On Saturday 28th January, the choir performed at a concert in Cowbridge School. The event was organised by the Mayor of Cowbridge, Councillor Andy Banks with proceeds going to his designated charities, Wales Air Ambulance and Marie Curie Cancer Care.There were 3 excellent young soloists appearing in addition to the choir, Grace Wain mezzosoprano, Joe Atkin-Reeves alto saxophone and cellist Hannah Clist. The choir sang a selection from their repertoire, including such diverse pieces as Calm is the Sea, Cwm Rhondda and the rousing Cavalry of the Steppes.

On Saturday 3rd December, Cowbridge Male Voice Choir was privileged to be part of the largest massed choir to sing at a rugby match in the Millennium Stadium. This was to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Welsh Rugby Union. There were around 1,700 assembled choristers from 44 choirs drawn from the length and breadth of Wales. The massed choir sang a short programme of traditional songs, including a “Barbarians medley” and were accompanied by the superb The Regimental Band of The Royal Welsh. Although the Australians beat Wales 24 to 18, the spectators rose as one when Shane Williams scored his last ever try for Wales in closing minutes of the game.

On Friday, 25th November the choir launched the Annual Christmas Tree Festival at Holy Cross Church. The church was beautifully decorated with many dressed and illuminated Christmas trees which had been sponsored by local businesses, organisations and individuals. The church was filled to capacity, with several of the audience having to stand. The concert was attended by the Mayor of Cowbridge, Councillor Andy Banks and the MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, Mr Alun Cairns. The choir was particularly pleased that their President Iona Jones was also able to attend, despite the demands of her busy schedule. The choir was supported by the choir of Llansannor Church in Wales School who sang two Christmas carols. Their performance was wonderful and they were a credit to themselves, their families and their teachers. The concert, which began and ended with a congregational carol, was well received by a very appreciative audience. Following the concert most choir members and many members of the audience adjourned to the Duke of Wellington public house for some well earned lubrication and more singing, to round off a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

On Saturday 12th November the  Choir greatly enjoyed the hospitality of the small Wiltshire village of Wootton Rivers located the beautiful Vale of Pewsey and dating from the Doomsday Book. The Choir has over the years gained a popular reputation in the area as a result of Save the Children fundraising concerts in nearby Marlborough, Devizes and Pewsey.

The unusual venue for this concert was  a timber-framed barn which has been skilfully incorporated into a historic private residence and is used regularly for social and fundraising events. On this occasion the beneficiary was the neighbouring St Andrew's Church. The excellent acoustics made the event a pleasure for both audience and performers including a local clarinettist with piano accompanist.

As soon as the concert ended, the Choir and a large portion of the audience shifted to the nearby Royal Oak, a renowned inn dating from the 17th century, to sup, sing and socialise with our hosts before returning to the Vale.

On Saturday 8th October, the choir returned for a 4th time to St Albans for a concert in aid of Christian Aid Uganda. The concert took place on the very day that the Welsh rugby team beat Ireland to progress to the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup. As you can see from the picture, the concert started with a bit of gloating by our Musical Director Shelley and  Accompanist Sandra. The concert was in held the main hall of St Columba's College, which was filled to capacity by a very appreciative audience, which was treated to a mixed programme of traditional Welsh songs, up-beat numbers and other choral pieces. The soloist on this occasion was soprano Lina Saavedra who's performance in the first half included 2 operatic pieces, and in the second half she sang 2 songs from the musicals.

Between June and August 2011, the choir performed at two weddings, both of which were where either the bride or the groom’s father is a member of Cowbridge Male Voice Choir. As might be expected in the circumstances, the boys put in an extra effort.

There was a performance by the choir on Thursday 28th July 2011, in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. The choir provided the pre-dinner entertainment for delegates at a conference organised by Cardiff University School of Mathematics. Unusually, the choir was positioned on one side of a gallery above the main entrance hall of the museum and the audience on the other side. Although this arrangement was slightly unnerving, the acoustic in the museum was fantastic.

On the 9th July the choir returned for a second visit to St Stephen’s Church Clanfield in Oxfordshire. In addition to a mixed programme from the choir, a local soprano performed some well-known pieces. The proceeds of the concert went to the church funds. The concert was well received by the audience and as usual, the choristers repaired to a local pub for an excellent “afterglow”.

On Saturday 11th June 2011, the choir performed at Cardiff Thistle Hotel for the members of Taunton Vale Rotary and neighbouring Clubs with Rotarian guests from Sweden, Latvia and Estonia. The audience were treated to a selection of traditional and modern music before going for dinner.

On Saturday, 14 May 2011, the choir concluded its 40th Anniversary year by performing their 41st Annual Concert for a capacity audience in Cowbridge Leisure Centre.  The evening opened memorably with the rousing strains of “Devine Brahma” from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”.  The concert continued with such delicate folk songs as “The Water is Wide”, the movingly patriotic “O Gymru”, the very well-known and appreciated “Calon Lân”, various attractive religious pieces such as “God So Loved the World” from Stainer’s “Crucifixion” and concluded with Charles Aznavour’s hauntingly beautiful “She” which, as the compère Keith Davies engagingly pointed out, each Choir member sang to their wife or partner exclusively!  Keith Davies proved a very personable compère, putting each piece into its musical context and linking them with some highly amusing stories.  Many members of the huge audience commented on the “superb balance” and “beautiful tone” of the Choir who, as usual, were under the musical direction of Shelley Thomas-Brown with Sandra Williams as accompanist.  Sandra has been associated with the Choir for the full 40 years of their existence while Shelley has conducted the Choir for over 25 years – both incredible records of dedication and enthusiasm. 

The soloist on this occasion was the Cardiff-born baritone Gavin Davies.  Gavin has appeared with many choirs and choral societies both throughout the UK and abroad.  He was the soloist at the 61st American-Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu in Kansas City, USA, and has also performed elsewhere in the USA, Malta and Israel.  He has an extensive recital and operatic repertoire and sings regularly with Welsh National Opera and he has shared the stage with such leading lights as Bryn Terfel, the pianist Ingrid Surgenor and the 1997 winner of Cardiff Singer of the World, Chinese Mezzo-soprano, Guang Wang.  He exploited his powerful, rich voice to the full in singing the Toreador song  from Bizet’s “Carmen” but skilfully moderated it later when performing “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific” and “On the Street Where You Live” as a well-deserved encore.  His brilliant accompanist was Simon Phillippo.  Simon is a member of the musical staff at Welsh National Opera where he has conducted many performances.  He is also in great demand as a pianist – concerto soloist, chamber musician and accompanist – and he is artistic director of Musica Viva, a versatile chamber ensemble of musicians from WNO and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Five founder members of the Choir – Keith Brown, Meic Edwards, Bob Whitaker, Glyn Jones and Gwyn Jones – took part in the concert.  A 28-page programme was produced for the event and the Choir are extremely grateful to the sponsors of the concert – Redrow Homes and Legal & General Assurance - and to all the advertisers whose generosity made the production of such a programme possible.  As supporters of the Choir know, the Annual Concert is the only concert in the year from which the Choir derive funds to help pay for their music and subsidise travel to appropriate charities.  They are also grateful to those organisations who acted as ticket offices – Sorrento, David Barnes Dry Cleaners and the Cowbridge Leisure Centre in Cowbridge; Gwyneth J Morgan, Optometrist, in Llantwit Major; and the Charity Shop in Pontyclun. 

We are already looking forward to an equally good attendance for their 42nd Annual Concert in Cowbridge Leisure Centre in May 2012!

On Saturday 16th April the choir sang a mixed programme of songs at the Rolls-Royce Owners Club dinner which was held in the Hilton Hotel in Newport. The event was relatively unusual for the choir as it was a private event rather than one of the more usual charity based concerts that we perform at.

The choir celebrated its fortieth anniversary on Saturday 26th March
with a formal dinner for 130 members and guests at The Bear Hotel,
Cowbridge. A minutes silence was held as a mark of respect for at the recent passing of two stalwart members of the choir, and to the memory of all those chorister/s and choir friends who have passed away since the choir was formed. 

Guests of the choir included the MP for the Vale of Glamorgan Mr Alun Cairns, Jane Hutt, AM and Councillor Len Taylor, Mayor of Cowbridge. It was an excellent evening. The choir's Hon. President Iona Jones (Soprano) gave a brilliant toast to the choir speech and
the choir Chairman Mr Gwyn Thomas responded in his own inimitable
fashion and much to the delight of all those present.

Photographs were taken by Rocksalt Photography - rocksaltphotography.com
who provided an excellent service on the night.

The Choir regrets to announce that Guy Jones, its Deputy Chairman passed away recently after a short illness. Guy's funeral service took place on Wednesday 16th March at Llanmaes Church and he was later cremated at Coychurch. Some fifty plus choristers
attended the service and there were many representatives from other choir's present.

Guy was a native of Pwlheli in North Wales but had lived in the Llanmaes area since doing his National Service with the Royal Air Force at St Athan where he met and married his wife Janice. He will be sadly missed by the choir.

We are also very sorry to report the death of Arthur Evans, who was known to everyone as Big Arthur. Arthur was a long-standing stalwart of the choir who had refused to let his final illness interfere with his enjoyment of the choir. He will be sorely missed by his wife Hilary, his family and fellow choristers. Big Arthur had a big heart!

The last time the choir sang at All Saints Church Porthcawl was when it recorded its current CD - "Voices from the Vale" the CD is selling extremely well.  The concert on Saturday 5th March was in aid of the 'Parkinson's UK Research Charity'.

There was almost a full house, the choir was supported by a brilliant young boy soprano Owen Reynolds who sung Pie Iesu and a very talented trio of musician/singers Alex Davies, Mark Griffiths and Lydia Griffiths; they gave renditions of songs from shows including Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast and Jekyl & Hyde.

Tesco at Culverhouse Cross was the venue on Saturday 26th February, for the choir to perform an hours concert. As usual on a Saturday morning at eleven o'clock the store was extremely busy.

The choir staged opposite the desk/counter of Customer Services;
the audience, although transient made time to stop and listen and quite a few of them stayed to listen to the one hour performance.

£166-00 was collected in donations, 10% of which went to Tesco's
nominated charity - Clic Sargent. The choir gave the remaining £150-00 to the charity Children Leukaemia Cancer Appeal who were collecting inside the store.

A representative number of choir members (27) responded to an invitation by Radio 5 Live to attend their Rugby Six Nations programme going out live from Pencoed Rugby Club at 7.15pm on Thursday 3rd February. We were asked to sing a few traditional Welsh songs and the first verse of the Irish Rugby Anthem to welcome Keith Wood who was broadcasting from Dublin.

The programme was jointly presented by Matt Dawson and Gareth (Ayatollah) Thomas. The guests were Brian Moore, Phil Vickery and the Welsh Rugby Legend Gareth Edwards. It was great fun and the members of Pencoed Rugby Club loved it.  When Gareth Edwards entered the club function room the choir sang "There' only one Gareth Edwards".  Later, we sang 'Cwm Rhondda' Calon Lan and to end proceedings we did a rousing 'Hen Wlad fy Nhadau'.

It was a brilliant evening and the celebrities were very generous with their time; they had photographs taken with the choir and with club members and signed numerous autographs.

The representatives of Radio 5 Live were extremely good to us and they thanked us profusely for attending and helping to make the night a great success. One of our star performers was a top tenor, Mr Leon Fear; he was interviewed on air and came across very knowledgeable, he predicted a hard game with Wales just edging it. He was wrong, but he was in good company, even the great Gareth Edwards made the same call!

On Saturday evening the choir performed a concert in aid of the chosen charity (Cowbridge Comprehensive School Appeal Fund) of the Mayor of Cowbridge with Llanblethian,  Councillor Len Taylor.

The venue was the newly completed school buildings of Cowbridge Comprehensive School and its very impressive auditorium. The auditorium was almost filled to capacity and the audience included guests and other local dignitaries, including Jane Hutt AM and Alun Cairns AM, MP.

The choir was supported brilliantly by the school Jazz Band and two very talented young female soloists.
It was a successful evening which realised in excess of £2,000-00 for the Appeal Fund.

Cowbridge MVC are performing a concert at Cowbridge Comprehensive School at 7pm on Saturday 29th January 2011. Also performing will be the school's Jazz Band.

The concert is in aid of the Mayor of Cowbridge's charity. The Mayor has chosen to support The Cowbridge Comprehensive School Fund Appeal as his charity, so all proceeds from the concert will be donated to the school.

Tickets are available from: Sorrento's Dry Cleaning - High Street, Cowbridge, David Barnes - High Street, Cowbridge, Town Hall, Cowbridge, Community Shop, Pontyclun and from calling 01446775627 - Mr Len Taylor

This concert is in aid of very worthwhile cause and deserves our support. So please if you want to enjoy an evening of music and song come and join us.

Between the 28th October and 31st October the choir conducted a tour of Bournemouth.

On Friday 29th October the first concert took place at St Paul's Church, Burlseton which is situated just outside of Southampton. It is a modern church which opened in 2006. It has all the technical amenities required for choral singing and a wonderful acoustic. The concert was in aid of the churches school project in Africa. The concert was well supported. The Vicar, the very Reverend Peter Vargas was delighted with the magnificent response, so much so that he sang for his supper - with his guitar strung across his DJ he looked the part and would have
graced the X Factor stage with his performance of 'Where do you got to my Lovely'!

On Saturday 30th October the venue was St Peter's Church in Bournemouth, the choir were hosted by Bournemouth MVC. The charity chosen to benefit from our joint concert was 'Save the
Children. The support was excellent. Mark Burstow, the flamboyant and entertaining Musical Director of Bournemouth showed his talent for presenting and conducting his excellent choir. They were a hard act to follow!

The pinnacle of the evening was reached when the choir's joined forces to sing 'American Trilogy' and 'Morte Christi'. The sound was tremendous; the choristers on stage numbered
about eighty six. Then Mark invited the audience to join in the last verse of 'Morte Christi' which served as the encore. The result was very moving!

Later, the choirs joined forces at The Inn on the Cliff hotel for a well deserved libation and after glow sing along. The photographs show some of the highlights of the tour.

Timsbury, some ten miles outside of Bath in Somerset was the location of the choir's
latest charity concert which took place on Saturday 16th Oct. The local village hall, a grand place and
certainly much larger than some village venues the choir has performed in, was full to capacity. Tables
were set out and laid for approximately eight to ten people. The concert was in aid of the Eradicate Polio Charity.
The after glow session was conducted in the main bar, in and around the dining tables and eventually
back at the stage area. Our reception from the good people of the village and its surrounding districts was
second to none and they looked after us extremely well. We left a happy and contented choir with
much good spirit and cider inside us!

After a short summer recess period the choir resumes practise sessions on Wednesday 8th September commencing 7.30pm at Holy Cross Church, Church Street, Cowbridge. The choir is always looking for new singers,
if you are interested in joining a premier Male Voice Choir within the Vale of Glamorgan please come and join us.
There is no age barrier; however, we would especially welcome young people into our ranks. Along with almost every other Male Voice Choir in Wales, Cowbridge has experienced a lack of interest by the younger element of society in
choral singing. Young singers are vital to the perpetuation of the great Welsh Male Voice Choir tradition. Visitors are
welcome to sit in at practise sessions. Please come to see and listen to us. You might enjoy the experience enough to give Male Choral singing a go! Our Musical Director Shelley Thomas-Brown (See photograph) is highly respected and is dedicated to the promotion of Male Choral music in Wales, throughout Great Britain and abroad. She will be delighted to welcome new recruits to the choir.

On Saturday 30th October 2010, the choir are performing a concert in St Stephen's Church, Bournemouth with the Bournemouth MVC.  The Event is being advertised in Bournemouth under the title:-

SING FOR A SCHOOL.
Bournemouth MVC and Cowbridge MVC from the Vale of Glamorgan,
South Wales will perform a joint concert for the 'Save the Children' charity at St Stephen's Church, Bournemouth on Saturday 30th October 2010 commencing at 7.30pm.Tickets priced at £7.50 - contact 01258840354.

On Saturday 17th July the choir held its annual Hog Roast BBQ at the Cowbridge Rugby Club.

This year it was a special occasion because the choir is celebrating its 40th Anniversary - 1970-2010.

Photographs taken at the club include the Chairman Gwyn Thomas cutting the anniversary cake with Shelley Thomas-Brown, Musical Director and Sandra Williams, piano accompanist.

Sandra has been with  the choir since it was formed. Due to charity commitments the choir committee had to forward its planned formal function to the 26th March 2011, when a dinner dance will be held at the Bear Hotel in Cowbridge.

We've been to some beautiful Churches this year and the most recent was in Llancarfan in the Vale of Glamorgan.

It sits in a wonderful rural setting. The church is ancient and recently it has been discovered that underneath the coats of plaster covering its interior walls there are some very old religious murals. Pain staking work is now going on to strip the plaster
and to restore the murals to a reasonable condition for posterity.

The choir performed a concert in aid of the churches restoration fund on Saturday 3rd July. The supporters of the church turned up and filled the church almost to its capacity.

Later, the congregation and the  choir had an after glow event in the church hall where they celebrated the success of the evening with delicious food and plenty of beverages.

It was a good night in aid of a great cause. The photographs show one of the murals found beneath the plaster and the choir during the performance.

The celebration of our 40 years in existence as Cowbridge Male Voice Choir started on Saturday 22nd
May when we performed to a packed house at the Cowbridge Leisure Centre.

Our guest, renowned Welsh soprano Iona Jones, who is also President of the choir, gave a superb performance and then sang 'Morte Criste' with the choir at the end of the evening.

Due recognition was given to four founder members of the choir still serving and to the dedication of Sandra Williams the choir's accompanist who has been in the post for the 40 years.

The concert was attended by the Mayor of Cowbridge, the Mayor of Llantwit Major and Jane Hutt, Assembly Member for the Vale of Glamorgan. A photographer from the Gem Newspaper was also in attendance and recorded the event for posterity!

The photographs show Shelley Thomas-Brown, Musical Director (Right) with Sandra Williams, Accompanist (Left) Iona Jones and presentations being made by Gwyn Thomas, Chairman of CMVC.

Llandeilo, a small rural farming town in West Wales is reputed to have been the gold centre of the Roman Empire.

On Saturday 15th May the choir gave a concert in aid of the orphan children of Dom Za Djecu, Miljenko I Dobrila, Croatia at St Teilo's Church, Llandeilo,
Carmarthenshire. The children are the war orphans of Croatia.

The choir was supported in its endeavour by Cor Ysgol Cymraeg Teilo Sant, its Musical Director and Accompanist Nia Clwyd and local operatic tenor Andrew Douglas Forbes. The children's choir and Andrew Douglas Forbes met the highest of gold
standards in their respective performances. The children sang six excellent Welsh songs. 

Andrew sang a selection of his favourite arias. The audience were captivated by his powerful tenor voice.

Cowbridge MVC gave a varied performance from its large repertoire. The church had a wonderful acoustic which was well suited to choral singing. There is an old saying in show
business which spells out the pitfalls of performing with children. On this occasion there is no doubt that the children stole the show!

Ysgol Cymraeg Teilo Sant, the children's parents and especially their Musical Director should be tremendously proud of them. They are the future of choral singing in Wales and they  should be treasured; they are much more valuable than the Welsh gold that was so coveted by the Roman Empire.  

On sunny Saturday 24th April the choir had a concert scheduled for 7.30pm at St Giles Church in Northampton.

Those travelling by coach to the venue started boarding at different pick up locations until the last choristers en bussed at the M4 service station at junction 33 at about 2pm. Then we settled back to enjoy what is normally a trouble free journey; however, fate had another plan for us. It became apparent quite early in the journey on the M4 towards the Severn Bridge that all was not well with the coach. Each time it came to any sort of a sloping climb it slowed down considerably, so much so that our oldest choristers stated that he could walk a faster pace uphill!

The driver, having made contact with his company assured us that all was well, and continued the journey.
Later, at the Chievely roundabout access to the A34 the coach had to stop at traffic lights. It was never to go again!

Intervention was required by the Highways Authority to keep traffic moving, cones were deployed and after what seemed  be an eternity we were allowed to disembark on to a grass verge behind a crash barrier.

After another couple of hours of toing and froing alternative coaches were hired from a firm in Newbury. These were two 15 seater mini coaches, the type used for Saturday night excursions, great for that purpose but not suitable for carrying luggage
as well as passengers. However, in the spirit of the 'Show must go on' we all piled into the coaches and the luggage was piled literally on top of us. 

We arrived at the concert venue, much to the delight and relief of our Musical Director, one hour late. We de-bussed and went straight onto the staging area and commenced the concert. The concert was in aid of the Hope Centre Charity which helps the homeless and other good causes. The concert realised £1,300-00 for the charity. To show their appreciation for our valiant effort the audience, who despite the lateness of the concert remained to the very end and arranged transport from the church to our 'AfterGlow' venue in a local public house. 

So a bad day at the office turned out alright in the end.

Hot on the heels of their performance at the Millennium Centre, the choir returned to Cardiff to perform at the 
National Farmers Union Conference in the Atrium of the Hilton Hotel.

It's not the largest area for any choir to perform in but we managed. The audience consisted of some 150/200 guests of the Welsh NFU, although they were without doubt the loudest audience the choir has performed too, they were very appreciative.

This concert was the last one for 2009/10 season. England beckons for the first concert of the 2010/11 season
which commences in April.  

CMVC wish to thank all of its supporters and especially those businesses who purchased
advertising space in its concert programmes. Your help and generosity is invaluable to the organisation,
without such assistance it could not do its charitable work. 

The Millennium Centre on Saturday 6th March was the venue for the choirs latest concert. It was a lovely but cold day, the centre was full of local people and tourists out enjoying the sunshine.
It is quite an amazing place to sing, the audience tends to be transient, many stop and listen to a couple of songs, then go about their business; others take advantage of the seating area
or the cafe facility and stay to watch the whole performance.

Sales of the choirs latest CD always go well there. It is a great venue to 'Showcase' a product. The post concert 'Afterglow' took place in the Eli Jenkins public house and a great time was had by the choristers who participated.

The photographs show the choir, conducted by Shelley Thomas-Brown in full flow, and our accompanist Sandra Williams waiting at the piano prior to the start of the performance.
Photographs were taken by Niki Wood.

It was with great sadness that the choir learnt this week of the death of Robin Jones (BBC Wales TV presenter).

Robin was a stalwart supporter of the choir; his daughter Iona Jones (Renowned Welsh Soprano) is the choir's Hon. President. We offer Iona and her family our deepest and heartfelt sympathy in their loss.

Robin was respected by every member of the choir for his professionalism and great sense of humour. He was the master of ceremonies at more than one of our concerts, it was a job he loved doing and audiences were quick to respond to his natural warmth and charm.

Robin will always be fondly remembered by everyone connected with Cowbridge Male Voice Choir. 

The choir performed a concert in aid of the British Parkinson's Disease Charity at Bethel Baptist Church in Pontyclun on Saturday 17th October.

The choir was supported by Menna Cazel Davies (Soprano), Menna has supported the choir before at Llantrisant Church; she gave a superb recital on this occasion. Support for the concert was excellent.

After the concert the choir retired to the Pontyclun RFC for rest and recuperation!