This year sees the fiftieth anniversary of Risca Male Choir. And if the Covid-19 pandemic had not stopped all the planned celebrations of that event, two men would have joined those celebrations with special pleasure. First Tenor Terry Richards and First Bass Gerry Pritchard were there at the very beginning, as founder members of the choir in June 1970.

It’s not just their continuous – and continuing – 50 year service that is so remarkable: their record of attendance, both at rehearsals and concerts, is equally fine and sets an example to us all.

Thank you, Gerry and Terry, for your commitment as choristers, and for doing more besides. Risca Male Choir is proud to have helped you enjoy such long and dedicated singing careers.

We heartily congratulate you both and look forward to many, many more years of music making together.

A tribute from chairman, Paul Phillips

What a landmark for Risca Male Choir becoming 50 years old this month, June 2020. Of course, that means that, 50 years ago a group of men had the vision of forming a choir for the enjoyment of singing. Two of those men of vision are still singing with us today: Gerry Pritchard and Terry Richards, well done and thank you. You are an inspiration to us all, and proof, if proof were needed, that singing is definitely good for you! On behalf of all RMC choristers, both those who have gone before and those who sing in the choir now, we salute you. May you continue to enjoy singing with your friends in RMC for many more years to come.

Gerry and Terry in conversation with Music Director Emeritus, Martin Hodson, reflecting on half a century as members of our choir.

MH: How did you come to join Risca Male Voice Choir (as it was then) back in June 1970?

Gerry: I was working in Llanwern, and the founder conductor of the choir, Les James, was a colleague, and he asked if I was interested in joining. I’d always enjoyed singing in a casual way, mostly in the pub with a couple of other men. There were quite a number of us in Llanwern with a similar interest in singing and they joined alongside me after Les had approached us.

Terry: It was a similar situation with me. I was working in Broads’ foundry in Risca, and a few of my friends were going to join and asked if I wanted to go along. Before that, I’d enjoyed singing in the church choir.

MH: What are your most vivid memories of those early years?

Gerry: Learning music was a slow and laborious job. We stood for rehearsals and sometimes didn’t get around to singing a single note while the conductor worked with other sections of the choir. That way, at least, we got to know everyone else’s part!

I remember our first “away” concert was in Wattsville, and the club we were going to sing at organised a coach to take us the 4 mile trip from Risca, mainly to encourage us to stay and have a drink after the show!

Terry: Gerry’s right, standing for the 2 hour rehearsal would be unthinkable now, and the rate of learning would discourage any serious singer from sticking at it! But when the music was learned and all the parts put together, we just loved the sound of the voices and the harmony produced. We also enjoyed the company and friendship of our fellow choristers and it made for a satisfying night out.

I remember one rehearsal though, where I was one of only two singers in attendance, and another time where we were learning Comrades in Arms with two 2nd tenors and myself as a 1st tenor!!

MH: Over the 50 years of your membership of the choir, what have been the highlights for you?

Gerry: I have to pick out the American tours. I remember very well the great venues we sang at from the 1st concert we gave in Immanuel Church, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, right the way through to the 3rd tour’s concert to an audience of 1000 in Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. On those tours it was great getting to know so many American people who hosted us and became our friends.

I’m also proud to recall concerts we gave with the Welsh Guards’ Band. We built up a good relationship with them and performed many joint concerts over the years.

And if I may mention it, apart from the music, I’m very proud of the fact that with our old friend Gordon Holley, I helped get the clock working on the front of choir HQ, and it still chimes accurately to this day!

Terry: Definitely the three tours to California were special for me. Amazing experiences! Visiting places that we’d seen on TV and films, Alcatraz, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe. Singing 6 concerts in 2 weeks in great venues as Gerry said, including the Carmel Mission. I also really enjoyed the other tours we made, particularly to Krakow where we sang at the Mariacki Basilica and also the nearby Salt Mine and at Auschwitz, a really moving experience.

MH: The choir has performed formally and informally in all kinds of styles and settings over the years. What have been the most memorable occasions for you?

Gerry: I have to pick out the 1st Annual Celebrity Concert we gave in Crosskeys College in April 1973. The choir had only been in existence for 3 years, and we worked hard to produce a quality concert with a celebrity soloist, Cynthia Glover (A well-known soprano famous for radio and television appearances). This for me was what we were aiming for as a choir, and I’m happy to say that the pattern for our Annual Concerts has remained the same and we’ve been able to bring the best musicians to present to our community alongside the choir.

Of course, there have been so many memorable occasion, but I’d like to mention the experience of concerts we gave in France and Belgium singing at the Cathedrals in Ghent and Arras, and then at the Thiepval Memorial and the Menin Gate.

Terry: Without a doubt, our performance of the Cherubini Requiem for men’s voices (1992). It took us a few years to slowly and gradually build it up until we’d learned it all. We gave a spine tingling performance of the Requiem with Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra at the Risca Leisure Centre. It was a great feeling to have sung it in such a splendid way, and we have a recording of the occasion to prove it!

Another event I’ll never forget was when we won at the National Eisteddfod in Newport in 1988. We were rehearsing in Risca Rugby Club at the time, and I remember Glynne Jones (Then conductor of the famous Pendyrus Male Choir) coming to listen to us and to give us encouragement for the competition. We worked really hard and won in grand style.

We’ve also been involved in a good number of special projects with Welsh National Opera, BBC, HTV, Sinfonia Cymru, the Bryn Terfel recording We’ll keep a welcome and many more. We were the choir of choice!

MH: You will have sung hundreds of pieces of music during your 50 years: which would be your favourites?

Gerry: For me, I love the quiet pieces we’ve sung. Terry has mentioned the Cherubini Requiem, and this is a good example of music that has some lovely quiet sections contrasted with more dramatic ones. Our singing of the lovely hymn tune Belmont, is one I like very much.

Terry: I’m the same, I love the quiet pieces, and our version of Sunset Poem (Eli Jenkins’ Prayer) with the lovely narration by chorister Keith Waite, who sang with us for many years, is very special. Also the folk song The Turtle Dove arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams with our own Andy Jenkins as soloist is a beautifully sung item.

I just want to mention, talking of pieces we’ve learned, the time when we were asked to do a job at very short notice for HTV as part of a programme called The Pity of War. We actually learned the music going to the recording on the bus!! I think that’s why we were the choir of choice because they knew we could do it!

MH: This will be difficult, I’m sure, but as you reflect on your remarkable achievement of a 50 year career, how can you sum up the feeling of being a chorister of RMC?

Gerry: For me, it’s the whole development of the choir, from humble beginnings, to the choir that we became. It had been my ambition from the beginning, and particularly during my time as chairman, that we should develop into more than just another male choir, to become one that was admired and envied. We had set ourselves standards, and I know that we’ve achieved that, and I can reflect with great satisfaction on that fact with the certain knowledge we are continuing on that journey. None of it would be possible without the family that is RMC, and we continue to be a great band of brothers. Not forgetting, of course, that we include in that band, our lovely accompanists we’ve had over the years: thanks to them as well!

Terry: I was at a concert some years ago where the famous Treorchy Male Voice Choir was singing. In the bar after the concert, some of the Treorchy boys saw my choir badge. “What choir is that then?” one of them asked, “Risca” I said. “Ah! The choir they’re all talking about” he replied! I think that sums up my feelings of great pride at being a member of this wonderful choir…the one they’re all talking about.