How much can you do in one week?

Tenby Male Choir performed at the Giltar Hotel on Tuesday, August 22, where once again Eddie was in fine form with his stand-up routine.

On Thursday we were at St. Mary’s Church to watch the choir perform with Integra Brass Band. This group of talented musicians came all the way from Manchester to take part in a number of concerts to raise money for the RNLI.

This was the third time that they had performed at St. Mary’s with the choir, so we knew that we were in for a treat. It was wonderful to see such a large audience on this occasion with full seats in the central nave where the choir were performing and also a large number in the lefthand aisle where Integra had set up. Once again our greatest number of holidaymakers had come from the other side of Offa’s Dyke (as Dave Blackmore refers to our English visitors) and we also had guests from Yugoslavia, Holland, Canada and China.

The choir performed two sets proving, yet again, that they can tackle the fastest of tempos and also move the audience emotionally with their powerful rendition of Bring Him Home.

This is always a favourite with audiences and was well received on this occasion too. Another of my favourites is A Working Man and it was appropriate that they sang it in this joint concert, as both male voice choirs and brass bands share their origins with coal mining areas.

Integra also performed two sets and all of their numbers received enthusiastic applause. There was a great deal of variety in their work and some stunning solos and a trombone ensemble. There was an unbelievably lengthy and fast drum solo which received thunderous applause and their MD Craig sang an impressive solo, whose title Shine is also the title of their tour.

Wilbur said that he would not be singing a solo, but maybe he will change his mind in the future.

For the final set, the choir sang the African Trilogy and then several fellow choristers in the audience joined the choir to sing An American Trilogy. When Integra and Dr. John Harrison on the church organ joined in, it took the performance to an even higher level.

The performers were rewarded with prolonged and heartfelt applause and the audience rose to its feet in appreciation.

After the concert, everyone retired to the club where refreshments were provided by the choir and old friendships were renewed.

Wilbur said that he is very pleased that they are maintaining a very credible level of performance and commented that it was a ‘tidy’ effort and gave them 8.5.

As well as the two concerts on Tuesday and Thursday, the Friends of Tenby Choir organised a coffee morning in Church House on Saturday. Members of the choir stood outside inviting people to join us and others waited on the tables. This was a great success and my grandchildren thought their luck had definitely changed as they had biscuits and cake on their plates instead of healthy vegetables! Although too young to sit through a concert, they were able to hear their Papa sing as I had recorded An American Trilogy on my iPad. Hopefully this will be published on our website soon so that you can enjoy this stunning performance.

Our next concert will be on September 7 at St. Mary’s Church. Our soloists for the night will be our own Paul Varallo and pianist Elizabeth Morgan. Elizabeth is a very talented and ambitious 10-year-old whose list of achievements is hugely impressive.

She has been studying with The Royal Welsh College of Music as an advanced student in the Junior conservatoire since 2016. This year she performed at the Fishguard International Festival and we are very lucky that she has agreed to join us in St. Mary’s Church next Thursday.

Di Mumford