Phantom of the Opera legend Peter Karrie will be the special guest at the annual concert for Lleisiau Hardd and Lleisiau Hardd Bach choirs this Friday evening.
The concert is at Burry Port Memorial Hall at 7.30pm on Friday, July 13.
The event has been added to Peter Karrie’s continuing (and very successful) Small Halls Tour.
Peter has enjoyed an extensive singing career, but is probably best known for his performances in the lead role of the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera.
He has performed the role in London, Toronto, Vancouver, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and on the UK Tour in Bradford and Manchester.
In 1994 and 1995 members of the Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Society voted him their favourite Phantom.
Karrie began his career as the lead singer of pop group Peter and the Wolves and went on to star in several West End musical productions, including Les Misérables and Chess.
He also played Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Fagin in Oliver! and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof for Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
In 2005, he starred with Shan Côthi in the Mal Pope musical Amazing Grace at the Wales Millennium Centre for the Wales Theatre Company.
He performed alongside John Owen Jones and Nic Greenshields in the one-off Three Phantoms concert in aid of George Thomas Hospice Care.
It’s something of a coup for Bridget Radford and the team behind Lleisiau Hardd and Lleisiau Hardd Bach choirs to secure Peter’s presence at their annual concert.
Tickets are £10 and are available on the door, or by ringing 07889471566
Meanwhile, tickets are now on sale for Loud Applause Production’s annual Night with the Stars Gala Concert which is at Ffwrnes Theatre on November 10.
This year, Loud Applause will host the fifth anniversary of the highly-talented Loud Applause Rising Stars (LARS) soloists.
A round dozen up-and-coming young singers from across South Wales will perform at the event, with the repertoire covering all genres of music.
Sharing the stage will be the famous Richard Williams Singers from Tonyrefail, the award-winning youth choir from the Rhondda Côr Y Cwm, the highly popular Callum Howells and Friends from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, the highly successful youth choir from Llangennech Llwyth Y Llan, under the baton of Lewis Richards, prize winning trombonist Rhodri Thomas from Burry Port and the ever popular compere TV and radio broadcaster Garry Owen.
Accompanists supporting the LARS singers will be Catrin Hughes, Andrew Pike and Stewart Roberts.
This is a not-to-be missed evening showcasing some of the most promising young up-and-coming singers from across South Wales.
Next weekend (July 21) Burry Port Town Band are scheduled to stage their annual summer concert.
The band’s special guests will be Tenovus Cancer Care Swansea Sing With Us Choir and Burry Port Junior Band.
Curtain up is at 7pm on Saturday, July 21, with tickets £10, under 16s free.
The Burry Port Town Band will be looking to perform an entertaining programme featuring popular classics and music from the stage and screen.
They will also feature their Eisteddfod programme ahead of the Royal National Eisteddfod at the Wales Millennium Centre on Saturday, August 4.
It has been a successful year for Burry Port Town Band, reaching the semi-finals of S4C Band Cymru and again qualifying to represent Wales at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain taking place on September.
The compere for the Burry Port concert will be Robert Lloyd.
On the same night, and just down the road, Côr Meibion Dyffryn Tywi have put together an exciting line-up for their annual concert on Saturday, July 21, at the Princess Gwenllian Centre in Kidwelly.
The evening will feature the popular North Wales act Piantel.
Piantel are pianist Annette Bryn Parry and harpist Dylan Cernyw. They are described as ‘a magical musical experience not to be missed!’
The concert will also feature the much-acclaimed Tywi Valley musical duo, the husband and wife team of Aled Edwards and Eleri Owen Edwards.
They are already two of the most popular and successful singers in Wales.
Last year, Aled and Eleri launched a new CD of uplifting and inspirational duets, “Dau fel ni” (Two like us).
The compere for the Côr Meibion Dyffryn Tywi concert will be Eirian Wyn.
Looking further ahead, Côr Meibion Caerfyrddin Carmarthen Male Choir’s 60th anniversary concert will be held at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, on Saturday, October 13.
The choir will be joined on stage by four other choirs – Mynydd Mawr, Burry Port, Dyffryn Tywi and Dyffryn Aman.
This will create a combined choir of around 150 voices under the baton of Wyn Maskell, musical director of Côr Meibion Caerfyrddin.
Also taking part will be well known soloists: Jessica Robinson, soprano, and Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, tenor.
Finally, another date for your diary for later in the year – The Annual Royal British Legion Charity Gala Concert will be held at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, on October 27 (7pm).
This year, 2018, marks a significant year for our Armed Forces. It is the centenary of the end of The Great War (First World War) and also commemorates 100 years of the Royal Air Force.
The prestigious annual Royal British Legion Concert has become one of the landmark events in the calendar of South West Wales, providing a platform for the Royal British Legion to pay tribute to the fallen of current and past conflicts.
It also helps the British Legion launch the Poppy Appeal in South West Wales.
The concert features leading soprano and TV and radio personality Shân Cothi, one of Wales’s premier choirs in the form of Dunvant Male Choir, the highly popular Carmarthen-based mixed youth choir Côr Seingar, Swansea-based Dancerama performing arts group youth choir, the stirring sounds of the City of Swansea Pipe Band and the unforgettable Corps of Drums of the 215 City of Swansea Squadron.
The compére will be Brian Sullivan and the guest accompanist Jeffrey Howard.
The evening ends with the poignant Tribute to the Fallen and a Service of Remembrance.
The Royal British Legion is being supported with this event by Loud Applause Productions, the production company run by Llanelli’s Cerith Owens.
Robert Lloyd works as a media consultant – www.rlloydpr.co.uk
If you have any news about the choral scene in Llanelli, the please contact him on 07777 683637 or email rlloydpr@btinternet.com
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