CMVC Llais Y Fro Jan 2024

ISSUE 11

LLAIS Y FRO The magazine of Cowbridge Male Voice Choir

JANUARY 2024

Christmas Concert 2023

Table of Contents

Editorial.....................................4-5 Christmas Concert review.....6-7 Rhiannon’s roundup………..8-9 Patrons Association………..10 Maggie’s Concert review......11 New choristers…….....…......12 Spotlight on Scott Williams.13-14

Fan’s Favourite………...…...15 Looking Ahead……………..16 Place for Homes……………17

CMVC IS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:

This page: The Cowbridge Carols pub tour was a huge success!

Cover photo: Cowbridge Carols began In a packed Harry’s Bar on Westgate.

As 2024 begins I am delighted to extend a very happy New Year / Blwyddyn Newydd Dda to all our choristers, musical team, supporters, sponsors, friends and the wider community of Cowbridge & the Vale. Your support, commitment and enthusiasm throughout what has been a stellar 2023 for the choir has been exceptional.

Looking ahead to 2024 we have performances to give, tours to undertake, green jackets to award and fun to have. Above

all, our choir is unashamed to have that fun and long may it continue.

Jon Wilks Chairman, CMVC

Perhaps the most telling evidence of the appeal that ‘having fun’ provides is to be found in the increased numbers of choristers now proudly proclaiming that they belong to CMVC. I’m not sure that the founding members sat in the

Editorial

British Legion Club for the first committee meeting in November 1971 would have dreamt that one evening in December 2023, 91 choristers would attend a rehearsal. It is testament to their aims and objectives that the choir not only endures but thrives. They would be very proud, I think – and a select few still sing with us!

Serenading the bride…!

Creating joy…

The choir’s ability to create

Thirdly, what about the

joy in a completely

choir’s first ever tour to the

authentic, sincere manner, is unsurpassed, I believe.

Channel Islands to perform an important charity concert at a 600-capacity

Walking into Harry’s Bar on

Gosh if that joy could be

auditorium in support of

the Thursday before

bottled, imagine the good

local health and care

Christmas was to

that it would do the world!

causes? That is going to be

understand the lure that the

magnificent.

choir provides. A host of smiling and eager faces

This year there will be more

greeted me, keen to

joy, I promise. Here’s a few

entertain the assembled

tasters:-

throng of Christmas revellers. Christmas jumpers proudly worn, you

More joy in 2024…!

Meanwhile we have begun to broadcast the first in our new social media video series – 1,000 stories, 1 CMVC. Wonderful stories told by our choristers

just knew that we were

illustrating aspects of their

going to put a smile on

lives and guaranteed to

faces – and so we did. We

Our newly announced gala

even managed to gatecrash

concert at Holy Cross

a wedding reception in The

Church on St David’s day

It is going to be a

Bear and serenade the new

will not only be a knockout

spectacular year and we

bride with ‘Let it Be Me!’

occasion filled with Welsh

will be doing it with the

Hwyl, but also will raise

largest CMVC ever.

nurture the soul.

I could also reflect back to

funds for a new keyboard

our recent concert at St

for the choir. Ticket details

Many thanks for your

Michael’s church in Roath

to be announced shortly.

continued, fantastic

on a freezing cold night

support.

when our rendition of ‘Both

Secondly, we will return

Sides Now’ complete with

once again to Llandaff

signers, again yielded those

Cathedral in mid-April.

smiles.

Jon Wilks, Chairman

Lorem Ipsum dolor sit

Christmas Concert Review!

Christopher Street’s deeply melodic bass baritone belied his youth, whilst Esther Thomas-Bizjak was confidence personified – such a huge gift for someone at the beginning of what will surely be a musical

Seasoned observers and listeners to the choir are rarely given to superlatives, so it was extraordinary to hear one of that number exclaim that the choir’s Christmas concert at Holy Cross was the best they had ever attended.

Were they right? Well, many choristers told your correspondent that they had enjoyed it immensely whilst the correspondents’ wife spent 60% of it blowing into a handkerchief,

overwhelmed with the joy and emotion of the performances.

Certainly, our soloists were sensational.

career.

This was CMVC at their very best. Total concentration, thoughtful singing and a beautiful blend of voices. Sandra Williams (accompanist) and Scott Williams (organ) added the hundreds and thousands to what was a stellar presentation of musicality and Christmas cheer, whilst Rhiannon Williams’ conducting, and direction created excellence.

The difficult truth is that CMVC has now set a very high bar for future performances to

match – what a great challenge for 2024.

Christopher Street’s rich bass-baritone belied his youth.

Esther Thomas-Bizjak was confidence personified.

Rhiannon’s Roundup “a caring choral family.”

During previous issues of this wonderful Llais Y Fro E-magazine (with continued thanks to Jon Wilks) I have usually focussed on musical aspects but for this edition I would like to speak of the effect and importance of such a caring choral family.

Many will have already viewed our latest footage of individual chorister experiences via a superbly professional presentation on social media.

The series is entitled ‘1,000 stories, 1 Cowbridge Male Voice Choir’ and aims to chart the background stories of choristers.

Filmed and edited by Paul Owen, one of our gifted T2’s, the series encompasses all that it is which truly makes a Choir.

Musical accuracy plays an equal part but without true care and concern for each other, where would the heart and soul of our choir truly lie?

Much is spoken in psychology circles of leftbrain logic and right brain creativity (an idea first fostered by a Nobel Prize Winner Nigel W Sperry) and it is this balance, I feel, which should also lie within any organisation.

In our own; technical musical accuracy versus emotional empathy. When this empathy also extends outwards to the wellbeing of fellow choristers, it serves to remind us of what it means to be human.

Sharing in that love and compassion is surely what people on our earth plane are primarily here to accomplish, embracing acts of service to others.

CMVC certainly care for each other in many heartfelt ways. Whether this involves words and cards or gifts of well wishes, home visits, lifts to appointments or a listening ear.

The time that each of us gives to one another is the ultimate gift of compassion.

May it always be infectious!

Bringing some joy to new bride Gabriella during the choir’s Carols in Cowbridge tour by singing ‘let it be me’.

Paul Oliver’s telling of his cancer survival story as part of the ‘1000 stories’ series is a sensation.

CMVC PATRONS ASSOCIATION NOW LIVE! After a huge amount of work from our vice Chair, Chris George, our Secretary Phil Insley and choir administrator Frank Maynard, our new Patrons Association is now live.

Available to anyone interested in the Choir, the Patrons Programme replaces Vice Presidency as your way of showing your support.

It costs a surprisingly large amount of money to run the choir (including the cost of uniforms, hire of rehearsal venues, cost of transport to venues, and the increasing cost of the purchase of music necessary for us to expand our repertoire) As a charitable organisation the choir relies on its members, families, friends and donors to cover these costs. That’s where the Patrons Association comes in!

Available in 2 levels, joining our Patrons Association confers fantastic benefits on you, that vary depending on the level you choose.

SILVER gives you:• Discount tickets to our annual concert • Your name in our Annual concert programme and on our website.

• Your own direct link to our bi-monthly Llais y Fro online magazine.

• Lapel badge.

GOLD gives you:• ALL the silver benefits PLUS… • Choir CD • Certificate of thanks • Patrons Association gold lapel badge • Other special stuff that we are working on!

SILVER level costs £20 per year GOLD level costs £50 per year

Contact the Patrons Association coordinator, Chris George, to register your interest:- chrisgeorge4880@icloud.com

MAGGIE’S DECEMBER CONCERT REVIEW

£6,300 raised for Maggie’s Held in freezing conditions at St Andrew’s Church in Roath, Cardiff, the Choir were on top form once again at the annual Christmas fundraiser for Maggie’s cancer charity.

It was a real pleasure to share the stage with the wonderful Lisvane Primary School Choir and the excellent ‘Dare To Sing’ Ladies choir. Both engaged fantastically well with the sold-out audience and provided the first frissons of excitement for advent and the coming Christmas festivities.

CMVC were assured and confident, though it was cold in certain areas of the church despite the best efforts of church wardens.

Shrugging this off, the Choir entertained with a wide selection of popular numbers from their repertoire, as well as performing their debut of ‘Let the River Run’ to great praise.

Dare To Sing Ladies Choir St Andrew’s, Roath

New Choristers Our recent recruitment evening yielded several new choristers for the choir, spread across many sections. Please welcome:-

Martin Evans TT

Alan Kettle TT

Steve Jones TT

Also newly joined, but not pictured here: Steven Bailey T2 Chris Howard TT

Mark Jones Baritone

David Rees 2T

The choir now has just over 90 choristers ‘on the books’ – an all-time record.

..

Spotlight on: Scott Williams!

Scott Williams He doesn’t seek or receive the same profile as the other distinguished members of the CMVC musical team, but Scott’s contribution over recent years has been immense.

He really came on the radar when he accompanied the choir in production of our 2019 CD recording, bringing numerous pieces alive with the sensational sounds from his

organ, tuned to replicate the sound of a cathedral instrument. The reaction was so positive that, since then, we have invited Scott to stage with us whenever circumstances permit, adding a depth and richness to Sandra Williams’ (no relation) already excellent keyboard accompaniment, Thank you, Scott, for the quiet professionalism that you bring to your role, the sumptuous sound that you provide and support that you give to the choir – it is to be cherished.

Fan’s Favourite A MILLION DREAMS Taken from the film ‘The Greatest Showman’ starring Ziv Zaifman and Huw Jackman, ‘A Million Dreams’ has quickly become a repertoire favourite for CMVC audiences. Combining challenging (to sing, at least) split harmonies across the different sections of the choir, solos & counter-intuitive pitches (at one stage the baritones are above the tenors), this is a big sing! However, it’s also a rewarding one, lifting the spirits of the audience and finishing with a lone solo appealing to listeners to dream big for the world’s future.

It is tricky for a male voice choir to do full justice to the original film score in that the opening part of the song is sung by a young boy, but we have deputised with a top tenor. The middle solo is sung by a female, so this has most recently been taken by our own Rhiannon Williams. All in all, this is a demanding but feel-good song.

‘A Million Dreams’ is now one the Choir’s ‘stand out’ songs and we much enjoy both singing it and watching the audience reaction to the positive and uplifting lyrics and harmonies.

LOOKING AHEAD! 1st MAR 2024 St David’s Day gala concert, Holy Cross Church, Cowbridge, 7pm

13th APR 2024 Concert for Maggie’s Cancer Charity Llandaff Cathedral, 7pm

22nd JUN 2024 Concert for Family Nursing & Homecare Methodist Centre, St Hellier, Jersey 7pm

Tickets for all these events will be available shortly.

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