June

Two years ago, the Choir along with Abertillery Orpheus Male Voice Choir travelled to Leicestershire to attend a concert organised by The Harmonic Voices, Burbage Community Choir.

This year, the choir was delighted to take part in a concert at St. Michael’s Church on Saturday 8th June along with the Male Voice Choir and the choir from Burbage.

The visiting choir arrived during the afternoon and enjoyed a buffet that had been provided by the ladies choir and hard working Eurydice section of the men’s choir. Our visitors were impressed by the warm welcome they received and by the expansive buffet that had been prepared for them.

The concert proved to be a great success with the three choirs performing a wide range of musical pieces and also singing two songs jointly. The audience was very appreciative and showed great generosity by helping the three choirs to raise over £650 for The Hospice of the Valleys.

It was a lovely, successful evening and I’m sure our visitors will remember their first tour with fondness and pride. We wish them well in all their future endeavours.

Marilyn Allen

Abertillery Ladies Orpheus

Harmonic Voices Burbage

Abertillery Male Orpheus

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Saturday 30th June

CONCERT MUCH WENLOCK SHROPSHIRE

On Saturday 29th June, the Choir travelled to the pretty town of Much Wenlock to perform in a joint concert with the Much Wenlock Male Voice Choir. Three years ago we hosted their Choir and we were delighted to receive an invitation to visit the beautiful county of Shropshire.

The concert proved to be a great success consisting of a wide selection of musical pieces, both old and new.

The Much Wenlock hosts and their partners provided a lovely buffet and refreshments afterwards. One of their choristers, Nick, accompanied the after concert singing with his accordion and this added to the enjoyment of the evening.

We had a brilliant visit and our hosts were friendly, welcoming and hospitable.

We wish this choir well in all their future events and thank them for their kindness and wonderful sense of fun.

Marilyn Allen

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September

Wednesday 11th September

We performed a charity concert in aid of Guide Dogs Cymru at The Met, in Abertillery.

We were pleased to help Jon Nixey in his valiant efforts to raise a substantial amount of money for this wonderful charity. Mr Nixey benefits from the support and care of his own guide dog and has already raised thousands of pounds.

The choir was supported by Miss Molly Bradley, a very accomplished flautist who has worked hard to achieve an extremely high standard.

Miss Paige Coles, a very talented singer from Ebbw Vale, entertained us with a lovely selection of songs.

It is always uplifting to share the stage with young people, especially when they show so much commitment and talent.

The concert raised over £450, on the night and other large donations will be given, through the choir’s efforts, in the near future.

Thank you to all the people who attended and supported such a worthy cause and we wish Jon further success in his fundraising.

Marilyn Allen

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Saturday 21st September

The choir took part in a joint concert with Abertillery Male Voice Choir at St Michael’s Church. We were delighted to welcome a visiting choir, Kor pa Randen, a mixed choir from Stavanger, Norway.

One of their choristers, David Loughman, has historical links with both Abertillery choirs as his grandparents were original members, a hundred years ago. Consequently, David was keen to bring his choir back to the valley where Dai and Florence Elliot started their married life. It was also pleasing to see many members of the Elliot family at the concert, especially as most of them had to travel from different parts of Britain.

The ladies of the Norwegian choir wore traditional costumes and this, along with their wonderful music, ensured the night was very special.

Ms Tuva Ystad Gedero conducted our Norwegian visitors and she also delighted the audience with a beautiful solo rendition of ‘Varen’, by Edvard Grieg.

Mr Steve Bard conducted both Abertillery choirs and our talented pianist, Penny Hughes, accompanied all three choirs throughout the weekend.

On Sunday, Kor pa Randen sang at the Norwegian Seaman’s Church, Cardiff Bay, as part of the 150 year celebration. Later, both Abertillery choirs joined them to perform a selection of songs on the foyer stage of our magnificent Millennium Centre.

As a choir we would like to thank the Eurydice Section of the men’s choir for providing a delicious buffet for our visitors on the practice night. Also, we are very grateful to all members of the men’s choir who supported this venture. A special mention must go to Gareth Spracklen who worked tirelessly to make the weekend a great success. We were delighted to take part. We had a fantastic weekend enjoying music and making wonderful memories.

Marilyn Allen

Abertillery Ladies Orpheus

Kor pa Randen

Abertilley Mens Orpheus

Ladies in Cardiff

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Monday 21St October

Jon Nixey attended our practice in order to be presented with a cheque for £300 as part of his endeavours to raise £2500 for the Guide Dogs Cymru charity.

Our donation was made up of £200 from the proceeds of our recent concert in Much Wenlock along with £100 from the raffle, collected at our September charity concert. We have been pleased to be instrumental in helping Jon raise over £700.

Needless to say, the star of the occasion was Jon’s own guide dog, Sophie. She behaved impeccably and helped us to appreciate the enormous support and companionship she provides.

We wish Jon success and hope he achieves his goal in the near future.

Marilyn Allen

Jon Nixey Pat Rogers Sophie

Cor Orpheus Menywod Abertyleri

Abertillery Ladies Orpheus

Kor pa Randen

Abertilley Mens Orpheus

Ladies in Cardiff

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Monday 21St October

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