Our only concert last week was the concert at St. Mary's in aid of the RNLI so it was a quieter week than most have been recently. It was still a very good and worthwhile concert though. The choir performed to an almost full church with a wonderful finale in the American Trilogy. This is always a bit special in St. Mary's Church because we are fortunate that Dr. John Harrison, organist and choir member, accompanies us for the final part of the trilogy, the Battle Hymn of the Republic with the church organ. This produces a thunderous effect building on the already powerful piano playing of Jill Williams. Many of our regular audience have heard it before, but it's fascinating from our vantage point looking out towards the audience and seeing heads looking up puzzled about what exactly is happening. It's a marvellous finale. We were accompanied as is traditional for Tenby Male Choir in the trilogy by a number of audience members from other choirs.

Rebecca Lowe gave an enchanting violin solo in two sessions accompanied by mother Sian. Rebecca's father Stephen, who is the mechanic for the Tenby lifeboat, was also in the audience and completing the family line-up grandmother Ray Lowe, president of the Tenby branch of the RNLI, made a surprise presentation to chairman Terry Evans at the end of the concert.

In a closing speech, Nicole Evans thanked the choir for a wonderful concert and added to that the fact that the choir had supported RNLI for many years and that they estimated some £20,000 would have been raised for the cause by the choir over that period.

In view of this, the national RNLI headquarters based in Poole, Dorset, had decided to present an award to the choir to commemorate this splendid achievement.

The award reads: "The chairman and council of The Royal National Lifeboat Institution wish to record their sincere thanks to Tenby Male Choir in recognition of their generous support raising funds to help save lives at sea."

The certificate is signed by Paul Boissier (chief executive 2013) so this is a memento which the choir are very proud of.

On this particular evening, I understand that we raised just under £800 net of expenses so a little bit more to help saves lives at sea or on the cliffs.

Those of us who are lucky enough to live near the sea know of its beauty, but also of its dangers and we recognise the debt that so many owe to the lifeboat men.

As I have mentioned before, the choir also has an active ladies section which often enjoys social evenings or days out.

Recently, they visited Caldey Island and by all accounts had a really enjoyable day. The group are shown in the picture below most of whom are known to the choir although the woman in the green hat has not yet been identified.

Next week on Thursday, September 12, we will be holding a concert at St. Mary's Church in aid of our current headquarters, the well-known Tenby and County Club. The building is in need of substantial repairs and the choir have decided to hold a concert to provide funds for some of those repairs.

On Tuesday, September 10, we will be holding a normal rehearsal evening where visitors or potential new members are always welcome to come and watch. There is also information about the choir on our website http://www.tenbymalechoir.org">www.tenbymalechoir.org and a Facebook account (just do an internet search for Tenby Male Choir Facebook) or you can get more information on anything about the choir on (01834) 813198.

A.G.K.