Friday 26th April saw the Choir leave for a long weekend away in London to perform at the Massed Choirs event in the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday the 27th. The event was in aid of Prostate Cancer Cymru and organised by the Welsh Association of Male Voice Choirs.
23 Choristers and 30 guests travelled down to their Hotel in Slough along with partners and friends arriving late in the afternoon. Rooms checked in and bags away the rest of the day was ours to settle in, eat and of course drink and relax before the long day ahead of us.
Unfortunately, the hotel management, weren’t happy with an after-glow (before-glow perhaps) sing, but the evening was enjoyable all the same.
Concert Day
Arriving at the RAH a little earlier than needed allowed us to take it all in and easily find our seats. Unfortunately, the Baritones found themselves in the upper tiers, but the other sections were actually on the stage with the 2nd Tenors on the front row no less. The stage filled quickly and it wasn’t long before rehearsal was underway under the baton of Dr Alwyn Humphreys.
Rehearsal went very well with Alwyn happy which was the main thing. On our feet for nearly two hours was gruelling, but the afternoon rehearsal was vital for us all to gel together. With rehearsal over by late afternoon we had 90 minutes or so to relax and prepare for the evening, catching up with some of the choristers that we had sung with in St Davids Hall, Cardiff last June. We were back on stage at 18:30 to see that the auditorium was filling quickly and before we knew it, 19:00 came and we were into full voice.
The Concert went down extremely well with the full house, Caradog Williams was faultless in his accompaniment and each piece was met with rapturous applause. The half time interval was a welcome break and a time to take in the enormity of it all. The second half was as exhilarating as the first with some wonderous pieces. The supporting artists; Cellist Steffan Morris, Tenor Osian Wyn Bowen and Parti Llwchwr were outstanding clearly not out of place on the big stage.
All in all the evening was a massive success, Congratulations to all those involved in making the evening one to remember for a long time to come…at least until the next one in three years time!