How lovely it was to see how much the audience enjoyed the concert given by Tenby Male Choir on Tuesday, May 12, at St. Johns Church!

The choir's busy summer season has begun in earnest now. They had given a private concert at Manorbier Castle the week before to a specially invited audience of Americans, but it was encouraging to see the large number of local fans of Tenby Male Choir amongst the audience, made up in the main of visitors to the area, who came last Tuesday to listen and applaud with enthusiasm at one of their earliest public concerts of the season.

Welcome to the church was given by one of the elders and then David Blackmore, compére and top tenor, introduced choir MD Ian and accompanist, Jill.

Getting off to a rousing start, the choir sang five items, ending with the lovely 'What would I do without my music?'.

As the choir left 'centre stage', Dave told the audience a little about the choir's history before introducing their guest artist for the evening, Rhian Morgan.

Rhian, a member of a well-known local family, is the daughter of John Morgan, a member of the bass section of the choir. She has sung with Tenby Male Choir in the past, and it was good to hear her sing again.

She chose some lovely pieces to suit her mezzo soprano voice. She began with 'With one look' from 'Sunset Boulevard', 'On my own' and 'Don't cry for me Argentina' in her first set. Accompanied by Jill Williams on piano, Rhian's singing was much enjoyed, and provided a real contrast from the choir.

When the choir returned, they sang the patriotic song 'O Gymru', which David had simply translated beforehand, so that the non-Welsh speaking members of the audience could have some understanding of its meaning. This was followed by two romantic ballads, 'She' and 'Always on my mind', and from the faces of some of the ladies in the audience, this last piece brought back some very poignant memories.

Next came two 'big' pieces and lastly 'Bring him home' from 'Les Miserables', dedicated to 'Dave Flan' who sang it so beautifully as a solo item for many years. Again, it was good to see Dave's son in the audience.

When Rhian returned to centre spot, she sang more from 'Sunset Boulevard', 'As if we never said goodbye' and 'Tell me on a Sunday'. Her last piece was the popular 'You raise me up', which we last heard sung at the Royal Albert Hall, by a young woman who is studying at Cardiff Royal School. Rhian told me she'd been 'dared' to sing it after the excellent Albert Hall performance! It went well.

The choir's final set ended as it frequently does, with 'The American Trilogy', always moving and evocative with audiences 'of a certain age', and the choir received very lengthy applause.

Mollie Neate, on behalf of St. Johns, thanked the choir for a wonderful evening of entertainment and thanked Rhian, Jill and Ian for all their work in providing us with a memorable event.

The concert then ended with the singing of the two National Anthems.

By the time this article is printed, Tenby Male Choir will have sung for Christian Aid at St. Mary's Church, but their next concert, open to the public, is on June 2 at St. Johns and then, in a joint concert with Darlais choir, which should provide a very special evening at St. Mary's Church on June 13, at 8 pm.

M.N.