Cue drum roll for a big concert coming up at The Lyric in Carmarthen on Friday night.
A Choired Taste will be marking their fifth anniversary with a concert featuring guest stars Only Men Aloud.
Curtain up is at 7.30pm on Friday and there are only a handful of tickets remaining.
A Choired Taste is an inclusive community choir for ladies with an age range of 16 to 80.
The choir was formed in September, 2014, by Sarah Kirby (Sarah Thomas) to enable ladies to come and sing for pleasure and meet new people.
Sarah said: “The benefits of singing are well known and all of our members have felt this in one way or another.
“Since its formation, the membership has grown from 40 members to more than 100.
“We have a wide repertoire and we have performed at various functions and concerts for the following – Carmarthen Journal Community Awards, Inner Wheel Coffee Mornings, CAOS (Carmarthen Amateur Operatic Society), Carmarthenshire Federation of WI’s, Burry Port Brass Band, Côr Meibion Caerfyrddin, Meidrim Chapel and Cartref Cynnes.
“A highlight of 2018 was when members of the choir joined CAOS as the Nun’s Chorus in their very successful production of Sister Act.
“We are a non-profit making organisation and as such rely on membership to pay for rehearsal space and the general running of the choir.
“We have held fund-raising events for local charities, including a Craft Fayre and Concert, where we raised £1500 for the Special Care Baby Unit in Glangwili Hospital and Alzheimer’s.
“We have previously donated money to the Breast Cancer Unit at Prince Philip Hospital, Meningitis Now, Breakthro’ Carmarthen, Macmillan Nurses and Canolfan Elfed and Myrddin Special Units. In 2016 and 2018, members took part in the Llanelli Race for Life.
Sarah is Assistant Head of Music at Queen Elizabeth High School.
In her ‘spare’ time, Sarah also runs a piano school called ‘Kirby’s Keys’, teaching more than 50 primary and secondary school pupils each week.
In 2016, Sarah was presented with a BBC Music Hero Award.
Sarah and her husband Gareth were recently presented with a special Community Award by the Mayor of Carmarthen, in recognition of their contribution to music-making and charity work. Sarah has been involved in a countless number of shows since she was 15, both in the ‘pit’ and on stage.
Regular theatre-goers in Carmarthen will remember her portrayal of ‘Mother Superior’ in the CAOS production of Sister Act.
Guest stars Only Men Aloud need little introduction as they have been delighting audiences around the world for more than 18 years.
They were formed in 2000, with the hope they could inject some new life and blood into the Welsh Male Choir tradition.
The men have become well known for their strong vocals and their varied and eclectic repertoire.
A typical OMA concert will feature many different styles of music – Welsh hymns and folk songs, Opera and Musical Theatre, all the way to Swing and Pop.
Other guests on the bill on Friday night include Nansi Williams and Ellis Thomas.
Nansi is just five, is from Carmarthen and is a pupil in the Reception class at Ysgol y Dderwen.
Nansi enjoys singing and music and recently competed at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff in the cerdd dant solo competition for ages eight and under.
Ellis Thomas is 16 and is known as Carmarthen’s Billy Elliot.
Ellis has been dancing since May, 2013. He is hoping to take on the next part of his dance journey when he will go to college to study dance in September, following his GCSEs.
Here he will dance for at least 18 hours a week, preparing him for when he sets off to a prestige university, where his dance career will further flourish.
Ellis has danced in competitions across the UK and in Paris. He was awarded the “Most Promising Dancer” at the Ultimate Dance Victory Competition.
Ellis is also participating in Competitive All-star Cheerleading and has been doing so for the past two years. Recently, Ellis travelled to Florida where he competed in the International Cheer Union, also known as “Worlds”. Ellis returned home with the silver medal, which he sees as one of his best accomplishments as he was representing Team Wales.
If you are in the audience at the Lyric on Friday night, then you might also recognise the compere. It will be the author of this column!
In other news, Burry Port Town Band will stage an evening of ‘Music from the Stage and Shows!’ at the Memorial Hall on Saturday, July 20, 7pm.
The concert will feature the Senior Band, the ever-growing Junior Band and a very special guest artist, Samuel Wyn-Morris.
Bridget Radford’s two choirs, Lleisiau Hardd and Lleisiau Hardd Bach, will be staging their annual concert at St Mary’s Church, Burry Port, on Friday, July 12, 7.30pm. Tickets are £10 and available from choristers.
The choristers from Llandyfaelog-based Côr Meibion Dyffryn Tywi are getting ready for their annual concert.
It will be at the Princess Gwenllian Centre in Kidwelly on Saturday, October 12, 7pm.
The choir will be joined by Gwendraeth Valley’s Côr Meibion Mynydd Mawr. The evening will also feature special guests Pantel and Trio.
Trio are a male vocal group from Snowdonia – formed by renowned pianist/accompanist Annette Bryn Parri in 2012. The group gave its first public performance at Galeri Caernarfon in June 2013. The standing ovation at Galeri led, not only to a number of concerts in 2013 and 2014, but also to the release of the group’s first CD in August 2014.
Their songs are often heard on Radio Cymru programmes. They made their TV debut at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Denbigh (2013).
The Noson Lawen (S4C) programme in which they appeared was dedicated to Hogia’r Wyddfa, one of Wales’ most popular groups, a group that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013.
Since then, Trio have appeared on Pnawn Da (S4C) and Heno (S4C). Trio are Emyr Wyn Gibson, Bedwyr Gwyn Parri and Steffan LLoyd Owen.
Finally, two other bits of concert news –
A reminder that Côr Meibion Llanelli Male Voice Choir have postponed their annual concert, originally scheduled for Saturday, June 29, at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli. The choir committee are in the process of redrafting their events calendar following the retirement of musical director D Eifion Thomas. A list of forthcoming Côr Meibion Llanelli engagements will appear here in due course.
The Gwyl Cerdd Dant Cymru fund-raising Gala Concert is at
Llanelli’s Greenfield Baptist Church on Friday, July 12. The evening offers a feast of choral music and there will be four choirs – Côr Lleisiau’r Cwm and Harmoni, both under the baton of Catrin Hughes, Côr Meibion
Llanelli and Côr Ysgol Dewi Sant.
The concert will feature some excellent young soloists, including award-winning tenor Osian Bowen from Burry Port, now studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff. Also on stage will be five singers from Loud Applause Rising Stars, including Nikkila Thomas and Ysgol Y Strade pupils Lauren Fisher, James Oakley, Daisy Owens and Jack Owens.
- If you have news about the choral or concert scene in Llanelli, email robert.lloyd01@walesonline.co.uk or rlloydpr@btinternet.com
