ABERTILLERY ORPHEUS MALE CHOIR CÔR MEIBION ABERTYLERI	FOUNDED 1908 PATRON: Robert Lloyd CBE Site updated:17 September, 2007

A Bit of Welsh magic

EASTBOURNE had an injection of Welsh magic recently as 50 choristers invaded the town to take part in a charity concert at the Winters Gardens, bringing with them an entourage of wives relatives and friends.

The Abertillery Orpheus Male Choir certainly put the fun into fundraising, raising over £1000 for the Eastbourne Lions Club with a wide selection of music, including some inspiring Welsh songs with a spiritual message.

They lit the fuse, accompanied by pianist Penny Hughes, with the Lord is my Light by Felton Rapley and latter sang, Ever Time I fell the Spirit from an arrangement by D Jones, and the lovely Finlandia by Sibelius.

It is an art to be able to sing with such clarity and diction, not surprising therefor to learn that the choristers practice twice a week throughout the year to enable them to reach this high standard.

I would have like to here some individual male singing but the choir left the solo items to soprano Jill Padfield, who had appeared with them on previous visits to Eastbourne.

One of my favourites from Jill was Ivor Novello's Waltz of my Heart from the Dancing Years, as I have just bought a CD of part of his original recordings as a child I used to play this show stopper on my dad's wind up gramophone and a 78 HMV record. Who could ever tire from this beautiful music from this Welsh wizard.

Jill sang another nostalgic song. I Could Have Danced all Night, from Lerner and Lowe's My Fair Lady, a show I saw with my Welsh husband, Keith, on our engagement.

The mayor of Eastbourne, Cllr Olive Woodall, was among the audience to join in the robust singing of Sussex by the Sea.

It was a fitting touch by the choir under the direction of Stephen Bard to add a touch of local colour to the concert by singing Sussex by the Sea.

Other anthems included Myfanwy, Eli Jenking Prayer and the National Anthem.

The concert was a tremendous success, and Eastbourne will always keep a welcome in the hill sides for the Abertillery Orpheus

 

Carol Davies
Eastbourne .

EASTBOURNE HERALD APRIL 9th 1999

Easter Saturday evening at St. Mary in the Castle provided the perfect venue for what is becoming a rare treat these days- a male voice choir, straight from the land of song itself in the form of the 60 strong Abertillery Orpheus Choir, under the persuasive baton of musical director Martin Budd. The great tradition, which sprang up in the mining villages of South Wales at the beginning of the century (in Lancashire and Yorkshire it was brass bands) provided a rainbow of comradeship and culture in the diversity of what was, in any terms, a hard life. Their programme, rich in nostalgia and entertainment, was well balanced and varied from the religious to the traditional from opera to the musical, plus the captivating soprano soloist Jill Padfield, the recitals of Trevor Wilde, a virtuoso piano solo of Chopins Fantastic Impromptu Opus 66 from splendid accompanist Penny Hughes , plus a peppering of the unscheduled. The choir through really came into its own with the Welsh traditional contributions, the rich harmonies filling every nook and cranny, stirring up a fervour so that the audience couldn't resist recruiting their own voices in We'll Keep a welcome and accepting with gusto the invitation to sing along with Sussex By The Sea. Jill Padfields warm presence matched the rich quality of her voice which soared into the upper acoustic reaches of this beautiful building especially with her rendition of Musettas Waltz song from Puccinis La Boherne. There was hardly any holding down the 85-year-old choir president Trevor Wilde, who savoured every syllable of his recitations and it was particularly good to be reminded of the searching eloquence of the works of Robert Service. Many congratulations to Hastings Lions Club who organized an evening which attracted a sell out audience, the proceeds from which go to our own local Hospice, St. Michael's.