Last Thursday's concert by Tenby Male Choir was special for a number of reasons.

The setting was St. Mary's Church, even more beautiful than usual in the evening twilight, bedecked as it was with blossom and greenery for the flower festival.

The cause was Ty Hafan children's hospice. Ty Hafan is not just a building, it is a community of professionals and volunteers which offers comfort, care and support for life-limited children and young people, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life of their whole family.

The concert itself was notable too for its soloists. The first was regular concert compère and top tenor David Blackmore. With the choir's backing, he sang Bui Doi, from Miss Saigon. Singing any solo is not easy, but Bui Doi is a very demanding piece, with a daunting vocal range of more than two octaves, from a lower A flat to top B flat. David's debut with this song was a number of months ago, and he is now increasingly confident. His accuracy of pitch and tonal quality contributed to an authoritative, expressive and poignant performance.

In the first interval, we heard our second soloist, the ever popular and accomplished Paul Varallo. This time, second tenor Paul sang just three pieces from his growing repertoire, Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific, the Welsh lullaby Suo Gân, and the old favourite, Bless This House.

During the second interval, the audience had a rare and unusual treat: an organ solo from St. Mary's director of music, Dr. John Harrison. The hors d'oeuvre (or perhaps amuse oreille) was Largo (also known as Ombra mai fù) from Handel's opera Xerxes. The plat principal was the magnificent and dramatic Introduction and Toccata from Suite Gothique, by the French composer Léon Boëllmann (1862 - 1897).

This gave Dr. John a chance both to display his own considerable skills, and to show off the power and versatility of St. Mary's recently 'upgraded' organ. The sound reverberated through the church and made the floors and seats vibrate too. Interestingly, in the toccata, the main melody is played with the feet, while the hands provide the harmonies, truly a work requiring both pedal and manual dexterity!

As usual, the choir itself sang three sets of varied style and emotion. MD Ian Williams conducted, with accompanist Jill Williams at the piano.

At the beginning was the rousing Rachie in Welsh. Highlights were the romantic She, the super-fast spiritual Amen, The Rhythm of Life, (which sums up what keeps the choristers going), and also Gospel Train, with its minor solos from Stan 'the valve' Caswell and Eddie 'the horn' Stapleton.

The concert culminated with Gwahoddiad and the rousing American Trilogy, made famous by Elvis.

All in all, an excellent evening, and for a good cause!

Playing (or singing) Away

With five concerts and a mini-concert, as well as rehearsals, July is the busiest month this year.

The second of the five took place on Sunday in a packed St. Mary's Church in Pembroke. This was a free performance as part of the 'This is Pembroke' festival.

The programme was almost the same as Thursday's concert, except that Paul Varallo performed an extra slot in the second with three extra pieces. So, neither he nor accompanist Jill Williams had a break.

At the end of this concert, eight of the Pembroke Choir 'boys' who were in the audience joined the Tenby Choir to sing American Trilogy once more.

One rather nice touch was that, having heard the singing from outside, a group of about half-a-dozen teenagers tentatively peeked through the church door and then came in to join the audience for the last two numbers. It was not, perhaps, the kind of music which they were used to hearing, but they seemed to enjoy it rather nonetheless.

Tenby Male Choir could not function without the active encouragement and help of choristers' spouses. We are very grateful for this, and also for the support and goodwill of our friends in the wider community, including, (it should be said), the Tenby Observer.

Information about the choir and details of its programme are available on the official website http://www.tenbymalechoir.org/">http://www.tenbymalechoir.org/ where there are clips of the choir singing available to download. We can also be seen and heard on YouTube.com

New choristers are always welcome. Concerts permitting, rehearsals take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Tenby and County Club on the Croft. Guests are welcome too.

Anyone requiring more details should contact the secretary, Eric Mullins, on 845117.

S.C.