urdd and National Eisteddfod prizes and winning the Welsh Association of Male Choirs’ Geraint Morris Award, our Secretary invited him to sing for us. How glad we were, because his voice already shows maturity, and we could see from the audience’s reaction how much they enjoyed his performance of mainly Welsh songs, including This Is The Moment, from Jekyll and Hyde, in Welsh. Rhydian was accompanied by Kim Lloyd Jones. He is sure of success if he chooses to follow a career in music.
The Choir joined our soloists in two pieces: Anthem from Chess with Rhydian, and ABBA’s Thank You For The Music with Sophie, resulting in a standing ovation for all performers.
Our compère Rev. Eirian Wyn had obviously done much research into the background of our music, and he linked the various components of the evening with his usual humour.
