News

In light of the ongoing situation with the Corona Virus, the committee has taken the decision to suspend all choir practice until the end of March, where the situation will be reviewed. The situation is fluid and is changing daily so as a committee we will continue to monitor based in the Govt advice. Whilst this decision was a difficult one, we thought it is was the socially responsible thing to do as we are in the midst of a unprecedented global event. This decision, we feel is in the best interests of our choristers, patrons, families and friends. Thank you for your understanding.

After many years, and having raised many thousands of pounds for The Choir, Al. has finally handed over the ledger.

He was publicly thanked and the occasion was noted by the gift of a decent bottle of Scotch!

One of our Baritones, Tyrone Rees, has produced something wonderful to help our recruitment; especially if you’re an ex-Rugby player!

Have a look here.

The Raffle was drawn in the Bryndulais Hotel on the 8th December.

The Winning Numbers are as follows

Prize                                   Ticket No.

1st     £150                                 0858
2nd   £100                                0161
3rd    £50                                  0164
4th    Bottle Jack Daniels     0149
5th    Bottle White Wine      0170
6th    Bottle White Wine      0681

Many thanks to all those who supported us by buying tickets.

The choir’s 49th Annual Concert was held, as usual, at Onllwyn Welfare Hall on 1st November last.

The occasion of this event at the Hall is the highlight of the choir’s year and is always well attended with some 300 attending including Christina Rees, our constituency MP.

We performed a varied programme of well known Welsh hymns together with songs from the shows and other popular music. Our solo artiste this year was Karl McGuckin, who hails from Belfast and captivated the audience with his choice of songs and his rich baritone voice.

Karl has invited the choir to visit Belfast to perform at a number of concerts with him and we are currently arranging to visit there in September 2020.

Following the concert an excellent buffet was enjoyed by members of the audience who chose to remain at the Hall; they also enjoyed an impromptu concert put on by choristers following a few well-earned drinks!!

Our annual concert was held on 6th November and was one of the best we have had. Superbly compered by Swansea Sound’s Kev Johns the choir raised the bar and the rafters with some wonderful numbers. With Matthew and Julie at the helm the control and professionalism of the choir was superb and the audience were enthralled. The excellent Jessica Robinson was beautiful and even had John Evans waltzing at one point. A brilliant duet then by Jess and Kev from Monty Python’s Spamalot really helped to make the evening a memorable one. A huge thank you to our muscial team, the choir and of course the loyal support that we get at all times, it really does make a difference. Diolch yn Fawr bawb.

Following the very sad loss of Geraint Williams (see below), we heard on the eve of the annual concert that we lost two more of our current and former choristers. David Morgan Williams lost his brave battle against long term illness at the early part of last week and David Henry Williams who was one of the founders of CMO also lost his brave fight. They will be missed by all the choir and their loved ones.

It is again with a heavy heart that we were told on the eve of our trip to Falmouth that one our stalwarts, Geraint Williams had passed away following admission to hospital for a long awaited operation. Geraint had been suffering from ill health for a couple of years, but rarely missed a practice and never complained. He has left a massive hole in the choir and in our hearts and will be solely missed by us all. Rest in peace Geraint the Gog

Following on from our successful tour in Falmouth back in 2010 the choir visited the beautiful Cornish town to sing with City of Truro Male Choir. A superb reception was had and a wonderful concert controlled impeccably by Matthew and Julie. A free day in Falmouth watching the rugby was a bonus as was the beautiful weather. We look forward to going back soon.

The concert with our friends from CMG was a resounding success. It was the first time we had staged a ‘cabaret’ style concert in the Hall and it was a great initiative and created a warm and friendly atmosphere that was enjoyed by all. The concert was performed in two halves with Glynneath opening the proceedings with some superb numbers including the toe tapping Java Jive and the popular 16 tons. Ably supported by the very talented Gerywn Harries at the helm and the impressive Angharad Williams on the piano, who also sang beautifully. The choir got the concert off to a brilliant start. The second half belonged to Onllwyn who sang a number of relatively new pieces including En Route, Granada and finished with our thunderous rendition of The Dawn is not Distant from Nidaros. Notable contributions along the way from soloists Kevin O’Sullivan with ‘Ol Man River; Arwyn Gwyn signing the Matt Munro classic Born Free and Gareth Rees who sang the Roberta Flack classic ‘First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’.

The Choirs then joined together to sign Morte Christie together and it sounded so good we repeated the last verse, much to the audiences delight.

A special welcome must go out to our wonderful compere for the evening John Evans whose humour and direction really set the tone from the very begining, diolch John. Also a huge thank you to the musical team of Onllwyn, Julie Sims and Matthew Ioan Sims and also to Gerwyn and Angharad from Glynneath. And of course to the audience for turning up in such large numbers to support the both choirs, it really does mean a great deal, and shows that the interest in hearing the male voice sing is very much alive and kicking.

The choir travelled up the A49 to sing with our new friends from Ludlow Male Voice Choir. The concert which took place in Ludlow Methodist Church was held to raise funds for both English and Welsh Air Ambulance services and was very well attended. Ludlow sang a mix of contemporary and more operatic pieces, which considering they were only 15 on stage they did very well indeed. Onllwyn sang a few new pieces including Laudamus and If I Ruled The World (from Pickwick) and they were very well received. A great concert and it also marked Matthew’s first full concert as the choir conductor and he did a superb job as did Julie on the piano. A special welcome and mention to Geraint ‘Gwas’ Thomas on his first concert with the choir and also a very warm welcome back to Kelvin Gravell.