A CAPITAL EVENT

Cardiff, and the Principality Stadium on a Rugby International Match Day, is a special place to be, even when a weakened Wales Team is facing the insurmountable challenge of World Champions, the mighty Springboks. If the pre-match singing could have decided the outcome, then Wales would have romped home, but sadly, that was not the case.
 
Nevertheless, three choirs; Côr Meibion De Cymru, Bois Goetre-Hen Male Choir, and the Beaufort Male Choir, provided a crowd of over 50,000 fans with some memorable entertainment under the baton of Côr Meibion De Cymru’s President and event musical director, Dr Haydn James, ably supported by the Band of the Royal Welsh.
 
The South African National Anthem had challenged us with five languages (Zulu, Sesotho, Xhosa, Afrikaans, and English) but on the day, all went well — even Lance Corporal Shenkin IV (the Royal Welsh’s goat mascot) behaved himself.
 
No fewer than ten new choristers staged with the Choir for the first time, including nine from our newly-formed Cirencester Rehearsal Group which only started rehearsing in September: a very impressive effort by the members of the Group who had learnt the repertoire in record time.
 
Whilst none of us will quickly forget the pain of watching Wales sustain a record defeat on the pitch, the thrill of singing in the stadium never loses its magic, and the day will hold some great memories for all of the choristers who took part.
 
Written by Guy Edwards