Choir Returns with Songs Old and New

Songs old and new received rapturous applause at Trefnant Village Hall on 26th November 2022. Equally, a welcome return by Denbigh & District Male Voice Choir.

Choir Receives Warm Welcome

A large audience greeted the choir with a very warm welcome and eager anticipation. Moreover, it was good to be back performing at Trefnant Village Hall again.  This time to raise vital funds for the worthwhile charity MacMillan Cancer Support.

Choir opens with three old favourites

The choir’s rousing opening piece was the well-known and old favourite ‘Rachie’.  Most often known as ‘I Bob Un Sydd Ffyddlon’.  Composed by Caradog Roberts and arranged by Alwyn Humphreys it always receives a great audience response. Moreover, the audience made sure this occasion was no exception.

Rachie was followed by ‘You Raise Me Up’ with baritone, Peter Davies, providing an excellent solo.

The opening section concluded with ‘O Gymru’.  Composed by the Welsh musical legend, Rhys Jones, appreciation was also guaranteed by the audience. Keith Jones 1st Tenor, providing an assured solo.

Guest Soloist Kate Griffiths

It was a privilege to have Kate Griffiths as our guest soprano soloist again.

Kate opened with an unaccompanied rendering of the Welsh folk song ‘Tra bo dwr y mor yn hallt’, (While the sea water is salty).  An excellent audience response received once again.

Accompanied by Sam Pritchard, Choir MD, Kate’s performance of ‘Nella Fantasia’ was superb. With music by composer Ennio Morricone and lyrics by Chiara Ferraù, “Nella Fantasia” is popular among classical crossover singers. Always a firm favourite.

Songs Old and New

The choir returned and started with Robat Arwyn’s arrangement of ‘Benedictus’. The audience

appreciated this new song to the choir’s repertoire.

Then Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ followed. Arranged by the choir’s own Musical Director, Sam Pritchard.  This is another welcome addition to our concert list.

Roger Jones, first tenor, providing excellent solo sections.

John Tudor Davies. arrangement of the old favourite hymn ‘Gwahoddiad’ closed this section. A good mix of old and new songs.

Bach and Mozart

In her second section Kate’s selections were  J.S. Bach’s  ‘Bist du Bei Mir’ (If thou art by me) and Mozart’s ‘Alleluia’ from Rinaldo.  Both received sustained applause.

More Songs Old and New

The first half of the concert was then closed with more songs old and new.  First up was ‘ Pan For Nos yn Hir’ and ‘Ti a Dy Ddonniau’ by Ryan Davies.

A further new piece, ‘Seal Lullaby’ by Eric Whitacre followed.  A Rudyard Kipling poem set to music.

The evergreen hymn ‘Arwelfa’ brought this section to a close.

Second Half Songs Old and New

Opening the second half, the choir had yet another new song. A medley of Welsh folk songs. Simply called ‘Medli’, it is another arrangement by our talented MD, Sam Pritchard.

Deiniol Jones’ rich baritone voice providing colour and interest in the solo parts.

A firm favourite with choristers and audience alike. Smiles appeared on chorister’s faces whilst singing it.  Moreover, even after compere Clwyd Wynne’s humorous warning that it was illegal for them to do so!

Peter Davies, baritone gave further excellent solos in ‘The Rose’ and the popular ‘Myfanwy’.

Kate Griffiths provided excellent performances of Handel’s ‘Lascia chio Pianga’ (Let me weep), from the opera Rinaldo and ‘Hei Ho’ by Haydn Morris. Substantial applause was received.

Also included by the choir were ‘Pokarekare Ana’ and ‘American Trilogy’. There is no truth in the rumour that Elvis Presley was at Trefnant Village Hall that night.

A further new song to the choir’s repertoire followed.  ‘Gwinllan a Roddwyd’ by Caradog Williams provided a very patriotic end to the concert.  A standing ovation followed.

Financial Success

In addition to being a very enjoyable and memorable evening of entertainment, it was also a financial success.

As a result, we are informed that the evening resulted in an amazing £1,000 being raised for the very worthwhile charity, Macmillan Cancer Support.

Thank You

The choir extends its grateful thanks to the Management Committe of Trefnant Village Hall for the kind invitation to provide a concert at their venue. Furthermore, we hope we did you proud and look forward to doing it all over again, at some time in the future.

We would also like to extend our thanks and appreciation to our very talented guest soprano soloist, Kate Griffiths for agreeing to take part in the concert with us. Your performance was fantastic, and we look forward to you joining us again in the future.

Thanks also to our Musical Director, Sam Pritchard. You worked your socks off, perpetual motion throughout.

Last, but not least, we would like to thank each and every member of the fantastic audience.  Your support made all our efforts worthwhile.

We are recruiting – Come and join us!

We are continually looking to recruit new members to join the choir.  If you enjoy singing, then why not come and join us.  The pay is non-existent, but the enjoyment and camaraderie are first class.  We guarantee that you will receive a very warm welcome.

To find out more, click on the link to our Join the Choir website page. We look forward to welcoming you.

Catch up with us at Christmas

The choir is performing three fundraising appearances in the run up to Christmas as detailed in our last blog. Click on the link to our Choir looks forward to Christmas Season blog page for full details.  We so look forward to seeing you at one of the venues.