July 2021
A new month and some new hope! After a year of zoom rehearsals, remote recordings and cancelled concerts we are hoping to begin indoor rehearsals at a new venue on …
See our calendar for forthcoming engagements.
Our annual concert this year was a joint performance with the World-famous Treorchy Male Choir. This was our biggest occasion in the last two decades – and one of our biggest ever – with an audience of 560 and with 101 choristers on stage.
Of course it was an honour to sing with such a famous choir. And we are proud to say that many audience members and Treorchy singers felt that our overall performance was an excellent match to theirs.
There were many highlights. Treorchy’s sound is consistently strong, accurate and assured. Between sets, they add amusing stories with distinctive Welsh humour, and the reading from Under Milk Wood was worthy of any opera house. Their own commissioned pieces added new interest to the traditional sound.
And OWMVC gave our best, led and inspired by Helen, Tim and Andrew. Our classic pieces were received with great warmth and the audience was clearly delighted with our – increasingly physical ! – performance of ‘Rhythm of Life’ and ‘Italian Trilogy.’ Our rendering of Hafan Gobaith was a natural and moving accompaniment to our sponsored charity, Helen and Douglas House hospice. And of course, our own commissioned piece, ‘Our Land of Song’ earned thunderous applause and came with a sincere introduction from our lyricist.
And the choirs joined together for what we hope was the greatest Welsh choral sound ever heard in the Town Hall. We are already talking about another concert and maybe a return in a few years. And to make sure, OWMVC bought the entire Treorchy choir a pint….. What an afterglow that was – Town Hall staff confirmed it was the biggest of the year. Again.
I think it’s official – this year’s joint concert with Treorchy was… . Legendary!
!
Our second concert this September was a return to Witney, this time to St Mary’s. We performed here around 10 years ago, and those of us who sang in that concert remembered the really beautiful acoustic in this impressive church. We worked closely with St Mary’s events team from the early stages and it was very pleasing that audience built up to around 120.
The concert was enjoyable for all. It included a second outing for our new piece, ‘Neapolitan Trilogy’ with our 28 Pavarotti’s adding a substantial touch of theatre – which goes so well with the moves between unison and harmony as we sing ‘listen, listen, echoes sound afar….’. And we looked it up – the verse ‘Finiculi Funicula’ is about he railway to the top of Mount Vesuvius which was opened in the 1870’s. It must have been a great attraction for the locals, and you can imagine carriages full of singing Neapolitans.
We provided our own soloists for the two interludes, and were complimented on the fine delivery and range of moods and styles of the pieces. We hope to be back in the future.
September saw our return to St Mary’s Church in Haddenham, near to Thame. OWMVC has a strong connection here, with many appearances in the last few years, and joint concerts with Thame Choral Society, which is also directed by Helen Swift.
Our set included our traditional and newer pieces, including a first outing for ‘Neapolitan Trilogy’, which we have added to our repertoire over the summer. It begins with ‘O Sole Mio,’ continues with ‘Santa Lucia’ and then brings you ‘Funiculi Funicula,’ which releases all our inner Pavarottis….. It was a delight to sing, very well-received by the audience and showed that a Welsh choir can suddenly turn into 30 Italian maestros at will…
Our soloists were Amy Jane Fisher and Zanna Evans, playing Viola and Harp, and included a wonderful arrangement of Arvo Part’s ‘Spiegel im Spiegel.’ This a definitive piece from the end of a troubled phase of the composer’s life, and Amy and Zanna brought through its utter clarity and warmth of feeling, which together show how Part would go on to write so many truly incredible pieces. Amazing!
OWMVC has now been rehearsing in Abingdon for almost two years and we’re proud to say we’ve built up a lot of local connections including a large number of new and enthusiastic members. And of course our Chairman is is a local man. So our 2024 Summer concert in St Helen’s felt like a something of a celebration.
St Helen’s is an amazing venue because of its size and layout, and we are so pleased that we managed to draw an audience which filled it so well. Our mix of classic and more recent Welsh and English songs was well-received, as were our solo and quartet spots and more recent additions to our repertoire.
I’m sure we’ll be seeing St Helen’s again… !
May saw our return to St Mary’s, Thame, which brings us to our fourth performance there in recent years. We were invited by the Friends of St Mary’s, who are a long-established team and so rightly proud of the church and its community.
St Mary’s is a favourite venue for us. It has wonderful surroundings and the interior of the building brings a fine acoustic and a great sense of occasion.
Our concert offered our full range of choral singing, an ensemble and solo’s from our own choir members and our accompanist, Tim Croston. We are delighted to report that a number of audience members commented on the wide range of musical pieces and styles in the performance.
April saw our return to St Mary’ Magdalene in Woodstock. St Mary’s is now an established venue for the choir’s own annual ‘North Oxfordshire ‘ performance, with it’s beautiful interior and fine acoustics. The audience showed appreciation for our wide range of songs and for our soloist, Hannah Fraser-Mackenzie.
We were very pleased to be introducing two new choir members for their first and second concerts, and even more pleased to be able to make a special donation to the Church Roof fund. We hope to see you all again.
The photograph shows an informal and very happy moment – director’s-eye view of the choir at the end of the pre-concert rehearsal.
Our concert was held in Witney Methodist Church, on behalf of Witney Rotary Club. This was in the President’s own special event, with Bridewell Gardens as the beneficiary. OWMVC were delighted that the Rotary Club had brought an audience of 200 people.
Combined with the light and space of the church, and with the very positive presentation of Bridewell Gardens, the whole evening had a lively and upbeat atmosphere. We provided our best combination of traditional and modern songs, with five of our soloists and a new quartet – and our recently commissioned piece ‘Our Land of Song,’ all of which drew compliments from the audience. And our thanks to audience member Brian Lee for the photography, attached here.
Our annual St David’s Day concert was held in Wesley Memorial Church, New Inn Hall Street, in Oxford. This is a much-loved venue for us, as it always combines an intimate atmosphere with a real sense of occasion. This year attracted an audience over 200. Our soloist was Lizzie Peacock, playing harp. The instrument alone is beautiful, and graces the stage of any Welsh Choir so well. And Lizzie’s playing, including her own composition, has an elevating and transporting effect on choir and audience alike.
The choir and music team felt on great form, and built up to the event of the evening. This was the first outing of our new song, commissioned especially for our choir, composed by Mac Adams with lyrics by Richard Jones, both choir members with a real desire to combine tradition with originality. ‘Our Land of Song’ took almost a year from the initial form through development, try-outs and full choir rehearsals and many finishing touches. It tells of Wales from early settlement, through industry and the present day. And that through love of the land and times of hardship, the people always came through with music and song in their hearts. So in this first outing, that was how the choir sang, and from many comments afterwards, how the audience received and enjoyed it. And we’ll keep working on it!
For our last concert of a busy year, we sang at Chawley Grove care home, Cumnor. The residents are always very pleased to see an hear us, and are clearly moved by our music. This year we managed to get everyone together in the spacious ground floor area, and the atmosphere was excellent.
Traditional and modern pieces, carols with full choir and quartets and solos were all well received.
And we were introduced as the most popular planned event of the year, which is an absolute privilege!
OWMVC have sung in St Mary the Virgin, Abberbury, a number of times, and it still gives that great first impression each time we arrive in the church. St Mary’s is a truly beautiful building and brings a wonderful sense of occasion to any gathering.
Our programme was a mixture of our traditional and modern songs, with carols added in, sung by the full choir with quartets for some of the verses. One audience member – known to have had a career in London orchestras – commented very positively on the professionalism of our presentation and delivery, achieved by Helen and her level of control as we sing off-score.
And our five excellent soloists each brought a special piece of their own. Variety provided by a rendering of ‘The Chapel Roof is Missing,’ can we say it brought the house down?
Our first Christmas event of 2023 was at Loose Cannon in Abingdon. Our ‘open rehearsals’ seem to have gained an enthusiastic following, and the house was packed.
We entertained with a mix of our traditional concert pieces and a selection of carols sung by choir, quartets and soloists. It was a great evening, and appreciation was shown with free beer and generous donations in the collection afterwards.
And as the beer went down, we transitioned into the ‘Afterglow’ singing without even needing to change venue…. !
Our 2023 concert in Leamington Hastings follows on from a number of similar visits in the last few years – we’re proud to say that we feature on the ‘hall of fame’ on the noticeboards around the hall. And we have a few members living in and around the village.
This year felt extra special – the village hall is not a big venue, but it has a feeling of intimacy and the warmth of the audience. And we had a few milestone moments – we’ve been carefully introducing our arrangement of ‘All of Me’ over the last year, and felt that this concert was the time it first really beat our expectations – at least the audience reaction seemed to say so. And in a sentimental moment, we added a duet for ‘Suo Gan’ on request. And it’s not often that a small choir forms from the audience and sings a few numbers to all present – and so very well too.
And talking of audience reactions, our motley crew of sea-shanty singers added a little audience participation…. the tale of the great whale was taken right into the crowd, and just as they thought it was safe, two drunken revellers went in search of willing maidens. Thank you for enjoying that, Leamington Hastings, nowhere in this county is safe any more…
St Thomas in Goring-on-Thames has gradually become our ‘home from home’ in the south of Oxfordshire. As well as our history of performing concerts, we have a number of active members in and around the village. And we recorded our last CD here, taking advantage of its excellent acoustic.
As well as our Welsh choir standards, we got a particularly good reaction to our rendering of ‘Llef’ and ‘Yn Y Man’ brought from our concert with the Welsh National Opera. Just like the Opera itself, it combines deeply soulful singing with the musical chaos of the pit-head baths. We just have to let ourselves go… !
And that acoustic was the perfect environment for our piano soloist, Jon French, where his rendering of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ made full use of it, delighting audience and choir too.
Sure we’ll see you again!
The Sheldonian Theatre has provided grandeur for musical performances in Oxford since the 17th century, and OWMVC were determined to do full justice to this wonderful setting. Performing our annual gala concert alone – without a visiting choir – for the first time in many years, we planned and rehearsed up to the last moment, and our audience tell us that we met their highest expectations.
The programme included a broad mix, with traditional classics such as ‘Calon Lan’ and ‘Llanfair’, contemporary arrangements of well-loved songs such as ‘All of Me’ and ‘Hallelujah,’ and the particular crowd pleaser that gets feet tapping and hands jiving – ‘Rhythm of Life’.
The event ended with many of our fabulous audience of over 300 on their feet with shouts of encore echoing from the Romanesque Corded ceiling. A proud moment as we continue to grow and add to our repertoire.
September brought OWMVC a great new partnership and a new venue with a distinctive history. The church of SS Peter and Paul in Olney was home to the well-loved hymn ‘Amazing Grace,’ written by John Newton in 1772, and reflects his troubled life as a slave trader who later became an active abolitionist.
And what an enjoyable combination we made with Olney Brass. Their clear, bright sound and modern repertoire were a delight in their own performance and very complementary to our chosen programme.
The evening brought new experiences to both our audiences, and felt constantly varied and interesting.
Fresh from singing with The Welsh National Opera, the Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir marked the start of summer in St Mary’s Church, Banbury.
This beautiful Church was the perfect venue for a magical night of four part male harmonies as the choir wove a rich tapestry between contemporary and traditional song.
We were honoured to be invited by the Welsh National Opera to support their highly acclaimed production Blaze of Glory in Milton Keynes.
See our calendar for forthcoming engagements.
We’ve redesigned our website, it was time for a new look. But choosing the right point to publish is a tricky thing. After all by their very nature websites are a constantly evolving media and can never be the finished article.
And so there will be revisions and tweaks to make, especially at launch. This is were you come in. Your feedback is important. The website reflects the unique and glorious heritage of the choir. But it must look forward too. And to do that the website must be as much a communicator as curator.
So here you have the look, feel and basic structure for the new site. Now you tell us if there’s anything you’d like to see, or suggestions you have. Oh and don’t forget to tell us what you like too!
Footnote: We’ve tried to keep as much of the material from our old site as possible but by necessity some things have been archived (such as news items before January 2020 and some photos).
We were honoured to be invited by Haverfordwest Male Voice Choir to join the at their 150th anniversary celebration in ST David’s cathedral. Some hardy souls chose to continue the cycle ride we did from Oxford to Penarth for our own 90th celebration and continue cycling from Penarth to St Davids.
Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir, returns to the prestigious Oxford Town Hall for our annual extravaganza!
It was great to be back at Oxford Town Hall for last night’s annual concert. We were joined by Cwmbach Male Choir and a large, enthusiastic audience. What a great evening. Here are a few photos. More photos and videos can be found on our Facebook page.
You missed an amazing concert in Thame. Catch us again at our next public performance in June…
In June we were honoured to be part of a very special event this evening in Blenheim Palace. The commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the death of the 1st Duke of Marlborough. The old library has a splendid organ and great acoustics.
A new year with new freedoms! Covid is taking a rest and allowing a return to near normality.
If you are free and able, please come to our Celebration of St David’s Day on Saturday 26th February. It will make a great start to 2022!
if you want to book in advance either contact
Denise Lewis, 07909 798760, oxwelsh@gmail.com
or
https://www.ticketsoxford.com/events/oxford-welsh-male-voice-choir-concert
November 2021
The year is drawing to a close and we have just finished our third and last public performance for the year. We returned to the beautiful Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Goring on Saturday 13th October. Our soloists were our musice team of Helen Swift and Tim Croston… ‘covid willing’, our next public performance will be on 26 February at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford.
If you are looking for Christmas Present ideas… why not consider becoming a choir patron?
Benefits include:
A free ticket for our Autumn or Spring Concert
Reserved seats at concerts
Click here for more details.
September 2021
The Oxford Welsh are back! Our first live performance after 18 months of Zoom! The whole choir felt that a sort of ‘normality’ has at last returned.
We only sang one 30 minute set at the show, however, it was much appreciated by the audience and the choir members. It demonstrated that we can still sing together and that our voices are still able to project and harmonise. We sang a mixture of songs from the very traditional ‘Rachie’, through to ‘World in Union’ and ‘Let it be me’, finishing with ‘Anfonaf Angel’.
Our rehearsals continue on Thursday evenings in our new venue in Cowley. Click here for details If you would like to consider joining us.
Our next concert is on 16th October at St Leonards Church, Priors Marston.
Following that on 13 Nov 2021 we have a concert at the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Goring. Click here for more information,
Please check out our Events page for details of all future concerts
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