A blast! from Tondu

Twenty-five of our choir members visited Tondu, near Bridgend in South Wales to participate in the first of two massed choir rehearsals for the Royal Albert Hall, London on 27th April. You can pick us out in our team white polo shirts amongst the over 300 attending choristers, about half the full choir of 650 for London. The set list above was enthusiastically worked through and we learned of Alwyn’s requirements for each piece feeling all the better for his interpretations of each piece. We were guided, corrected and improved by the masterful Alwyn Humphreys who delivers the serious challenges with humour and effortless control. These adjustments will be worked on under the guidance of our MD Ian Grice. To hear 300 chaps in full voice is something rare and wonderful to witness. Even more of value is the social interaction between choristers of colleague choirs where long term friendships are developed. We have already received invitations to sing with choirs in the South Wales area which will undoubtedly take up.

Ian was so pleased with the friendship and camaraderie enjoyed by every member of our choir during the trip down to Tondu, the meal in the hotel and the inevitable singing in the bar. Four chaps went to the Mansfield Town vs Newport football match and revelled in the 0-1 away win which further cements our top of the table position and our promotion chances. This was a great weekend as shown in the photos and comments below.

Great company in the car and after 2 CDs for classic choral music, we had the sounds of the sixties and Ob-la-di-ob-la-da, Sugar Sugar, etc. Then the Bee Gees live, 4 nutters in the car singing Staying Alive at the top of their voices …. phenomenal. Phil Donovan.

Thank you all for today and generally this weekend, the discipline has been exemplary. We have had credit from other singers too, so hats off to you all. I am proud of you and I got to enjoy singing too. See you all on Tuesday. Ian Grice.

Brilliant weekend, thank you all. Tony O’Connor

One fantastic weekend, really, really enjoyed it, roll on next month. Peter Baugh