On song for Eileen's 90th birthday

Sunday, January 3rd, was Eileen Radcliffe's 90th birthday and the choir were invited to take part in the celebrations at a Nantwich Care Centre.

Mrs Radcliffe's daughter, Rhiannedd, is the wife of Iceland owner, Malcolm Walker, a generous benefactor of the choir and he was instrumental in asking the choir to give a short concert. And, of course, Mrs Radcliffe and her daughter are both from south Wales, where male voice choirs abound.

One of the items the choir sang was John Tudor Davies's arrangement of Gwahoddiad which brought tears to Mrs Radcliffe's eyes. Further, members of her family were amazed to hear her join in and also when the choir sang the Welsh National Anthem.

As Mrs Radcliffe explained later in very good Welsh, the singing of Gwahoddiad by a Welsh male voice choir evoked many happy memories for her and she was proud that she remembered so many of the words and those of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. We wish you many more birthdays Mrs Radcliffe.

Owzat for a catch!!!

Our chairman, David Thomas, is a former cricketer who still retains his enthusiasm for the game and he hit upon the idea of asking former Test umpire, Harold "Dickie" Bird to become a vice-president of the choir. Mr Bird's reply was that he would be "thrilled" to take up the offer as he is very enthusiastic about male voice choir singing. "Dickie" was a top class umpire for more than 30 years and achieved every honour it is possible to achieve.

Awarded an MBE in 1986 he was voted Yorkshireman of the Year in 1996 - the year that signalled the end of an international career which won him world-wide affection as the finest umpire in the history of the game Along with Sir Michael Parkinson and Sir Tim Rice he is involved with a children in sport charity and has promised to involve the choir in a high profile concert to raise money for the charity.

First session of our recording

We had four items "in the can" after our first recording session in St. John's Church, Rhosymedre, on Saturday, January 16. Other sessions are planned in March and April and the finished product will be on sale later in the year. Aled Phillips was the conductor and Kevin Whitley accompanied on the organ. Thanks are due to the members who worked hard to prepare the church for the recording and also for tidying up afterwards.

Port Sunlight visit

On Saturday, January 23, we were in concert at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight for what has become an annual visit. Once again we had a very good reception and the general feeling is that we are amongst friends. Apart from the choir their were two soloists: Brigitte Baur and Seren Wynn Sandham Davies. Bridgitte Baur is a talented violinist who is a former member of the Bavarian Youth Orchestra and has performed with the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra. Soloist, Seren Wynn Sandham Davies is, among other things, a qualified ballet teacher and enjoys public speaking. She has appeared with the Rhos Male Voice Choir once before - at Bangor-is-y-Coed. Both were well received by the audience. The choir was conducted by the Director of Music, Aled Phillips and Kevin Whitley was the accompanist. Harold Richards took over as compere and showed that he has not lost the art of making an audience laugh.

New CD

The choir is busy preparing for a new CD to be released in the new year.

Did we inspire the wrong team?

We were all desperately hoping for a Welsh victory at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday October 28, when Wales faced the might of Australia. But, sadly, it was not to be.

Perhaps our singing of Waltzing Matilda and Advance Australia Fair - their National Anthem - inspired the Aussies too much. Nevertheless we had a most enjoyable weekend, the only thing wrong was the final result of Wales 12, Australia 33. Ah well, we did try our hardest!

The choir departed from Wrexham and Rhos early on the Saturday morning, arriving at our Newport hotel in time for a bite to eat and a change into our choir uniform. For the first time we wore our new fleeces with the choir emblem emblazoned on the left side. - we certainly needed them as, despite the stadium roof being closed, it was not too warm and when we entertained after the match it was positively cold.

While being interviewed before the match, Colin Charvis, the former Wales forward, now a TV pundit, mentioned Rhos Male Voice Choir, when he was asked who was providing the pre-match entertainment. Also on the pitch with us were Hogiau'r Ddwylan, a choir from north-west Wales, and Rhydian of X-Factor fame also sang when the two teams appeared on the pitch.

We had the privilege of singing on three sides of the pitch and lined-up close to the teams for the anthems, something that will long be remembered.

Following our disappointment at the result we entertained a large crowd who were still in the stadium after the final whistle. Perhaps we helped them to forget the beating as they certainly appreciated our renditions of popular Welsh and English items. They even joined in.

While awaiting the coaches to return us to our Newport hotel we headed just outside the Millennium Stadium to the Cardiff Arms hostelry. Just for a warm you see! Who should enter only one of Wales' all-time greats, Barry John, who obviously enjoyed our singing, spoke to many of the members and also posed for pictures.

At breakfast at the hotel on the Sunday morning we were congratulated on our singing at the stadium by many of those who had been present at the game. One ardent Welsh rugby follower on his way home to Berkshire, commented: "If Wales had played as well as you lot sang, then we would have sent those Wallabies home with their tails between their legs".

Nevertheless we had good exposure both in the stadium and on world-wide television. Thanks for organising the trip are due to first tenor Austin Thomas, he chose the high quality hotel, arranged for our tickets and everything at the stadium.

A most enjoyable weekend and hearty thanks to all concerned. Pity about the result, but we played our part well.

Annual Concert 2009

Photographed in the interval at our Annual Concert is Kevin Whitley (Choir Accompanist) Aled Phillips (Musical Director) David Kempster (Baritone) Elin Manahan Thomas (Soprano) and Brian Hughes (Soloists' Accompanist). Also photographed is Dewi Ellis Jones (Percussionist). For full report please see our Reviews Page.

Valley Venture a big success

On Saturday, October 10, a party of some 90 people, choir members and supporters, journeyed to Cardiff where we stayed overnight following our appearance as 'Special Guests' of the Treorchy Male Choir.

The concert, at the well-known Park and Dare Theatre in Treorchy, thrilled a near capacity audience and the favourable comments received on our performance  following the event was evidence that the fare on offer was of a high standard.

Both choirs took part in both halves of the concert - singing together to end the first half and singing two pieces at the end of the concert. The audience also gave soprano soloist Kate Woolveridge enthusiastic applause.

Rhos Male Voice Choir was conducted by its Director of Music, Aled Phillips, with Kevin Whitley the accompanist. The Treorchy Male Choir was conducted by Jan Ball and their accompanist was Helen Roberts.

A buffet was organised by the home choir at which Rhos Male Voice Choir Vice-Chairman, Colin Aubrey, presented a piece of commemorative glassware to Gareth Davies, Chairman of the host choir. An inscription on the glassware marked the date of the concert given by the two choirs and also the phrase "Dau gor, un llais/ Two choirs, united in song". Mr Davies presented Rhos Male Voice Choir with an inscribed commemorative shield. An inscribed shield was also presented to Mr John Tudor Davies in recognition of his arrangement of Gwahoddiad which was sung with gusto by the two choirs.

The welcome received by Rhos Male Voice Choir was very much appreciated and our thanks are due to our Treorchy hosts for being so hospitable. It is hoped that they can visit Rhos in the near future.

What they said

"Thank you for a wonderful performance. The sound was really great." - Jan Ball, Conductor of Treorchy Male Choir.

"I'm sure the people back in north Wales could hear you. What a sound." - A retired gentleman on leaving the theatre at the end.

"You certainly lived up to your reputation as one of Wales’ top choirs. The whole concert was so thrilling". - A member of the audience, who had travelled from Cardiff.

A welcome to new members

Over the past few weeks we have had a mini influx of new members - young ones too. They are: Gareth Cottier, Craig Davies, Geraint Phillips and Dan Rowberry. A warm welcome to them and possibly we can welcome a few more in the not too distant future.

High praise for our Eisteddfod effort