THE Llanelli Chamber Choir will be staging a miscellaneous concert of light and very popular music at St Elli Parish Church on Friday, June 14.

The choir will be supported by the talented students of musical director Piet Zorn. They will perform solos and duets.

The programme for the evening will include Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus and Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, as well as the more upbeat Brindisi (Drinking Song from La Traviata) by Verdi.

Tickets are £10, available from chamberchoirllanelli@gmail.com  or 07535 166956. They will also be available at the door. The concert starts at 7pm.

Llanelli Chamber Choir was founded by Piet Zorn in October, 2021.

The aim of the choir is to bring a variety of classical and traditional music to Llanelli and add to the rich musical culture in south Wales.

The Llanelli Chamber Choir is about much more than just performance.

Piet hopes that by providing a space, where people are welcome to sing regularly, this will improve wellbeing and the mental health within our community.

He has ensured that joining the choir is accessible to everyone who has the desire to learn and sing, bringing joy to both the participants and the audience members.

Singing together is a fantastic experience – it can elevate, free up headspace, boost confidence, and keep the mind active.

Piet Zorn is a professional opera singer, vocal teacher, pianist, and composer.

He currently teaches music at a comprehensive school and has many of his private students go on to study singing, theatre and some who have become professional singers themselves.

He graduated with a master’s degree in music education from the Hamburg College of Music and Drama and went on to teach music teachers in Germany before moving to Wales eight years ago.

He has performed in many operas and oratorios both in Germany and Wales. Regular recitals and choral concerts round up his professional career.

Piet’s desire to start a chamber choir in Llanelli filled a gap within the community for this style of music.

You can find out more about the Llanelli Chamber Choir on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090227216918

In other news, the countdown is on to the Côr Meibion Llanelli Male Voice Choir Young Musician of the Year competition.

This is a new competition for Llanelli and is being held to keep the name of Côr Meibion Llanelli alive. The choir finished active performing last year after struggling to recruit new members and officials.

A choir spokesman said: “We remain determined to keep the famous name of Côr Meibion Llanelli alive in west Wales – and what better way to do it than to organise a competition to encourage the musicians and singers of the future.

“Down the years, the choir has raised thousands for local charities. We want to continue to play an active part in the local community to keep the name of our historic choir alive.”

The Young Musician of the Year competition will take place at Ysgol y Strade, Llanelli, at 7pm on Friday, June 21.

The competition is open to all pupils from Llanelli secondary schools.

The winner will receive the Trevor Lewis Shield, presented in memory of one of the choir’s most stalwart members.

There is a cash prize of £750 for the winner; £200 for second and £100 for third.

Adjudicators for the event will be Angharad Brinn, Cerith Owens and Meinir Jones Parry.

Pupils are being advised to register for the competition through their schools. If anyone needs further competition information, then they should contact Chris Davies at Ysgol y Strade, email christopher.davies@ysgolystrade.org

Tickets for the competition will be £5 and will be available through the ticketsource website – www.ticketsource.co.uk/cormeibionllanelli

A special fundraising concert, featuring two fine choirs, will be held in Kidwelly next month.

Swansea Excelsior ladies choir will join Meibion Elli male voice choir to present ‘A Summer Concert’ at St Mary’s Church, Kidwelly, on Friday, July 12 at 7pm (doors open 6.30pm).

Lynda Richards, who lives in Kidwelly, is the musical director of Swansea Excelsior Choir.

She gave the following message to west Wales music fans: “We hope to fill the church with both beautiful music and people. Please come along and support us. Your support is very much appreciated.”

Tickets are £7.50 available from Excelsior Choir members, at the door, or by telephone on 07708225254 or 07950913352.

Proceeds of the concert will be for St Mary’s Church. The Excelsior Choir’s accompanist will be Rachel Saunders. Aled Maddock will accompany Meibion Elli.

The Salvation Army will be hosted a brass band concert at The Citadel at Sunninghill Terrace in the town. The concert will feature the Wales Fellowship Band and takes place at 6.30pm on Saturday, June 15. Tickets are £5.

The growing links between Llanelli and its twin town of Agen in France are behind a special concert in July.

Llanelli and District Twinning Association will be presenting an evening of music featuring popular ladies choir Côr Curiad and special guests from Agen.

The French visitors will be the The Harpists of Agen and Lot-et-Garonne, the region surrounding Llanelli’s twin town.

The harpists go under the name of Harpinbag and they come highly recommended by members of the twinning association who have witnessed them in concert in Agen.

The musical evening will be at Llanelli’s Diplomat Hotel on Thursday, July 18, doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

Côr Curiad will be under the musical direction of Alex Esney and the compere for the evening will be Llanelli impresario Cerith Owens.

The evening will also feature accompanist Catrin Hughes and selected soloists from the Loud Applause Rising Stars (LARS) stable.

Tickets are £10 and are available from members of Côr Curiad, Loud Applause Rising Stars or from Paolo Piana on email at pianapaolo@hotmail.com or telephone on 07956 592806.

Finally, some diary dates . . .

Burry Port Male Choir will be singing at the Caulfields Hotel in the town on Monday, June 10, starting at 6.30pm. A spokesman said: “We invite you to come and sing with us and to enjoy the companionship.”

Seren Performing Arts will be performing Sister Act at Ffwrnes Theatre’s Stiwdio Stepni between June 26 and 29.

Dyfed Choir will be staging Carmina Burna at St David’s Cathedral on July 20. The performance will also feature Choral Dances from Britten’s Gloriana and Songs and Cries of London Town.

Llanelli’s Curtain Up theatre company will be producing West End to Broadway at Ffwrnes Theatre on October 4. The show will feature songs from Chicago, Six, Calendar Girls and Crazy For You.