EXCELSIOR - Treorchy Male Choir

EXCELSIOR 11
that it is. With the swell of interest in choral outfits the need for musical perfection
has never been greater. To aid the task I will look to Janice Ball, Helen
Roberts, the committee and every member for advice and assistance.
Furthermore, I would like to say a thank you to previous committee members
in Gareth Evans, Roger Morse, Islwyn Morgan and Norman Martin for the
assistance they have given me to date. I will be bending their ear in the future
I can assure you.
The year started with the trip to Basingstoke and Leamington Spa, before an
‘overnighter’ in Croydon in February. The night was marred when our
musical director Janice suffered the theft of her holdall and although the
entire Choir tried searching for it, it was not recovered. The trip ended with
a return on the Sunday morning and a brief ‘refreshments stop’ whereupon
the back of the bus attempted to recreate our concert performances in their
own imitable style.
A return to home roots occurred in March with the Junior Musician Of The
Year Final and in April with the Good Friday joint concert with the Parc &
Dare Band. The Junior Musician competition continues to grow in size and
stature and the standard throughout was admirable. The organisation of this
competition is fairly complex and respect must be paid to the sub-committee
and especially Tony Davies and John Fletcher for their efforts in ensuring that
the competition runs as smoothly as it does. This year saw the highest
amount of entrants to date and a truly excellent final where Charlotte Lewis
and Katie Leigh Jones ran out deserved winners. The competition was added
further credibility by the attendance of guest judges Dr Haydn James, Jeffrey
Howard, Derek Holvey, Joy Amman Davies, Jan Ball and officiated by Roy
Noble and Max Boyce who presented trophies to our 20 finalists.
In June a concert at the Park and Dare Theatre in order to celebrate Ysgol
Gynradd Gymraeg Ynyswen’s 60th Anniversary was a huge success with the
school demonstrating its talent for music and culminating in a joint performance
with our Choir. Further concerts with young people occurred again
in the Park and Dare at our Annual Concert in October where we were honoured
to sing with the Maesteg Children’s Choir and their soloist Lauren
Coates (the granddaughter of our choir Secretary) and again in December at
Llandaff Cathedral where joint items were performed with the Howell School
Junior Choir. It is a joy to see so many children so enthused with singing and
performing generally and therein lies the future for Treorchy Male Choir.
Hopefully a lot of them will join our ranks in the years to come.
New items were introduced into the repertoire under the tutelage of Janice,
who leaves no stone unturned in our weekly practices. The sound of the