Welcome to the Tonna Male Voice Choir

Quarterly Newsletter to Patrons

January 2009

Let me begin this first newsletter of the year by wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year.

Choir Numbers

We are delighted that choir numbers remain higher than they have been for many a year, we are now at a number of 49 choristers, add that to the fact that we have a strong musical team and the future of the choir looks settled for foreseeable future. One sad note however is that Cyril Hayward, one of our founder members has been forced to retire from the choir on health grounds, he will be missed and we wish him well for the future.

Anniversary Concert

We were confident that the concert would be a major success in the history of the choir and this turned out to be the case. The Church was absolutely packed to the rafters and we had to increase the seating capacity to get everyone in. We were looking forward to having the largest number of choristers on stage than for many a year and this turned out to be the case, unfortunately we were not able to get all of our new choristers on stage but still managed a creditable 42 choristers. The concert itself was most enjoyable, from the choirs’ own performance, and for this we have to recognize the work put in by Sue Liz and Josh, to the Children of Tonna School, Josh’s solo performances and of course the magnificent performance of Rebecca Evans, even if she did choose the wrong baritone to dance with!, the success of the concert has persuaded the committee to consider another such event for this year and enquiries are underway to find a suitable guest artist.

Other Concert Reports

Apart from the Anniversary concert the last couple of months have seen us at our busiest for quite some time. We visited Llangennith for a concert and to meet up with old friends this was a most enjoyable concert and resulted in a sizable number of the audience hiring a coach to come to our Anniversary concert, we also made a long delayed return to Crynant Welfare Hall for the Poppy Appeal Concert which gave the ex members of Crynant MVC an opportunity to sing on home territory, then it was a concert for the Samaritans at Neath Cricket Club and it was pleasing to see such a large audience, we then visited Tonna Hospital where we sang at the Alzheimer’s Society Carers Meeting. We then switched into Christmas mode with firstly a concert for Llansawel W.I., followed by our own Christmas Carol Concert at St Anne’s Church with one of our favourite young Sopranos, Sian Thomas, who sang quite beautifully, a few days later we were back at the church for the traditional service of 9 Lessons and Carols and we rounded off the year with a wedding at Baglan Church and a concert for the Neath Rotary Club. All in all a busy period which was quite a baptism of fire for our new members with so many items to learn in a short space of time, but they tell us that they are really enjoying the experience.

Patrons Donations

I know I say it in every newsletter but your contributions are really appreciated and we look forward to maintaining the relationship, there is no set period for renewal of your valued contribution and below is the record I have for your most recent donation.

Amount £ Date 8

If you think that this information is wrong please let me know so that I can check with our Treasurer that I haven’t missed your donation.

Forthcoming Engagements

Below is our current list of engagements which is looking quiet at the moment, but so did the beginning of last year!!

27^th Feb 2009 Concert in Spain

28^th Feb 2009 St David’s Day concert in Fuengirola

1^st March 2009 St David’s Day concert in Fuengirola

Visit our web page for updated listings. www.tonnamalevoicechoir.org.uk

Tour to Spain

Arrangements for our tour to Fuengirola are now well advanced, we have 2 concerts confirmed and are looking to add another. We will fly out from Bristol Airport on 26^th Feb 2009 and return home on 5^th March.