What a sight met ones eyes if one travelled down Warren Street last Saturday evening! A queue of people, stretching from the front door of St. Johns Church, round the corner, past the schoolroom door in Warren Street, all waiting to get into the Three Tenors Concert, just as the doors were opening - earlier than planned at 7.15 pm.

By 7.45 pm, almost all ticket-holders were seated and the stewards were seeking odd places here and there in the sanctuary to try to squeeze in the 20 or so ticket-less people who had turned up in an attempt to get in. In the end, half of the Tenby Male Choir gave up their reserved front row in order that the public could be seated.

So, in a sanctuary packed out, the concert began just after 8 pm.

Graham Powell, on behalf of the minister, welcomed everyone to the chapel and introduced Mr. Newman Vincent, compére for the evening. In his modulated, friendly way, Newman introduced the choir, Jill and Ian, and the concert began. One could tell, from the first round of applause, that the concert was going to be a special one, as the audience, made up of many local people from Tenby and district, but with many visitors from further afield, responded with enthusiasm to Tenby Male Choir's first three items.

Then Newman introduced violinist Jim Walker and accompanist Rebecca Whitehurst. Jim played two very beautiful, contrasting pieces, using violin for Bach's aria from a concerto in F minor, and viola for 'Christmas Dance' by Paul Williams. Next came the introduction to the 'Tri Tenor.' Newman did not need to give a lengthy introduction, as the programme said much about them, except to say that since the programme was printed, Robyn had won the prestigious Blue Riband at the Eisteddfod.

In their first appearance, the tenors sang a medley of eight songs, which blended seamlessly on, one from another, without the interruption of applause, which would have 'broken the spell.' This medley was made up of beautiful Welsh traditional songs such as 'O na fyddai'n Haf o hyd' and 'Sarah,' to Elvis' 'Love me Tender,' to Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Take a pair of sparkling eyes,' and it worked beautifully.

The trio had clearly polished this medley to perfection, and at its end, the applause was thunderous. They have great 'presence' on the 'stage' and their voices soared right up to the back of the gallery.

When the applause had died and the tenors retreated, Newman introduced Dr. John Harrison, of St. Mary's. John treated us to two very different pieces on the organ, which he masters easily, 'Spitfire Prelude' and 'To a Wild Rose.'

By now, an hour had flown by, and Newman invited the audience to stand to ease themselves off the 'unkind' pews, as he put it, to sing 'Love Divine'. This was accompanied by Dr. John on the organ, and how lovely it was to hear that hymn being sung by a truly full house.

Next, the Tenby Male Choir returned to sing three more items from their repetoire, including the unaccompanied 'Arglwydd, mae y nosi ' and as they sang 'Amen,' the applause was resounding as the piece got faster and faster. Jill admitted to me after the concert, that if it gets much faster, her fingers will not be able to keep up!

Jim was re-introduced by Newman, and this time, he played viola first. Rachmaninor's 'Vocalise' was a new piece to this reviewer, and very entertaining, as was 'Czardas' by Monti, played on the violin. We are indeed fortunate at St. Johns, to have a violinist of Jim's calibre, willing to play, as a gift to the church. And Rebecca's accompaniment was, of course, professional.

Dr. John, in his second appearance, played Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstance March no.4' to help remind us of Elgar's 150th anniversary, and then the choir returned to sing their final three pieces. This included the wonderful 'Nirvana,' which many in the audience had not heard before. Arranged by Brian Davies, it makes a stunning impact every time, in my opinion.

When Newman introduced the choir's final piece, 'Thanks be to God,' he paid recognition to Della who was in the audience, remembering with affection all the times he had heard her sing this.

The 'Tri Tenor' were introduced for their second and final set, as the last 'item' in the concert, and straightaway, they began with a medley of Italian opera extracts. But their mood was now very different, as they pretended to try to 'outdo' each other, stepping in front of each other, two whispering behind the back of one, and giving out 'yellow cards' for arias that were 'too long' etc. But in spite of the jocularity, the singing was superb.

Those great Italian songs, sung by three great Welsh Tenors will remain in the memory for a long time. They got a standing ovation from the whole chapel, of course, so they sang an encore, and still the audience would not let them go, so they sang 'Eli Jenkin's Prayer' in Welsh, in response to a request from John Hurlow earlier in the evening. John, who had organised the event, was delighted.

It's not possible to evoke the atmosphere of that evening, in a newspaper article like this, except to say that it was an exceptional evening, and a truly 'one-off' event. The organisers are sorry that some people were disappointed in not being able to get tickets. There is only so much capacity in any given space and the event had been publicised a full month ahead, as soon as tickets were available.

The final piece of the evening was given to Tenby Male Choir, and the three tenors, who shared the singing of Morté Christe; it was left to Newman to give thanks to all the participants, and to John Hurlow and members of St. Johns who helped in the putting on of the concert.

It has raised quite a lot of money for St. Johns, but mostly, it gave the hundreds of people who attended, an unforgettable evening. We know that in the audience were people who had travelled 100 miles to Tenby to come and hear this concert, and we are sure that not one regretted that effort. Tenby Male Choir's next presentation will be for Tenby Arts Festival week on Thursday, September 27, when they will again sing at St. Johns Church at 8 pm.

Soloist for the evening will be Ms. Jamie Hutchinson.

Jamie is well-known locally. She began playing the violin at a very early age, and began performing with Tenby Male Choir from about the age of 15. Jamie travelled to Italy with the choir in 2005 as guest artist, and has won many honours and scholarships since she began her degree studies at the Royal Northern College.

Since her first degree, Jamie has continued her studies and it is a delight that she is still prepared to 'come home' and play with Tenby Male Choir who gave her such support and encouragement as well as opportunity in her earliest days.

Tickets for this event are £5 and are bookable.

M. N.