Welcome | Croeso

Hello all,

Our much awaited 2024 UK Tour is over with many wonderful memories of all the places we visited and all the people we met, songs we sang and the spectacular finale at The Royal Albert Hall last Saturday.

I would like to thank Julian Murray on behalf of all of us for his vision and perseverance through the several years of planning this tour, it has been an experience of a lifetime for many of us and an opportunity to participate in a unique “Welsh” experience amongst many hundreds of Welsh choristers and multi national audience members, we were warmly welcomed in Bristol and Bridgend and made many friends during our visits.

Bristol
We have received many compliments and great feedback from Bristol, Bridgend and London, our patron, Dr. Haydn James attended our Bristol concert and congratulated us on our performance. he was impressed that we chose Canadian themed songs that “entertained the audience” and wished us well for the remainder of our tour. The Bristol Male Voice choir appreciated the Afterglow (…and the concert) and said it was the best evening they had enjoyed for a long time.

They presented us with a beautiful piece of Bristol Blue Glass with a commemorative “Concorde 1969-2003” inscription to celebrate the birthplace and manufacture of the Concorde aeroplane in Bristol, these handmade collectables combines the traditional shapes and designs from the seventeenth century that gained a worldwide reputation for it’s stunning colour and for the quality and beauty of the glass.

Our hotel in Bristol was perfectly located amongst the renovated historic dock area that is now a thriving entertainment and restaurant area, we had a great day out in Bath, visited the Roman Baths and enjoyed the beautiful spring sunshine that seemed to follow us for most of the tour.

Cardiff/Bridgend
Cardiff was an excellent base for our South Wales visit, the experience of seeing many original historical buildings relocated to the St Fagan’s Museum of Wales, the Big Pit Coal Mine and an afternoon in Abergavenny made for an educational day to experience what working in a coal mine would be like for colliers in Wales and the UK, and the market town of Abergavenny provided much needed refreshments of local food and ales.

We had an excellent group Tour dinner in Cardiff at Giovanni’s Park Place restaurant and sang Neapolitan Trilogy to Mr. Giovanni’s sister who appreciated our Italian connections!

Bridgend Male Choir had prepared a fantastic welcome to Wales, homemade cakes and refreshments before the concert and an excellent buffet at the Afterglow, the concert was completely sold out and we all thoroughly enjoyed the joint singing, guest artiste’s and comradery extended to us.

We were presented with a beautiful plaque made of Welsh Slate commemorating our visit engraved “Friendship Through Music” which reminds us of our passion and commitment to choir singing.

London
Onwards to London as we prepared for our concert at the Royal Albert Hall! It seemed the hotel was fully booked for the weekend with Welsh people! Many choirs and supporters were there, even Alwyn Humphries, the MD was there, I have never heard so many Welsh speakers in one place, especially in London!

The concert was exceptional, the venue was magical and the singing was inspirational and emotional, I am proud to be a part of the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus!

After returning from the concert I received a message from a couple from Burlington who said they just happened to attend the concert to experience the Royal Albert Hall and were surprised and delighted to see the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus listed in the program, we also had several public mentions by the MC and Alwyn about being from Canada and the only foreign ( Welsh) choir to attend!

A huge thanks again to Julian and Louise Murray, to our Music Team - Janice Beninger and Larissa Gulenco for getting us ready for these concerts, to John and Kathy Burrough, Barrie and Pam Llewellyn for arranging the day trips in Bath and S. Wales, John Truman for his MC duties, Craig Howells for his Marshall duties, Archie and Helen Waddell for getting us on and off the bus……if I missed anyone then my apologies but I know it took a lot of effort from everyone to make this a memorable and fantastic trip!

John Barnard
President
Burlington Welsh Male Chorus