Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir Celebrates Silver Jubilee
By EIFION WILLIAMS
VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Welsh Men's (VWMC) choir presented a Silver Jubilee Concert to an overflow audience at St. Patrick's Church on Main Street on February 26, celebrating what was billed as “25 Years of Spreading Joy.” Following the concert, members of the choir were hosted by the Vancouver Welsh Society at the Red Dragon in the society’s Cambrian Hall.
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VANCOUVER WELSH MEN’S CHOIR President Alan Dahlo cutting the 25th anniversary birthday cake at the Cambrian Hall accompanied by founding VWMC member Gwyn Evans.
PHOTO CREDIT: Kathy Thomas
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The Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir was founded in 1979 when three members of the Welsh Club decided to form a male voice choir on the west coast. Within a year, the choir had expanded, performing at the 1980 Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu and singing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Since then, the choir has performed throughout Canada as well as Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia.
At the jubilee concert the VWMC President, Alan Dahlo, paid tribute to the choir’s three founding Welsh Society members, Gwyn Evans, Dave Gilder and Clive Jones. On behalf of the choir, the president also presented Dr. David Llewelyn Williams, representing the Vancouver Welsh Society, with a cheque for $3,000 towards the Cambrian Hall Roof Fund.
Dr. Williams thanked the choir members for their generosity and congratulated the choir on its success, praising “the symbiotic relationship that still exists between the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir and the Welsh Society.”
The choir’s eclectic Jubilee Concert program included spirituals, Welsh hymns, show tunes and opera music, delighting the audience seated in the beautiful surroundings of St. Patrick’s Church, one of the choir’s favourite venues. The soloists were Andy Hillhouse and the choir’s talented conductor Jonathan Quick, who gave a greatly appreciated, moving rendition of the Welsh love song Myfanwy in the original Welsh.
A large number of choir members gathered in the Red Dragon after the concert. On behalf of the Welsh Society, Neville Thomas presented the choir with a Welsh flag to be used during performances. The gift was enthusiastically received by president Alan Dahlo and members of the choir. Later in the evening, Alan Dahlo cut a large 25th anniversary birthday cake provided by members of the Welsh Society.
The choir’s next major trip is a spring 2006 visit to Boston, Massachussets and the Canadian Maritime provinces. The choir will next sing locally at the South Delta Baptist Church, Tsawwassen, in a Celtic Experience with the Delta Police Pipe Band and the Celtic group Blackthorn. The large appreciative audience at St. Patrick’s testifies to the continuing popularity of the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir.
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