User:Harold Phillips/sandbox

Choral singing in Kenfig Hill can be traced as far back as 1890 when the Kenfig Hill Male Voice Party won competitions from as far as the lovely Vale of Glamorgan to the distant coastal town of Swansea. Since those days, many choirs under the Kenfig Hill banner have come and gone. Prior to the formation of the present choir, its predecessor was forced to disband in 1941 through lack of public support, For almost 30 years the male choral vacuum remained unfilled until a small band of hopefuls from the village met at the local rugby club and formed the present choir in December 1971. It started life with just 18 members and has progressively grown to its present strength of over 70 voices. By 1976 the choir had begun to be accepted as an emerging choir worthy of note and was invited to take part in the 1000 Welsh Male Voices Festival at the Royal Albert Hall. Since that first appearance has appeared in no less than twelve of these festivals, the last occasion being in October 2010. In 1980 the choir entered the choral competitive arena, taking part in the South Wales Miners Eisteddfod at Porthcawl seaside resort. The choir successfully gained the coveted first prize of the Terry Fry Memorial Cup. 1983 saw the choir's first overseas tour when it represented Britain in the cultural exchange during British Week in Norway. The choir carried with it a personal greeting to the people of Alesund from HRH The Prince of Wales. Whilst there it took part in the Norwegian Festival of Music and Song, involving more than 3000 singers and musicians. In 1986 the choir visited the Republic of Ireland for the first time, as guests of the Irish Police Choir. Two major concerts raised a great deal of money for charity, at the same time forging unbreakable bonds of friendship with the Irish Police Choir. In 1990 the choir returned to Ireland. During this tour they sang at the magnificent St Patrick Cathedral, Dublin to an audience of more than 2000 raising in excess of £6,000 for charity. August 1989 saw the choir's most ambitious venture when they toured Western Canada. Based at Calgary the choir gave concerts at Canmore, the magnificent Banff Springs Hotel in the heart of the Rocky Mountains and two concerts in Calgary itself, the second of these concerts was recorded and televised at Christmas, with many repeats since. The next overseas visit in September 1992 took the choir to France and Germany. At Strasbourg, as guests of the then MEP Wayne David, the choir sung to delegates and guests at the European parliament. The tour culminated in a visit to the famous university town of Heidelberg and the unique experience of singing at Heidelberg Castle. The choir returned to Heidleberg in1998. In 1995 the choir revisited Western Canada on another successful tour, this time adding the spectacular Chataeu Lake Louise to the list of venues. Upon its return in August it took part in a moving pageant at Cardiff Castle commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. 1996 was the year the choir celebrated its silver jubilee with another visit to the Irish Police in Dublin. Here the choir of the Garda Schiocanna joined Kenfig Hill on stage in a concert, raising more than £5000 for a local hospice. Throughout 1998 and 1999 the choir continued its charity concert work across England and the Welsh Principality. In May of 1999 it again crossed the Irish Sea to give a concert at St Multose Church, Kinsale, Cork. All proceeds from the concert were in aid of The Kinsale Chernobyl Children's Project. On Sunday January 2nd 2000, the choir joined a congregation of 72,000, massed choirs, 100 harpists, the band of the Welsh Guards and solo artists Daniel O'Donnel and Sir Cliff Richard for the largest ever BBC Songs of Praise at the magnificent Millennium Stadium at Cardiff. In 2002 the choir returned to Alesund, Norway in May 2002, joining the Norwegian National Day celebrations. In addition to formal concerts it is traditional feature for musical groups to perform for residents and visitors alike in the town centre. On a glorious afternoon during the visit a short concert was given at the towns pavilion to an enthusiastic audience. In 2004 the choir visited the Tri-cities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot in Poland. The first concert was in The Church of Redemption in Gdynia followed St John's Church in Gdansk culminating with a concert in the concert hall at the Opera Lesna followed by a barbeque in the forest lasting into the early hours. The tour was extremely successful with the choir making many new friends. To end a successful year the choir were honoured to sing the anthems and lead the community singing, before the Wales - South Africa rugby international in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. In the cause of spreading the tradition of Welsh Male Voice Choral singing to new destinations, the choir visited Estonia in the spring 2007 giving concerts in the beautiful medieval city of Tallinn and in the Church of Mary Magdalene in Rapla. In the beginning of 2007 the choir was contacted by the Welsh Rugby Union in conjunction with French Rugby Union with a request for the choir to visit Nantes, to promote the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The choir had an exhilarating seven days in the September and had the honour of welcoming the Welsh Rugby team on behalf of the Nantes Municipal Borough in their splendid town hall. Such was the success of the visit to Poland in 2004 the choir were invited to return to the tri-cities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot in 2008. Continuing the sporting theme in 2009 the Choir received an invitation from Bradford Bulls Rugby League Club to welcome the newly formed Celtic Crusaders to the famous Odsall Stadium by singing before match. The Choir returned to Bradford in 2010 and 2012 this time also singing in Bradford Cathedral. In the United Kingdom and overseas the choir has sung in many prestigious venues including; The Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, The Millennium Centre and St David's Hall (Cardiff), The Millennium Stadium, York Minster, Bradford Cathedral, Doncaster Minster and Selby Abbey (returning every other year since the year 2000). Overseas the prestigious venues include the Opera Lesna in Poland, the magnificent Canadian Rocky’s hotels of Banff Springs & Chateau Lake Louise, Heidelberg Castle (Germany) & St Patrick's Cathedral (Dublin). The choir has also had the privilege to sing in its three seats of power; The Senedd for the Welsh Assembly Government, The Houses of Parliament and The European Parliament in Strasbourg. In November 2012 the Choir appeared on BBC television’s Coming Home with Katherine Jenkins this latest of some very famous names the Choir has appeared with including Hayley Westenra, Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Cliff Richard.

In recent years the Choir has formed two junior choirs Da Capo for the 9 to 13 year olds and Crescendo for the 14 to 22 year olds, The Choir now provides the opportunity to sing for the age of 9 to 90 plus

Although the Choir has travelled many thousands of miles raising money for charity singing in many spectacular venues the choir still makes time to regularly sing in local hospitals, retirement homes and village halls.