THEY might be checking the roof of Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli before Carmarthenshire’s premier St David’s Day celebration on Saturday, March 1.
More than 100 voices will take to the stage to conjure up a powerhouse sound which will celebrate the patron saint’s day in style.
Two award-winning choirs, Dunvant Male Choir and Morriston RFC Male Choir, will join forces for what promises to be a memorable evening.
They will be joined by two guest soloists – soprano Lauren Elizabeth Williams and tenor James Oakley.
The evening will also feature the talented youngsters from Ysgol Gymraeg Ffwrnes school choir.
The evening will be hosted bilingually by award-winning BBC Wales journalist and presenter Garry Owen.
Tickets are £18 and £16, with the show starting at 7pm.
The Dunvant choir will be under the baton of musical director Jonathan Rogers.
After attaining a BA (Hons) in Music and PGCE from Bristol University, Jonathan returned to south Wales to begin his teaching career and within three years was promoted to Head of Music at Penyrheol Comprehensive School.
Since Autumn 2014, he has held the position of Curriculum Leader of Music for Gower College Swansea and this led to his appointment as Associate Lecturer with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and as an examiner with the Welsh Joint Education Committee.
Jonathan has occupied the role of Musical Director of the Dunvant Male Choir since 2007 has worked in some prestigious venues across the world.
His excellent reputation as a conductor, arranger and soloist has grown in recent years and he continues to combine his work in education with his busy life as a conductor in the Swansea area.
In 2021, Jonathan was awarded a Silver Prize in the National Pearson Teaching Awards and was the sole Welsh practitioner to be successful in the Further Education category.
The Morriston RFC choir musical director is D Huw Rees, who also enjoys an association as an accompanist with the Dunvant choir.
Huw, a native of Swansea, studied music at Cardiff University where he studied piano under Stephen Price, voice with Clifford Bunford, organ with Robert Court and composition under Dr Richard Elfyn Jones.
During this time Huw became a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales and accompanist to several choirs in the Cardiff area.
Huw has been associated with Morriston RFC Male Choir since 1990, first as the choir accompanist and in 2004 as its Musical Director.
These commitments were honoured in 2005 with life membership and in May 2022 for his 32 years of service as accompanist and Musical Director.
Huw also has other duties as an accompanist to Parti Llwchwr and is in significant demand elsewhere to organisations such as Urdd Gobaith Cymru, S4C’s Dechrau Canu, Dechrau Canmol and others.
Huw’s long-standing commitment to the Urdd organisation stretches back to 1993 as an accompanist, Vice Chair of the 2018 Urdd Eisteddfod and adjudicator. He is Chair of the Music Committee in 2025 when the Urdd Eisteddfod will be held in Margam, Neath Port Talbot.
Other St David’s events in west Wales include –
- An A Cappella Community Choir Concert in Narberth, on March 8 (7pm). The venue will be St Andrews Church, Narberth, and tickets are £12.50 and £8.50 (concession).
- A concert at Ammanford’s Miner’s Theatre (now known as Glowyr) on Friday, February 28 (7pm). Topping the bill will be Osian Clarke, from Tycroes, a recent graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London. Young harpist Awel Grug Lewis will also perform and the choral element of the programme will be provided by the exceptional harmonies of Côr Lleisiau’r Cwm, led by Catrin Hughes.
- A concert in aid of the Burry Port RNLI lifeboat station at Tabernacle Chapel, Burry Port, on Saturday, March 1 (7.30pm). It will feature three young Welsh tenors – Ceri Davies, Rhodri Prys Jones and local favourite Osian Wyn Bowen. Male voice choirs from Burry Port, Carmarthen, Mynydd Mawr and Dyffryn Amman will also take to the stage.
- Côr Meibion Pontarddulais Male Choir’s St David’s Day concert at Capel Hope Siloh on Saturday, March 1 (7pm). Special guests include soprano Ros Evans, a choir from Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr and Penclawdd Junior Band.
In other news, the team at the Curtain Up theatre company in Llanelli are gearing up for their next performance.
‘West End to Broadway’ will be staged at Llanelli’s Diplomat Hotel on Thursday, February 6 (7pm). The evening will feature favourite songs from classic and modern musicals.
The concert will be in aid of the Stroke Association and tickets are £10.
Curtain Up’s John-Paul Jones said: “The evening promises to be a treat for all the family, featuring popular songs from The Lion King, Chicago and The Jersey Boys – and many more!”
If country music is more your style, then The Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen will be the place to be on Friday, February 7.
It’s billed as ‘An Intimate Acoustic Evening with Ward Thomas’, with Beth Rowley providing the support act.
Hailed as the UK’s most successful country act, twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas are touring the UK in January and February with a special show featuring stripped-back versions of songs from across their career.
Support act Beth Rowley is known for her rich, effortless vocals and is influenced by Gospel Spirituals, Americana and Blues.
Tickets are £35.50, £30.50 and £26.50.
In Carmarthen’s Lyric Theatre on February 8 (7.30pm), Fleetwood Bac, the world’s first and best Fleetwood Mac tribute band, take the stage.
Endorsed by Mick Fleetwood himself, the Fleetwood Bac are the only Mac tribute to authentically replicate the classic Rumours line-up.
Tickets are £21.50.
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