On song
THE busy ladies of Llanelli’s Côr Curiad will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the choir next year.
And, fresh from their successful Marie Curie charity concert with Sam Bailey, they have decided to mark the occasion by giving something back to Llanelli’s young musicians and vocalists.
A Young Musician competition will be held on April 4, 2020, at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli.
There will be two categories – vocal and instrumental.
A £500 prize will be awarded the winner of each category.
Competitors must be from Llanelli area or the immediate surrounding area.
Age limits will be restricted to 11 to 18 at the time of the competition.
Participants must not be part of an agency or have any semi-professional/professional contract.
Participants must not be part of the ABRSM scholarship programme.
Each category will be judged by three independent judges and the winners will perform in a special evening concert, sharing the stage with Côr Curiad.
Anyone interested in taking part in the competition can register their interested by email to corcuriad@ gmail.com by July 31, 2019.
This weekend, 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;
■ Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Llanwrst;
■ Saturday, September 18, National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, The Centaur, Cheltenham.
If you like your music more rock and pop, then there are two special gigs coming up in May.
The West Coast Eagles tribute act and The Pollen Count will be performing on May 18 (7pm) at Neuadd Tumble, Heol y Neuadd, Tumble.
Tickets, without food, £12. Tickets, with food, £22 – includes two-course meal. Contact Mandy on 07805 340188.
On May 25, Madness will be performing live after racing at Ffos Las Racecourse in the Gwendraeth Valley.
You can celebrate more than 40 years of one of the most iconic British bands as they perform hit singles including One Step Beyond, It Must Be Love and the No 1 hit House of Fun.
In more classical mode, 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.
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.