As we came to the end of Cathedral road and turned left heading into the centre of Cardiff instead of turning right and heading west – the more traditional direction for heading to west Wales – we knew we were in for an interesting journey. Clearly the driver had decided to head up North Road to the M4 – but why use the logical route when we can enjoy the sights of Whitchurch on the way?

More fun was to come as we approached Carmarthen, when the driver took a right heading northeast towards Pencader. ‘Perhaps he has the wrong memo’ we speculated ‘and he is taking us back to Llanfihangel yr Arth – at least we can spend a bit longer enjoying the local brew there’. But no, we use the well trod Llanfihangel bypass heading instead towards Synods Inn. We are now travelling in precisely the opposite direction from Rhos Hill. ‘There is another place called Rhos on Angelsey’, suggests John Kiff ‘we might just about get there by midnight…!’.

We finally arrive in the correct Rhos, approaching from the north, tired and bladders full… ‘looked for toilets all around’. But how many toilets are there? – the destination is after all a small chapel surrounded by fields and sheep. While the ladies form an orderly queue – the gentlemen head off down a country lane. What on earth would an unsuspecting passing traveller have made when confronted with a row of black suited men lined up along a roadside hedge?

            

So it’s into the chapel now for a curtailed rehearsal – most of which is spent trying to work out how to fit 70 choristers into a space with no room to swing the proverbial feline pet. ‘Cosy here isn’t it’ – as we test out the acoustics with a blast of Blaenwern. But is there any room for an audience?

Fortunately there is, and they start streaming in from… well goodness knows where from… There only seem to be three houses anywhere near.

The concert goes well. A rousing first set comprising hymns and arias including Richard’s Ave Maria. He seemed genuinely impressed by the ‘Mater Dei entry’ – nodding his approval – was that the first time we have ever got that right? The first half ended with ‘O Fab y Dyn’ rather then the programmed ‘Tangnefeddwr’ – cue lots of frantic shuffling of scores despite Richard’s prior warning.

             

Lovely individual pieces and duets from the soloists – my personal favourite ‘Dim ond ti’ a welsh version of the Yazoo Classic  ‘Only you’, and an impassioned talk on the challenges of Parkinson’s – the chosen charity for the event.

The second half was more interesting – with missed entries and forgotten clicks in Hen Ferchetan and interesting composing by the basses of the ‘ooos’ in the second verse of ‘O Gymru’. But the concert ended with a rousing version of ‘Tangnefeddwyr’ and an emotional ‘Arfonaf Angel’ – a fair few tears evident on the balcony – with a truly sensational chorus – I though the roof was going to lift off so that the Angels could look in!

And so then to the highlight of the trip – the famous TyRhos tea! and it really didn’t disappoint. The ladies of the valley had really excelled this time. But have they provided enough meringues and cream horns? They are all on one of the inside tables where hordes of choristers scramble to get first dibs… But no need to panic – there was more than enough to satisfy even the largest appetite. Talking of which the gliding movement of Jonathan from one table to the next was a sight to behold…

The homeward journey – via the great metropolis of  Crymych (well it’s all relative). Alan challenges the Bass contingent in the back of the coach to a mobile version of Pointless and it’s not long before Jonathan leads a ‘guess the tv theme tune’ challenge with the Bass section ably supported by among others two Vickys, a Cathy and a Ffion. The rest of the bus is soon enjoying a rendition of the ‘A Team’  theme sung in perfect four part harmony. No one could get my rendition of the Virginian – clearly everyone is far too young to be familiar with classic 60s tv westerns – or was it something to do with the lack of musicality – surely not! By contrast everyone coped with Dai’s ‘The Lone Ranger’ except for Steffan (or was it Ceri) whose head was back – eyes closed and mouth open. I like to think he was taken in the beauty of it all…

Finally we simply ran out of ideas – or was it simply exhaustion, a post tea sugar crash or losing the will to live! Finally back at the Mochyn at 00:30! And time for exhausted choristers to make their way back to their beds – work for some the next morning….

Post script – we later learned that the concert had raised more than £1600 for Parkinson’s – well done one and all. Roll on the Eisteddfod…

By Gwilym.

Last Friday was one of the best Côr y Gleision fun nights ever! Such talent and so many highlights.  The evening was the brainchild of Sarita Marshall, our choir Karaoke Queen. It was held in the Liberal Club, Cathays Terrace: a perfect venue with a stage, a great seating area and a bar which sold drinks at rock bottom prices. We all brought contributions of food so we had a scrumptious feast of quiches, pizzas, sausage rolls, cake and much more.

In the very best karaoke tradition, the bravest of us gave Sarita the songs titles we said we would perform, and then went to the bar to boost our Dutch courage. But we didn’t need to worry because we were with friends and it was brilliant fun. By the end of the evening just about everyone in the room had had a go and they were all amazing. Here are some of the highlights:

Norma singing “When I’m 64” followed by us all singing Happy Birthday afterwards, as it really was her 64th birthday; Harriet singing “Poison” and brilliantly ad-libbing the end because the karaoke music wifi went down; and the room going silent as Meilyr sang “Stars” from Les Mis. Lucy then sang “Bridge over Troubled Water” and we all joined in, thinking of the victims of Grenfell Tower.

Other highlights include Sarita and Frank singing “Islands in the Stream” while Lucy, Anne and Mel attempted some disastrous line dancing; Ann Williams singing “Stand by Your Man” and Wyn Williams singing “Can’t help falling in Love”.  Harriet cried when he sang..

There was also something different: a beautiful Portuguese song “Meu Fado“, sung by Delyth, a friend of Gwenno Dafydd’s, (we’re hoping she’ll join our choir) and “Du Hast” by Miranda Morton. Totally crazy and brilliant.
Julie Donnelly sang a great rendition of “Angie Baby”; Mary and Dave Simmonds sang a lovely duet of “You’re so Vain” and Gwenno D sang “All that Jazz”. What a voice! And who can forget Melanie’s “I’ve Got a Brand New Pair of Roller Skates”?

Steve Cross, one of the newer members of the bass seciton sang two lovely Sinatra songs, and Jon Smith and Jon Haberfield both sang some great numbers.

Vicky “the voice” singing “I will always love you” was another highlight: so beautiful, as well as Kath Edwards with one of the best Carpenters songs ever: “Close to you”. Anne Derbyshire performed Blondie’s “The Tide is High”, Lynne Cronin sang “Downtown” and choir friend Beccy performed “Summertime”.

Last but not least: the finale. Cath “Cazz” Green discovered that it “takes 6 gins, a pint of lager and some fantastic company” for her to be persuaded to get up and do a rendition of “Paradise” by the Dashboard Light with Norma. It was hysterical because they acted it out and it was a great ending to a great evening!

The evening was so packed that we actually ran out of time. I wanted to mention everyone because the fact they were brave enough to stand up on that stage and sing made the evening very special. And we raised £365, all of which is going towards our Canada Tour next year

Well done everyone. A brilliant evening and what a wonderful choir to be a part of.

Saturday 1^st April saw another attempt to raise a pound or two for choir funds by selling other peoples unwanted belongings in a Pre loved Sale, or to some – a Posh Jumble Sale.

It was a day of Memorable Moments namely :–

When enthusiastic choristers, on at least three occasions walked in and tried to deposit donations of bric a brac, clothes and bottles at Bethel Baptist Church’s Saturday morning prayer meeting, having gone to the wrong building.

Frank and Dai’s crestfallen faces when they discovered they did not after all need the keys to my house they’d been given. Someone else had already taken the sale items to the hall. At least my reputation and the boys’ reputation remained intact!

Lloyd winning the same tin of Chickpeas over and over again on the tins & bottles stall.

Stephanie’s bravery in walking around Whit church village dressed in a Dalmatian onesie to give out fliers for the sale.

The sighting by Llinos and Trefor of a donation of a half empty bottle of wine on their bottles & tins stall. It might well have been Max Boyce’s “bottle that once held bitter ale”, so was quickly disposed of.

The moments of panic and despondency when it seemed there were more sellers than customers in the hall. Not much money seemed to be changing hands. The bric a brac table and clothes rails seemed as full as ever. Even the cakes seemed slow in being snapped up. Was this going to be a truly April Fool’s Day event and all the posters, hassling for donations and help, the garages and living rooms packed with boxes and bags, to be in vain?

Then to cap it all, the moment we realised we had not sourced a Swedish au-pair for Tudor. He was last seen sadly trudging out of the hall, clutching his oars and heading for Stockholm.

However all the angst disappeared when Eiddwen our trusted Treasurer, counted the money. The total was an astounding £803 and at that moment despondency changed into relief and euphoria.

Finally, the day highlighted the camaraderie amongst choir members. It was so heart-warming to see everybody’s willingness to “muck in”, sort out logistical problems, work enthusiastically, and make the sale such a fun day. It demonstrated how special and what a privilege it is to be a member of Côr y Gleision.

Cardiff Blues Choir Events Blog 2

March 10^th 2017 Bayside Brasserie in advance of Wales V Ireland.

Yet again the W.R.U. showed its commitment to Rugby supporters Wales and Ireland wide by supplying eye wateringly expensive tickets to see a match thoughtfully timed with an 8.05 pm Friday evening kick off.

Undeterred, C.Y.G. made the short trip to the Bay to fulfil the final part of our 2017 Six Nations booking at the Bayside Brasserie, where a modest (but beautifully proportioned) representation of the total membership did the Choir proud .

Arriving early, and as ever eager to hone their skills outside the Restaurant and in view of a somewhat bemused public, the dedicated Bass section practised rounding their vowels in preparation for the fray.

As our starting time approached the news broke that we had no instrument upon which we could be accompanied, and the word quickly spread that we may be expected to start the performance singing Acapulco. As luck would have it, the Chairman arrived just in the nick of time carrying a music stand, with a friend/servant who had been given the responsibility of carrying the Organ for him.

There was considerable relief all round when the Organ was whipped out, erected and found to be in good working order. Richard was soon calling us to attention and our Performance began.

It was immediately apparent that the clientele in the restaurant differed hugely from those that attended Wales v England. This audience were attentive, appreciative and demonstrably enjoyed the evening, responding warmly to our efforts, both in our singing and in our pointing out the way to the toilets. It must be said that in relation to the latter, a substantial proportion of our Celtic male cousins still managed to visit the Ladies.

The repertoire was standard Rugby, with” Ireland’s Call” a popular addition with the supporters downstairs, and ”Wild Rover” a popular addition with Frank, who, in his enthusiasm sang most of the Ladies’ lines as well. A particularly fine “Gwasgwn yn y Rhengau” in Rachie surprised many with its purity, clarity and strength of purpose.

Downstairs, as the Chairman eat a hearty meal following his exertion with the music stand, the Vice Chair tirelessly sold Choir songbooks to Diners.

Richard, multitasking throughout, brought matters to a conclusion with rousing Anthems and our performance came to an end, not a minute too soon some thought, as two enthusiastic male  fans who had followed our performance throughout on the Balcony, cameras in hand,  appeared to be homing in on him as the object of their appreciation and adulation.

Quietly, Choir members dispersed to their favoured locations to watch the game, leaving diners with rounded vowels ringing in their ears, and hopefully happy memories of  being serenaded in Cardiff by C.Y.G.  from the Bayside Brasserie balcony.

EVENTS BLOG —– Number 1

In the words of  Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates- you never know what you’re gonna get “ – much like our choir gigs ! We set off for Llanfihangel Yr Arth with a full bus, half our body weight in snacks, picnics and voice lubricants, and, as ever, masses of enthusiasm and anticipation.For this Eisteddfod we were a little more relaxed—only 2 songs to sing, both of which we knew well, no coach gymnastics to perform changing into our formal uniform , and no pressure to bring home a cup.But, being Cor Y Gleision , we all wanted to win of course.

The journey to the depths of West Wales was uneventful. In the dark and rain the bus stopped , seemingly in the middle of nowhere—were we lost ? Again ?? Never fear, our trusty driver turned a corner and we spied a few glimmering street lights and the lights of a small building up a hill—we’d arrived! But where was the big tent, where was the coach park and where were the people surging in to get their seats? This was going to be a small but perfectly formed event for sure. We piled off the coach and tried our best to squeeze into Llanfihangel village hall—if the man from the Guinness book had been there I think we would have broken a few records! The overflow marquee was quickly full too.We huddled together for warmth, ate our picnics and hoped we wouldn’t have another Caerphilly evening, waiting for hours for our category to come round.

The Eisteddfod might have been small but the organisers had done a great job and we were called dead on time to perform.Hang on though – Wot, no rehearsal? Wot, no line up ? Having heard our competition singing before us ,we started to feel a little less relaxed, but once we’d shoehorned all 60 of us onto the stage , the floor and hanging from the eaves – well almost  – we got going.It may not have been the best we’d ever sung our 2 song choices but we gave a good account of ourselves , the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and were very appreciative.

Some people stayed to listen to the next category of competition and our adjudication, whilst a small breakaway group went to do their bit for the local economy and put some funds over the bar , and indulge in our usual post competition sing song , in the small pub nearby. This was also well received by the locals [ a few of our girls almost got themselves married off ! ] and it was a pity that time, space and circumstance conspired against us and prevented us staying to enjoy the hospitality for longer.

Meanwhile back in the hall it was adjudication time. It was by no means a foregone conclusion . The women’s choir competing against us had sung a beautiful second song which the judges clearly loved  , and when our “bête noir” of open vowels was raised by the judge my heart sank. In the end we just shaved it – 18 points against 17.5 – another great result for CYG.

Although the venue and audience were small , the local people made up for this in spades. We had a wonderful welcome and they did everything they possibly could to accommodate what must, at times , have seemed like an invasion on our part.The local accompanist who played for us , was clearly extremely nervous , but she did us proud. The fact the Richard had to practically force payment on her for her services sums up the warmth of our reception.Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy our performance and it was a pity our visit was so brief.

From the smallest stage to the largest ,CYG go out and give their best and have a ball in the process. Long may it continue !