The Watford Palace Theatre Community Choir completed a season of five concerts with a short tour in South Wales in July, performing at two fundraising events for local charities.
One of these was shared with the renowned Port Talbot Cymric Male Voice choir, established in 1911, which has performed for the Queen on several occasions and internationally.
The two choirs each sang a selection from their own repertoire and finished together with Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, the St Agnes church in Port Talbot resounding to the 80 or so voices of the joint choir.
This year marks a turning point for the Watford choir as its musical director, Steve Merrony, is leaving to live in France, after leading the choir for seven years.
Under his direction its membership has grown and its repertoire expanded to a wide range of popular, classical, folk, musical and humorous numbers.
Anthony Folami, a member of the Watford choir since its inception 10 years ago said, “It was a huge privilege to sing in Wales as guests of such a well-known and highly respected male voice choir. The concerts we have performed this year demonstrate just how far the choir has developed since we began.”
He went on to say: “We are very sad to lose Steve, our musical director, who has challenged and helped us to sing pieces that we had never previously thought possible. He will be greatly missed, but we must look forward to working with someone new in the autumn. Choir members would still like to have some influence in the range of music we are going to work on and will want to continue performing to audiences’.
The choir is always open to new members and will welcome anyone who would like to join in September.
Prospective new members are invited to try a taster session on a Wednesday evening in term time, before committing themselves.
The new term begins in September, it is fully accessible and there are no auditions.
Full details are available on the theatre website https://watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk/participation/
0 Comments