Risca Male Choir Blog Post #5

It is now the end of August; 5 months on from the beginning of the pandemic. Not much has changed, but we are still working on various things – both musically and practically. So, we are still going – albeit not as much as we would like, but at least it’s something!

Further to my previous post, myself and Alison have continued to record some practice videos for the choir with the help of our chairman Paul. It has been helpful for the guys to listen to the notes of their parts, the pronunciation of the words (especially the Welsh…) and the styles in which I want them to sing the pieces. And with myself conducting, it is easier to follow. I did, however, find that conducting, listening to the accompaniment, and singing all at the same time proved to be a multitask too far for me!!

On the 9th of August, the choir got to meet at our HQ car park (observing social distancing of course!) to present awards to some of our long-serving members. Our president Steve Tom was with us for the occasion to help present the awards, and I hear it was a very special evening. Congratulations to Terry, Gerry, John, Chris, Andy, and all others who received an award that evening. We were also able to recognise Counsellor Rob Owen as an honorary member of the choir for his great support over the last few months.

Some members have also been working on refurbishing the choir building, and it is looking very nice already. Looking forward to using it as a practice venue eventually!

In other news, the BBC have been presenting the Proms by mining their archives and showing their highlights every Sunday evening on BBC Four. I watched the recent Mahler 8 prom from 2002, and it really was a superb performance from all involved – especially the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain! A must-watch!!

Please keep surfing our website and stay safe!

Tomos Gwyn