ON SONG
THERE is an opportunity to hear Mendelssohn’s Elijah coming up in May.
Côr Glandulais, Pontarddulais, will be staging the oratorio at Siloh Chapel on Saturday, May 18 (7pm).
The performance will also feature Llangennech Primary School Choir and Mold and District Mixed Choir.
Guest soloists will be Gail Pearson, soprano, Susan Thomson, contralto, Richard Allen, tenor, and Gary Griffiths, bass.
The guest organist will be Huw Tregelles Williams OBE and the conductor will be Alun Tregelles Williams..
Tickets, starting at £10, are available from Côr Glandulais members and Mrs Margaret Thomas, 01792 883117.
Written by Felix Mendelssohn, Elijah premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival. It depicts events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament.
May will also see a new Welsh version of Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio.
‘OPRA Cymru’ will be staging Fidelio at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen on Tuesday, May 7 (7.30pm).
Fidelio is the inspiring story of the bravery of a woman who rescues her husband from political execution.
The opera is told through the words of Mererid Hopwood, the first woman to win the Bard’s Chair at the Welsh National Eisteddfod.
Today (Wednesday), in Llanelli, there is a chance to take part in Concerts and Cakes at Ffwrnes Theatre (1pm).
Concerts and Cakes is an initiative to bring people together regularly to provide a forum for the sharing of high quality live music.
Each session is delivered in cabaret style and begins with an informal participatory music session led by Live Music Now musicians, followed by tea and cakes.
Live Music Now is the UK’s leading musicians’ development and outreach charity.
They provide exceptional live music experiences to people with limited access to the arts, due to disability, illness or social disadvantage.
Participants benefit from the amazing therapeutic, social and emotional benefits of engaging with live music - an experience that transforms and enriches lives.
You can find out more about Live Music Now on their website - www. livemusicnow.org.uk
The Welsh language is in the spotlight on May 8 at Ffwrnes.
Following the success of her most recent album Gwn Glan Beibl Budr, Lleuwen will be playing Ffwrnes as part of a four-date theatre tour of Wales.
Performing live with the band, this is an unmissable opportunity to witness a performance of this powerful and moving album.
It is an album of raw, rooted and radiant music.
Twisting ancient hymns to her own compositions, Gwn Glân Beibl Budr (Clean Gun Dirty Bible) takes the Welsh hymn book and throws it into the Age of Misinformation.
Live, raw and often improvised, Lleuwen brought an extremely varied mix of musicians together to create her most rooted and experimental album to date.
Musically and lyrically, Gwn Glân Beibl Budr explores polar opposites: addiction and spirituality; violent guitar strumming with angelic vocals; disconnection in the era of connectivity; historical amnesia.
Crashing drums play the role of a beast of prey with the harp playing the role of a young seedling.
There are songs about urbanism and shrinking rural areas; road traffic, phone traffic, mind traffic.
Later in May we see Athena, Steffan Rhys Hughes and the choir from Ysgol y Strade in Llanelli perform at Ffwrnes (May 24).
Following the success of their recent new recordings, Steffan and Athena will take to theatre stage to perform songs featured on their brand new releases – ranging from popular classical pieces to contemporary melodies and popular Welsh favourites.
Athena, Wales’s first female classical crossover trio, features three sought-after Welsh artists, Gwawr Edwards, Sioned Terry and Ellen Williams.
Athena has performed in harmonious union all over the UK at events ranging from a prestigious awards dinner for the Wales Football Association at Hensol Castle, to performances at concert venues in London and most recently at The William Aston Hall in Wrexham alongside the renowned Fron male voice choir.
Their debut album, ‘Encore’, was released at the end of 2018, marking their first year together as Athena.
TV appearances on S4C include Noson Lawen and Heno.
Steffan released his debut album, Cana o dy Galon, at the age of 12, featured on the Christmas Spirit album with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, and duetted with Katherine Jenkins for her sixth studio album Sacred Arias which reached no. 5 in the UK album charts.
Steffan is one of the eight members of Classical Brit Award-winning vocal group Only Men Aloud who were crowned the BBC’s Last Choir Standing.
As well as touring the UK, his highlights include performing in Mumbai, India, a summer tour with the British Proms and entertaining the crowds at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff during the Six Nations series.
Steffan released his eagerly awaited second album in November 2018 – a self-titled eclectic mix of Welsh and English songs, including an original track by himself and a new song written by Caryl Parry Jones.
Styles include folk, musical theatre, classical-crossover and gospel.
In Whitland, the “boys” of the town’s male choir are getting ready for a concert at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf on Friday, April 26 (7.30pm).
The Whitland and District Male Choir will take the stage with special guests Goodwick Brass Band and Parti Harmoni.
The compere will be Huw George and the president for the evening will be Arthur Bates.
Tickets are £10 and available from choir members.
The news from Burry Port is that a date has been set for Burry Port Male Voice Choir’s annual concert.
It will be at St Mary’s Church, Burry Port, on Saturday, September 21 (7pm).
Burry Port Town Band also have some dates for the diary -
Saturday May 18, British Open Senior Trophy, Winter Gardens, Blackpool;
Saturday July 20, BPTB Annual Summer Concert, Memorial Hall,
Burry Port
■ If you have news about the choral scene in Llanelli, email robert.lloyd01@walesonline.co.uk or rlloydpr@btinternet.com