Above: Some of our new members after our Concert in Blue

mur choir has a long and interesting history after being founded in 1900 following an Eisteddfod held in Liverpool. Currently with around 100 singers from across Merseyside and its perimeters we retain a small core Welsh membership, but we are essentially a large mixed soprano, alto, tenor and bass choir (SATB), open to all singers of any musical background.

During lockdown, a difficult time for choirs and all those who love to sing, we kept our members engaged through weekly zoom chats which developed into structured tutorials on future choral repertoire by our Music Director, Keith Orrell. We supported the choir to prepare and practise pieces by organising the delivery of music scores to their homes by other members living in their locality. The zoom tutorials were enhanced by the contribution of leading contemporary composers Will Todd and Robat Arwyn who discussed their music and answered questions from members.

On the resumption of in-person rehearsals last September we ran courses on vocal technique and sight reading by professionals free of charge to our members to enrich their enjoyment of singing and their contribution to the choir. We plan to repeat these courses later this season and into the 22/23 season. We all strive for continuous development and improvement.

Perhaps not surprisingly given our offering we have had an unprecedented influx of new members since last September including many residents of the Wirral. We wish to expand further and would be delighted to receive enquiries from singers in all four voice parts: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. We rehearse at the University of Liverpool off Brownlow Hill, Central Liverpool on Wednesday evenings from 6.45pm to 9pm.

The choir performs a wide range of music in 4-5 concerts each year from traditional oratorios and symphonic repertoire to lighter choral music and occasional pieces in the Welsh and other choral languages under expert leadership from a professional conductor and accompanist. We have previously performed with such notable professionals as Andrea Bocelli, Sir Bryn Terfel and Sir Willard White and been conducted by our Patron, Sir Karl Jenkins, in The Armed Man. Already this season since September we have performed pieces from Baroque to Jazz with Christmas music in between.

We sing in beautiful venues such as the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, the Cornerstone Theatre at Hope University, St Georges Hall, in both the Liverpool cathedrals and other large church venues and concert halls across Merseyside and beyond. We will be performing a concert at the Floral Pavilion in Wirral on 21st May 2022. The choir performs with orchestras, brass bands, accompanied and unaccompanied. Sometimes we take part in tours and perform with other large choirs.

The 2022/23 season is already planned with at least two concerts scheduled in the brand new state of the art Tung Auditorium in Central Liverpool.

These are exciting times to be a member of Liverpool Welsh Choral – so come and sing with us!

Alison Shead, Membership-Recruitment Outreach, LWC Executive Committee.

To find out more contact us!

It was almost ‘Thanks be to God’ for an outdoor summer rehearsal to say goodbye to a season that hopefully will never be repeated! But the plans to defy the Coronavirus and sing together outside Bridge Street Chapel, Liverpool on June 23rd were doused with a large dose of disappointment when the torrential rain stopped sing! 

A few Committee members and those who had missed the last minute ‘IT’S OFF!’ email from our Secretary Gareth, did however manage a damp but rousing rendition of the Welsh Natonal Anthem before the heavens opened again!

Our Musical Director Keith Orrell was devastated to have to cancel but said, ‘No matter what you think of the ‘guidance’ for choral singing as the pandemic lingers, we have to follow it and we must be responsible for the safety of all of you. Singing outside was our only option, and the risk we took unfortunately backfired. At least some of you had a chance to socialise a little in the drizzle. September, September, September WILL happen, so don’t lose faith. Next season will be different, our plans for 2021-22 WILL bear fruit, and we WILL be singing together again, I’m sure.’

Wendy Chorlton

On Wednesday March 24th more than 60 LWC Choir members were privileged to meet the composer Robat Arwyn in one of our weekly musical Zoom sessions.  Robat performed a number of his beautiful compositions for us including his first ever recording Yfory (Tomorrow), his anthem for the Welsh Air Ambulance Anfonan Angel (Guardian Angel) and Benedictus made popular by the bestselling album by The Priests which enjoyed worldwide commercial success making it into the top ten in music charts in many countries.

In his warm and friendly manner, he kindly answered our many questions; how he approaches the composition process usually starting with the lyrics; how he initially became involved with music learning the piano at the age of 5 and the guitar at 9 and that he enjoys listening to many composers’ works including Bach, Motzart, Rutter and an earlier Zoom guest of ours Will Todd.

We again extend our thanks to Arwyn for a truly memorable evening. 

LWC will hopefully be performing Brenin Y Sêr at our Christmas Concert on December 11th  2021 at St Geroge’s Hall Concert Room and at the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton on May 21st 2022.

Congratulations (and a big cheers!) are in order for the previous Chair of LWC, Ifor Griffiths, who celebrates 60 years with the Choir this year!

Ifor hails from the village of Bontnewydd in Caernarfonshire. After training to be a teacher at Bangor, he came to work in Liverpool, ending up as Headmaster at Rudston Junior School, Childwall.  Ifor joined the Liverpool Welsh Choral Union, as it was known then, during the time when Caleb Jarvis was Chorus Master, with Malcolm Sargent as Principal Conductor.  Subsequently, he sang under Edmund Walters, Anthony Ridley, Gwyn L. Williams, Graham Jordan Ellis and now Keith Orrell.

Ifor is ever-present and has always been most instrumental in creating a community spirit in the Choir, which has been incredibly important over the years; all members know Ifor. Certainly, Ifor has played his part in making new members of the Choir most welcome, an important aspect of Choir life. Our hope is that he continues in this manner for years to come. 

The whole Choir thank Ifor for his enormous contribution over the years and extend their best wishes for many more years of singing in the Liverpool Welsh Choral bass section.

What a privilege and a pleasure it was to meet the wonderful Will Todd who made time in his busy schedule to join us in our musical Zoom session on Wednesday February 24th.  Will discussed the eclectic mix of music which inspired him to become a musician, ranging from Leoncavallo’s La Bohème to The Who and the album Quadrophenia, and gave us an insight into the formative experiences of his childhood when his preferred activity was to simply explore and teach himself to play his family’s piano.

Will’s love of choral music is reflected in a large output including masses, anthems and larger sacred concert works including Mass in Blue which has been performed hundreds of times around the world since its 2003 premiere. The work is a ‘cross-over’ piece, transcending the boundaries of liturgical, classical and jazz.  There have been many composers such as George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, who have found the fusion of these styles exhilarating and inspiring.  In Mass in Blue, there is a dynamic blend of strong choral singing, against which the solo piano and solo soprano weave a dense melodic tapestry. Will played us some video excerpts from the work, and it is certainly exciting and often moving.

We extend many thanks to Will for taking time Zoom with us and Liverpool Welsh Choral are delighted to announce that we have plans to perform Mass in Blue at the Cornerstone Theatre at Liverpool John Moore’s University in March 2022.

At Christmas 2019 Liverpool Welsh Choral filled the Philharmonic Hall with Aled Jones as our compere for the evening for our annual Christmas concert in partnership with Northop Silver Band.

Unfortunately, in 2020, our 120th Year Celebrations were completely curtailed by Covid-19 to such an extent that we were unable to gather to rehearse or perform from the lockdown period in March. We did, however, finally meet again on 16th December in the majestic setting of the Anglican Cathedral; to sing traditional Christmas carols and make the beautiful sound for which we are renowned.

For many this was a very emotional evening as we have missed singing together so much… Zoom meetings and rehearsals are a very poor second to the shared singing experience.

Our evening was covered in an article on the Liverpool Echo FaceBook page…. Click here to find out more!