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London Welsh Festival of Male Choirs at Royal Albert Hall
London Welsh Festival of Male Choirs at Royal Albert Hall
Saturday 13 October 2012 - 7:00 PM
I know everyone on this side of the pond will going to Portland, OR on 13 October 2012 but for our friends on the other side of the pond there will be a grand performance of Welsh Male Choirs at Royal Albert Hall in London at 7pm.
I am especially interested in this concert because I have a cousin who will be performing there, and because the village of Penclawdd (on the north shore of the Gower Peninsula will be so well represented). My grandparents were from Penclawdd and we still having family living there to this very day.
Edward Rhys-Harry (from Penclawdd) will be the Music Director for the massed choirs of over 1,000 voices and Robert Nicholls (also from Penclawdd) will be the organist. To top it off, they will be performing several pieces written by my favorite Welsh composer--Karl Jenkins--who,coincidentally, is from the village of Penclawdd. Ahem...no bias here!
I would imagine that most Americans (Welsh or otherwise) would not be able to call Karl Jenkins by name or pick him out of an identity parade. But--his brilliant compositions would be ( and are ) instantly recognizable from coast to coast, border to border in the USA. Especially--Palladio, which, thanks to De Beers Adverts will forever be associated with diamonds !
The concert will be recorded and rebroadcast on S4C sometime before Christmas. Since S4C is blocked here I'll have to purchase my copy but that's OK because all the connections to Penclawdd warms the "cockles" of my heart.
I have included a video of Karl Jenkins conducting Palladio.It is not my favorite version but the electric harp adds an interesting dynamic to this wonderful piece:
Thanks Iona!
Penclawdd has produced a lot of talent for a village its size.
Mark Thomas is also from Penclawdd. He's a composer and a classical violinist. He is a BAFTA Award winner and has credits on over 100 scores for film and television. But, most importantly, his Mom ran the Post Office in Penclawdd for many years.
Here's an article from BBC Wales about Mark Thomas: Nominated for an Emmy
In fact, he was in Hollywood just a couple of weeks ago for the Emmy's as a nominee for composing the best theme music for Showtime's new hit series Episodes.
Diolch Harold, looking forward toseeing it on S4C
Loved this piece, thanks for posting Ceri.
Catrin is quite lovely and she has certainly mastered what to me seems to be one of the most difficult instruments.