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Posted 22 April 2011 The DWMVC is pleased to accept an invitation from the ERC to provide pre-match entertainment at the Leinster v Toulouse Heineken Cup semi final on Saturday 30 April at the new Aviva Stadium, Dublin. While the choir has made a number of appearances at the old Lansdowne Road Stadium, this will be our first performance at the new stadium Posted 6 April 2011 For members: details of the upcoming EGM are posted in the Members' Area. Posted 6 April 2011 Congratulations to the winning team, expertly led by Jonathan Williams, at the recent table quiz. Thanks to all who attended and supported and an especially big thank you to quizmaster (and obvious polymath) John Leahy. Posted 29 March 2011 The choir will hold a table quiz in Lansdowne Rugby Club on Thursday 31 March at 8:00pm sharp. All are welcome to join us. Posted 28 March 2011 All members of the choir, past and present, and the choir's many friends join us today in celebrating the 93rd birthday of our esteemed first tenor, Tommy Moorhead. Posted 27 November 2010 It is with sadness we note the passing of Jack Clarke, who was a member of the choir for a number of years in the 1990s. We extend our deepest sympathy to Jack's family and friends. Posted 27 October 2010 Keith Young, who has recently retired from the position of Musical Director of the Dublin Welsh Male Voice Choir after 40 years’ service, has been conferred with the honorary title of Conductor Emeritus. Keith began his career as a singer with the Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir, under the baton of the late Noel G Davies before moving to Dublin and taking up the baton himself in 1970. He now joins a select group of Welsh male voice choirs’ musical directors who have received this prestigious honour. The motion conferring this honour was proposed on 4 October 2010 at the AGM of the Dublin Welsh Choir by Kieran Brennan and seconded by Jonathan Williams. Jonathan Williams said that he was greatly pleased to be seconding this motion of Kieran Brennan and stated that: “the appointment as a Conductor Emeritus is a singular honour, but one for which Keith Young is particularly well qualified. It is an honour that has been given to only a small number of musical directors of Welsh male choirs. Famous names such as John Haydn Davies and John Cynan Jones (Treorchy Male Choir), Alwyn Humphreys (Morriston Orpheus) and from outside Wales Lyn Harry (Canadian Orpheus) and Haydn James (London Welsh) have all received this accolade on retirement. We all know of Keith's manifold achievements with this choir. His patient application at times when the Dublin Welsh might have been able to put onto the stage no more numbers than a rugby fifteen is laudatory, as is his unstinting commitment to being present for so many hundreds of engagements. I have been his deputy for the past two decades but I can count the number of concerts I have had to conduct on less than my ten fingers. As well as conducting a disparate body of amateur singers, Keith has had to conduct himself in a way that would give encouragement and confidence to his choristers. The qualities that he embodies and which have stood by him during his four decades of bringing the Dublin Welsh through many choppy waters are good humour, tolerance, adaptability and, perhaps above all else, passion: passion for the music he loves, the passion and perseverance to work diligently to achieve a coherent, blended choral sound, and passion about his native Wales and adoptive Ireland. There is one further attribute I feel compelled to mention and that is Keith's innate modesty. He retired without fuss or fanfare and has now taken up a new position in the back benches of the baritone section -- and what better place could there be than that? As Kieran has said, 'Emeritus' is an honorary title that must be earned by exemplary service. I salute Keith on his outstanding service to the Dublin Welsh Male Voice Choir and, although this motion, to be accepted, must be passed by only a majority of those present here tonight, I urge you to endorse it by a unanimous vote - indeed, if you will, by acclamation”. The motion was carried unanimously. Posted 20 October 2010 - Keith Young MBE The Choir celebrates with our recently retired Musical Director, Keith Young MBE, who was today awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace, London. See news item 13 June below for further details. Posted 29 September 2010 - New MD Geraint Waters appointed new Musical Director of DWMVC
 A message from Gareth Ll Jones, Chairman DWMVC: "For over a year the Choir Committee and Selection Panel have been engaged in recruiting a new Musical Director to replace Keith Young, as he completes 40 years of service. We are very fortunate that we have been able to attract a highly qualified candidate, Geraint Waters, who takes up the position on 4 October 2010. We look forward with great confidence to his stewardship of the Choir".
Geraint Waters is a native of Cwmgwrach, a village in the upper Neath Valley in South Wales. He has been resident in Ireland for over 25 years and has had an association with Dublin Welsh Male Voice Choir in various capacities for much of that time. In addition to having an interest in choral singing, he also plays piano and violin, having gained a Diploma in piano performance from Trinity College of Music, London while still in school and having performed as an instrumentalist with several youth and amateur orchestras.
After studying mathematics in University, Geraint spent some time living in London, where he was a member of the London Welsh Male Voice Choir and New Philharmonia Chorus. Following that, he became active with a number of choirs in Wales as singer, accompanist and conductor, including Resolven and Glynneath Male Voice Choirs, before moving to Dublin. He is at present organist at Dun Laoghaire Methodist Church and a member of the Goethe Institute Choir in Dublin. Posted 26 September 2010 - AGM The agenda for the upcoming Choir AGM and Minutes of the 2009 AGM have been posted in the Announcements Section of the Members' Area. Posted 21 September 2010 - Cancellation The event scheduled for Thursday 23 September at the Hampton Hotel, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 has been postponed - details of rescheduling will follow. Posted 1 September 2010 - Notice to Members Notice of AGM and details of practice recommencement have been posted in the Announcements Section of the Members' Area. Posted 15 August 2010 - Photo Gallery We are currently uploading series of photographs to the Photo Gallery section of the website. Hopefully the photos will bring back many happy memories for members and friends alike. Please bear with us while we complete this task and in some cases overcome minor technical gliches. Posted 4 August 2010 - Launch of Website The choir's new website will be formally launched at a ceremony in the Hampton Hotel (formerly Sachs Hotel), Donnybrook, Dublin 4 on Tuesday 17 August at 6:30pm Posted 4 August 2010 - New Season The choir will resume practices on Monday 6 September in advance of the new season. A schedule of public events will be posted soon. Posted 14 July 2010 - Summer Break The choir is in the middle of its summer break and will commence the new singing season in late August. The following link, kindly provided by Pól Ó Duibhir, provides interesting details from the past, published in "The Harp" ... when we were mere saplings! The Harp magazine was produced by Guinness and contained general features and some staff news. Pól was a member of the choir in the early to mid 1970s and is the same Pol O Duighir (sic) referred to in the article. http://www.photopol.com/articles/cor_harp_winter_1971.pdf Posted 17 June 2010 - Recruitment of Musical Director The Choir is currently in the process of recruiting a Musical Director. All interested candidates should apply by email to the choir's Honorary Secretary, Alfie Timbs This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text62094 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) who will furnish applicants with copies of Terms of Reference. Posted 13 June 2010 - MBE for DWMVC Musical Director, Keith Young The DWMVC and its many friends in Ireland and overseas celebrate the award of an MBE to Keith Young, announced in the Queen's Birthday list. Below is an extract from the official notice: "Birthday Honours — United Kingdom: THE LONDON GAZETTE, SATURDAY 12 JUNE 2010 (SUPPLEMENT No. 1, B25 M.B.E.) To be Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order ...David Keith Young, Conductor, Dublin Welsh Male Choir. For services to Welsh Music and Culture overseas ... " We congratulate Keith and his family on this singular honour, which gives due recognition to Keith for 40+ years of unparalleled service to the DWMVC. Posted 10 June 2010 - New Website Live This new website went live today, Thursday 10 June 2010. Many thanks to all who contributed to its developement, those who supplied content, gave advice and particularly to the website developer, Katarzyna Sankowska ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), a third year Interactive Media student in Senior College Dún Laoghaire, Dublin (www.scd.ie). You can let us know of problems you encounter with the website though the online feedback form, accessed from the main menu.  |