Choristers up close - David Hopkins
Name: David Hopkins
Section: Tenor 2
Date of joining: May 2024
How did you come to join Risca Male Choir?
I joined as a result of taking part in the 2024 initiative to engage those with no prior choral experience in a project to sing, and at the same time raise money for charity – in this case for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research. I have to say that when approached on this, Trevor Baker and Olga Tutton, both of whom I knew, were very persuasive.
At the end of that project, and with over £20,000 raised collectively, a number of us took up the challenge of joining the choir.
Most of us who opted to stay on are still part of RMC.
We realise that you’ve only been with the choir for a very short time, but what are the elements you have most enjoyed so far?
Getting involved in choir rehearsals through the MND initiative was challenging, interesting and enjoyable in equal measure. Mentors were, and continue to be, a great help – Cliff James and Wyn Cable nurtured me early on. Their attitude and approach was, I realised, typical of the camaraderie and culture within the choir.
More recently, Dave Tutton and Rod Evans keep me on the straight and narrow, but many others show support and encouragement too.
Matthew Harrison is an exceptional lead as our Music Director. Initially, I needed to get my head around the ways of working in rehearsal – I’d assumed that to learn a piece, you start at the beginning and just go through to the end. Wrong! Neither did I appreciate the amount of sheer hard work needed in the process, the repetition and fine tuning – revisiting some trickier parts multiple times: Being driven, cajoled and nudged in the right direction.
We are challenged by Matt constantly to think, listen, and work in and outside of rehearsals, all with the aim of raising our game.
If all of this sounds hard, I wouldn’t want to put off any would-be choristers; each rehearsal is enjoyable, and productive, and leads us to better performances, which are also very rewarding.
I wish I’d done this before!
What music have you particularly enjoyed singing and why?
I’ve quite wide ranging musical tastes. Growing up, there was always music playing, my father liked modern jazz and singers like Tony Bennett, my mother was more classically inclined, and in my teens I was able to annoy both with the likes of the Yardbirds, John Mayall, guitar heroes of the day, blues greats. And Bob Dylan.
So the range and variation of RMC’s repertoire is good to hear. It’s not one dimensional, mixing some traditional pieces in English and Welsh with more modern works.
In answer to the question, I’d pick Fix You as it was a key piece when the MND work was underway. I enjoy singing Gwahoddiad as it’s one of those more traditional sounding works that are guaranteed to send an audience home happy.
Two songs that carry a message are World in Union and Harriet Tubman, and I believe songs like these are important in a world where there is, unfortunately, still a lot of ignorance and hatred, and music can be effective in getting difficult themes across to people.
Finally, I have to say O Holy Night, simply because my wife loves hearing it!
What do you think you might look forward to in the future, perhaps having heard from longer serving choristers of memorable moments in the past?
Looking back to begin with, the first event I was involved in was the MNDA Concert in Newport, so that will always be a good memory.
Being made a member of RMC, followed by taking part in, and winning, our event in the National Eisteddfod last year was an amazing experience.
Looking ahead, and seeing our programme for 2025, the annual tour is something choristers talk about, and seeing venues listed, St. David’s Cathedral is a place I know, and would love to perform in.
But big or small, each performance has value. Whether it’s a care home, for example, or a cathedral, or even the Principality Stadium in front of 70,000 or so: The latter is pertinent as I’m writing on the eve of that performance.
Competitions beckon beyond this year, and we’ll see where those take us.
But we are of course, from and for our community.
Tell us briefly about your life outside of choir
David with wife Jan: Cheers!
Born in my grandparents’ house at 28, Newport Road, Pontymister, in July, 1947, and raised there and at 48, Tan-y-bryn. I attended Pontywaun Grammar School from 1958 until its closure in 1963. Definitely a Pontymister/Risca boy.
I was in the Air Training Corps, and would have liked a career in aviation, but that never materialised (it’s a long story). Played with a local group, The Third Degree, after school (1964/5) in all the local venues, when weekend dances were a regular thing. Worked as a laboratory assistant, followed by a few other odds and ends, and ended up as a junior clerk in local government owing to health issues.
Family life followed. Jan and I have been together for 46 years. She worked as a Superintendent Registrar for births, deaths and marriages, and upon retirement completed a degree in Fine Art. We have three children, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. That means we have family in France, the Cotswolds and locally. So always busy!
With Jan’s support and encouragement I studied, initially through day release, and correspondence courses, and was eventually qualified to the point where I could secure promotion, eventually leading to the post of Director of Education & Leisure with Caerphilly CBC from 2000 to 2008.Since then I have carried out consultancy, advisory and investigatory work, mainly in the area of children’s’ safeguarding. I still work voluntarily as a school governor, and with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity committed to the prevention of child abuse.
A final thought, if you have one
Joining the choir has been a positive step. The whole process is, I believe, a real plus for me, and gives me social and intellectual stimuli which would benefit someone of any age. It demands some of your time, but in return offers a focus for the mind, and opportunities to be involved in activities which are enjoyed by others, as well as oneself.
I look forward to my time with RMC.
