A day at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre for the semi-finals of the Côr Cymru Competition
Sunday February 18th, 2024

This is a transcript of a message that Matt (MD: Matthew Harrison), sent to me after the competition. It was such fun to read as all these amazing thoughts were still buzzing in his head. I thought it worth sharing. Most of it is as Matt wrote, and there is very little I’ve had to edit, so that what you read is very much what he sent. Enjoy the experience of the day at the competition.

Martin Hodson MBE. Music Director Emeritus

The gents did a nice job Martin! And overall I felt the day was successful. You’re right, Bechgyn Bro Taf and Côr Meibion Machynlleth are great choirs, so to be up there with them is a great achievement. The other choir was Côr Glanaethwy, a ladies choir who were also amazing!

The adjudicators were all international, so I didn’t know two of them. The third was Grant Llewellyn (Welsh International conductor). Robin (baritone) recognised him, having worked with him previously. I can’t really explain the whole day Martin, I’ll have to chat to you about it later. But it was a unique experience, and I think the gents will hopefully agree, totally worth it!

I had to do a lot of interviews throughout the day, so I didn’t have a chance to take anything in at all! You walk on stage, and it really is like The X Factor on ketamine mixed with The Hunger Games on acid… you can hear all this weird music, you can see yourself in the background on the TV screens talking about the choir in an interview you did weeks ago. Then some random person will walk you across the stage, then some random man will whisper “Follow me” then you have to stare at someone before you’re allowed to conduct anything… everytime!!  I was about to start conducting, and the stage manager (lovely gent) would indicate from the side asking me to move forward! I had to move forward roughly 5 times before they would let me conduct Gwinllan!

You can hear the audience, but the lights are so bright in your face you can’t see them. There’s a woman sat on a posh chair about 5 yards behind you who immediately starts talking about you as you leave… then you get off the stage sweating to high heavens with all the gents asking what you thought, to be rushed up to by a camera crew screaming “Stand over there!” Then Heledd, the presenter, comes out and asks you a series of questions when your throat is as dry as a 32” timpani in the desert! Then someone else comes and grabs you, runs you upstairs whilst trying to take off your old microphone and fit you with another one. Then you go a room filled with smoke and fire (not a joke) and do an interview. Then you change rooms, change microphones, meet another 3 random people who all have a special job to do, and therefore naturally, all have different requests! Then you do an intro to the pieces you’ve just performed, presenting them in a way as though you’re about to perform them! I had to do this a minimum of 10 times for each piece before the guys are happy with the wording.

The way you look at the camera, how long you take, what kind of look is on your face, whether the audience can tell if you’re thinking about it too much or not… I was baffled beyond belief, and completely pooped by the end!

Then you go through another random set of instructions for the conductor which had been handed to you, explaining  what to do when you’re on stage for the presentation of the winner. What to do if you win, what to do if you lose, what to do when your choir comes on, what order to leave, who to give your microphones to…!!

Here are some very encouraging comments made about our performance by the adjudicators. All of which were quickly translated by members of the crew, and our very own Hugh Williams (so don’t be surprised if we’ve misunderstood any of this)

“Well, he may only be 26, but he knows exactly what he’s doing”.

“In Hiraeth (music by Dr Alwyn Humphreys MBE) he captured the choir from the very beginning, and held their attention from the off… it can sometimes be overdone, but this wasn’t. It was mesmerisingly beautiful. It didn’t have a note out of place or out of tune. It was rich in emotion!”

“What shall we do with the drunken sailor? (arrangement by Robert Shaw & Alice Parker) was full of vigour, exciting, rhythmical. The use of diction was captivating, and the comic element was not overplayed, something we favoured”.

“Gwinllan (by Caradog Williams) captivated us from the very first note. It was full of emotion, and the level of detail and attention to the score was incredible”.

I was most flattered indeed. Then I had to run off to do another interview, so I couldn’t watch the rest of what the adjudicator was saying on the television monitor!

A lot of random people came up to me to say how amazing they thought the gents were. And when I explained that we had men of all ages, some in their 80s, and indeed, one chorister who had suffered broken hips only 11 weeks before the event, they were even more astounded.

The choir had a lot to put up with: travelling, 4 hours to get to Aberystwyth from Risca, standing constantly for dress rehearsals, camera panning footage, going outside to shout RISCA! into the camera, going to a mirror to shout RISCA! after Leigh (Bass & Vice Chairman) says RISCA! Going to a studio to be blasted with smoke and fire, to watch a camera on a track go back and forth back, and all the while you are told to “Smile, look serious, do a funny pose, do a clinch of the fists pose”. 

The gents were genuinely in shock… 

The chief executive of the competition (I think that’s how he introduced himself), came to find me at the end, shook my hand, and said how amazing he thought choir was before he had to dash off!

During rehearsals, I’ve often told the choir that on a judging panel, usually someone will write, and the others will watch. And then they will swap roles between pieces.

When we sang Hiraeth, both Robin (Baritone) and Chris (2nd tenor) noticed that the adjudicator who was writing while Jeslyn (Accompanist) played the intro for Hiraeth, stopped, and put his pen down for the entire performance… I told them that that was the highest level of praise you could get!

So all in all, the gents sang well. They delivered a strong, safe performance, and really showed that although we were more of a traditional male choir, matched to the others, we still compared most favourably in style and vocal quality and were certainly not outclassed.

We await final results, when the semi-final rounds of Côr Cymru are televised on S4C in April. But whatever happens, I think it’s been great day for the gents and me, and is something that will hopefully be a great memory for all of them and so cool for their families to be able to watch them on national television alongside some of the best choirs and directors in Wales. Plus you know what I’m like, I will leach every bit of progress I can get out of the guys with the materials and experiences we’ve gained from the competition. Definitely one to repeat in future now we have a little inside knowledge!

Also I’ve got to tell you Martin, I won’t be watching the programme when it comes out ahah! I dread to think what clips and photos/poses they’ve used of me throughout the entire filming process. Don’t forget that I did at least an hours filming individually before they filmed our rehearsals for two hours and then went to the pub with the gents afterwards. I’m sure you’ll understand, but I think I’ve given myself a hernia from the stress of cringing at myself so much.  

I’ll catch up with you about it all properly soon!