The Gwendraeth Valley Ladies’ Choir
The Gwendraeth Valley is comprised of a number of small villages which line the route of the river Gwendraeth Fawr in the county of Carmarthenshire in West Wales. Most of the choir members come from these villages ,from Crosshands at the top of the valley down to the historic town of Kidwelly where the river joins the Gwendraeth fach and flows into Carmarthen Bay.
The choir was formed in 1990 and all are Welsh speakers. There are a total of 32 members in all but are represented by 25/27on this tour. Margaret Morgan is the 3rd musical director, having taken over the position in 2001 after retiring from her career as a headteacher. The accompanyist is Geraint Rees, who also sings with, and accompanies another choir and enjoys teaching children to sing in his spare time.
The choir meets once a week in the village hall at Pontyates . It’s a very busy and sociable choir who enjoy performing around the area, very often raising money for various charities or singing in Residential Care Homes.
Their itinery includes a mixture of modern , traditional, folk and country songs and of course every Welsh choir has to include a range of hymns in its repertpoire. Something to please all tastes.
They have performed in Spain in 2008, 2013 and 2015 , again raising money for good causes. The last time they performed in Cornwall was in 2010 at Truro and Falmouth when they performed with the Holman Climax Male Voice Choir and The Falmouth Youth Jazz Band.
They are delighted to have this opportunity of performing in Looe and have been looking forward immensely to the event.