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ISSUED 9TH NOVEMBER 2012:
Stimulated by last Sunday’s concert at St. Patrick’s church, Dalkey with the Fron Choir from near Llangollen in Wales we enter a busy season. The Fron gave a wonderful display of power and accuracy which we matched with out light and shade, startling the audience with dramatic movement which Geraint introduced. In the joint numbers with the Fron we took advantage of the wonderful acoustics of the church, egged on by a full and enthusiastic audience, to ring the venerable rafters with strains of Motre Christe and Gwahoddiad. I cannot say that the singing in the hostelry afterwards was quite as refined, but it was our duty to water and victual the Fron before they set out across the sea.
Our next appearance is this Sunday 11th. November in the church of St. John the Evangelist, Tonlegee Road, Coolock. The concert which starts at 8.00 p.m. is being hosted by the Navan Silver band in aid of the construction of a North side hospice. We will also be joined by the Garda Siochana Ladies Choir. Geraint has promised a combined version of Molly Malone that will be heard South of the Liffey.
Saturday 17th. November will see us give a concert at the Methodist Centenary Church, Leeson Park, Dublin. This is a long promised engagement.
On the afternoon of Sunday 4th. December we will be supporting the great work done by the Franciscans by anchoring their first Carol Service at Adam and Eves church, Merchants Quay. Do come along if you wish to exercise your lungs and support them.
We are privileged to have been invited to take part in the Defence Forces annual carol service on Wednesday 12th. December.
There is great interest by the Westbury Hotel in having us entertain for an evening. We will circulate that date when it is fixed. Sit down and relax in comfort and listen to some Christmas fare after a days shopping.
If the above has got you chomping at the bit to loosen your vocal chords and start singing, the choir has welcomed into its fold 9 new members in the last year. There is no greater sound than Kildare men singing Welsh songs like a native. Why not make a new year commitment early and contact us on the web site to seek an audition. For the audition you will not be made to sing the Hallelujah Chorus backwards, but assisted to gravitate to your most suited range of latent talent.
The Dublin Welsh Male Voice choir is also presently planning the 2013 concert programme. If you wish us to sing for your favourite cause, sing in partnership with local choirs or simply sing to entertain please contact us through the web site. News
Posted 15 May 2012
As we head into the Summer Season we are delighted to report that we have taken on new members, particularly in the tenor section and some of these will be pushed out of the nest to perform at our upcoming concerts.
The choir will fulfil an annual commitment to sing at the Novena Mass on Thursday 7 June at the Franciscan Adam and Eve’s Church, Merchants Quay at 7.45 p.m.
We are privileged to have been asked to perform at the RDS charity concert in the main hall at the RDS on Friday 22 June. Our soloists for the evening will be Catriona Scullion. We are certainly looking forward to putting on a great show.
Further into the distance and probably associated with a period people would like to avoid thinking about when the sun shines, we have been engaged to sing at the Defence Forces annual Carol service on Wednesday 12 December.
They say keeping your brain active lengthens your life. Your opportunity for a longer life takes place at our annual table quiz at the Merrion Inn on Thursday 24 May at 8.00 p.m. John Leahy and Stephen Lalor at this very moment are interrogating libraries and Almanacs for a wide variety of brain teasers. Be sure to bring a team with a wide breadth of knowledge. There will also be a raffle of pure chance for the intellectually challenged. It’s always a great night.
One of our most successful concerts recently was in Avoca, Co. Wicklow. It was successful in that the choir was joined by young community choirs from the area. The venue was packed and we finished with some joint Welsh numbers. The choir are keen to promote similar collaborative ventures, so if you think you have musical talent in your area, contact us and we may well be able to put on a joint show.
Posted 14 February 2012
DWMVC featured recently in RTE's Nationwide programme. Click here to view the clip.
Posted 24 January 2012
HOWELL EVANS We are sad to report that Howell Evans, Draig Werdd's oldest member, died in Dublin last Saturday, January 21st, at the age of 104, after a short illness. Howell lived most of his life in Dublin, the family having moved there when Howell was very young after his father was transferred from Holyhead through his job with the LMS railway company. Apart from a period when he attended secondary school in Holyhead, Howell spent the rest of his life in Dublin. Despite that, he remained a proud Welshman and spoke the fluent Welsh that he had learned at the family hearth throughout his life. Howell and his family were members of the Welsh chapel in Talbot Street, Dublin, until the chapel closed during the second world war. Howell's history and reminiscences of the chapel can be read by going to http://www.draigwerdd.org/Newsletters/Capel%20Cymraeg.rtf . He also took part at the age of 103 in a programme about the chapel which was shown on RTE television last year - you can see this by clicking here. Howell was also a founder member of Dublin Welsh Male Voice Choir, singing with them until well into his 80s, as well as being an active member of the St. David's Society. Howell remained active and alert and retained a lively interest in life right up to his final days. He lived at his own home in Blackrock until illness forced him to move to a nursing home in Glenageary, Dublin for the final 15 months of his life, where he enjoyed the love and care of the staff. His only complaint was the inability to have proper conversations with his fellow residents, the home being "full of old people", as he told me recently. His death represents the passing of an age, and I for one will miss my regular visits to him where we enjoyed the opportunity to converse together in the language of heaven. Hopefully he'll have plenty of opportunity to carry on doing that in the life to come. There will be a private funeral at Massey's funeral home, Balally, Dublin at 11am on Wednesday 25 January, followed by interment at Deansgrange cemetery, Dublin. Geraint Waters
XV On Song re-mastered
DWMVC has launched a fully re-mastered version of its CD "XV On Song" to coincide with the Rugby 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. You can listen to the new CD from the "Our Music" Section of this website. You can also purchase copies from the same section. Copies are also on sale in record stores nationwide and in the UK.
Read the press release here.
Posted 4 January 2012
From Bob Fitzsimons, former choir member: hello after 45 years, I am prompted to write after listening to XV on song, and it brought back many memories. I was one of the group who founded the choir and was a medical student in Trinity. I kept a journal for some of the year of 1966, and my entry for Thursday 17th November reads as follows: "The inaugural meeting of the D. Welsh Choir took place yesterday [16th November].
Only a few turned up but we have a good core. Decided to aim at St. David's Day. Trouble is, it is the day before my Second MB exam [exam at the end of the preclinical years]. I hope it will turn out all right [I don't know if I meant my exam or the performance!] Had a good session afterwards with Mike Hayes, Gareth, Rich Jones and Graham in the Stag's Head on Dame Lane." I sang with the choir until 1971, going to the Pan Celtic in Killarney where we took second place out of one!
Then I went to Newport Gwent for a year and sang with the Cwmbran MVC. I was five years in Canada before returning to Cork for six years and finally moving to Tralee for the last 27 years. Like Keith I am now retired for the past year. I have to say I really enjoyed the times in the Toby Jug and then the pub on Aungier St. The rehearsals used to be on Monday evening, and I recall doing weekends on call in Sir Patrick Dun's, working all day monday and escaping to the choir in the evening - exhilarating. With best wishes and greetings for the season, Bob Fitzsimons.
Posted 9 November 2011
Limerick Choral Festival Society have asked us to mention that Fuaimlaoí will perform in St Joseph's Church, O'Connell Avenue, Limerick on Sunday 13 November at 7:30pm. Tickets are €15 at door. Click here for details of Fuaimlaoí.
Posted 2 November 2011
We have been asked by our friends in Blessington to mention the following: On Saturday November 12th the Tramway Theatre in Blessington, Co. Wicklow is presenting HANDEL'S MESSIAH by The OCCASIONAL SINGERS (Conductor Robin Moore and soloists Sarah Court, Marie Kelly, Paul Lenihan & Jim Stewart). Tickets, €20, are available by booking with John Coogan on 087 1303491, or are on sale in The Office Shop and Hennessy's Next Door in Blessington. Show time is 8pm with a wine reception from 7.30pm.
Posted 25 October 2011
A message from Sally Kelly, who has had a 23 year association with the choir as a soloist: Hi Its Sally here. Just to let you all know I did my Skydive from 10 000ft in Birr Airfield on Wednesday 19 October. It had been cancelled 5 times due to the weather so needless to say I was elated. High as a kite ... over the moon ... not to mention bloody terrified when it finally happened. I wouldn't do it again but the €2,400 raised for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association made it worthwhile. Click here to view a video clip of the dive. A big "thank you" to all in DWMVC who supported me & the cause.
Posted 18 October 2011
The choir was very pleased to be invited to a celebration of the life and achievements of Monsignor Pádraig O Fiannachta in the Unitarian Church on 14 October. Click here for a report, as Gaelige, of the event. Thanks to Pól O Duibhir, a former DWMVC member, for sending us these details.
Posted 18 October 2011
We have been asked to mention a fundraising concert for Dublin Aids Alliance (DAA) to be held in the Unitarian Church, St Stephen's Green on Thursday 20 October. Performers are Anuna and the Dublin Gospel Choir. Tickets @ €15 are available from the DAA 873 3799. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door
Posted 16 October 2011
We have been asked to mention that The Scala and Kolacny Brothers (www.scalachoir.com) are coming to the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. They are best known for their work in films such as the Social Network and TV Series trailer Downton Abbey. See YouTube clip: http://tinyurl.com/28uffhh. Tickets are on sale from ticketmaster.ie.
Posted 27 September 2011
Côr Meibion Onllwyn – Onllwyn Miners' Welfare Male Voice Choir, from the Dulais Valley in south Wales are to visit Howth in Dublin for a concert in St. Mary's Church on Saturday October 1st. with all proceeds going to Howth Lifeboat. The concert, which will also feature the Tredagh Singers, is part of the choir's 25th anniversary tour, as they first toured Ireland in 1986, as a thank you gesture for Irish solidarity during the Great Miners' Strike, 1984-1985. Tickets for the concert which starts at 8pm Sat Oct 1st, cost €15 and will be available at the door.
Posted 15 September 2011
The Association of Irish Choirs is offering Sight Singing and Vocal production Courses located at the Department of Music in Trinity College Dublin. Details can be found at www.aoic.ie
Posted 15 September 2011
The DWMVC will hold its AGM on Monday 17 October. Details are posted in the Members' Area.
Posted 11 August 2011
Our friends in the Dublin YMCA MVC have asked us to mention that a massed choir of over 80 voices will parttake in a festival of Male Voice Praise in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin on Saturday 1 October at 7:15pm. Admission is free and tickets may be ordered from
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. A collection will be taken during the festival and proceeds given to Dublin YMCA for their work amongst young people in inner city areas.
Posted 16 July 2011
The Choir is now in summer recess until the first week in September. A programme of events for later in the year will be posted in due course.
Posted 13 May 2011
The DWMVC featured in RTE's Capital D programme, in an item on the Welsh Chapel in Dublin's Talbot Street, shown on RTE 1 on Thursday 12 May.
You can view the excerpt on YouTube by clicking here.
Posted 12 May 2011
We have been asked by the organisers of Dundrum Festival to mention a choral evening in aid of Prof. John Crown`s Cancer Clinical Research Trust, to be held in Holy Cross Church, Main Street, Dundrum on Tuesday June 21 2011 at 8:00pm, featuring the Mornington Singers, Singers from “Opera in the Open” and the Ballinteer Male Voice Choir.
Further information and tickets, €20, are available by contacting Christine Cosgrave on
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or phone 01 2987929.
Also taking place is a free 1 hour performance by “Opera in the Open” on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 June at 6:30pm to 7:30pm of “La Traviata” in the Dundrum Town Centre.
Posted 9 May 2011Our friends in Tallaght Choral Society have asked us to mention their upcoming concert, featuring Stabat Mater by Rossini and Vesperae Solennes De Confessore by Mozart, to be conducted by Proinnsias O’Duinn, with the RTE Concert Orchestra, Regina Nathan – Soprano, Victoria Massey - Mezzo Soprano, James Edwards – Tenor, James Oldfield – Baritone on Sunday 15th May 2011 at 8:00pm in St Andrew's Church, Westland Row, Dublin. Tickets costing €20 are available online @ www.ticketmaster.ie, by phone 0818 719300, from usual agents nationwide (subject to service charge) and by email from See www.tallaghtchoralsociety.net for further details. |
