As Joan West our principal accompanist for over 35 years retired last year, the choir are pleased to announce that we have engaged Julie Sims as our new accompanist. Julie has played for the choir in the past and has accompanied the choir to Tuscany as a deputy accompanist. All of the choristers are extremely happy that Julie has accepted the position and hope that she will remain with us for many happy years.

Morriston Ladies Choir welcomes the famous singer and presenter, as their new Choir President.  Shân has sung many times over the years with the choir in Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston. Shân said to Rhian Williams, Tour Manager and Concert Secretary of the choir, that she is pleased to accept the invitation of becoming Morriston Ladies Choir President, as she thinks of them as her friends.

This was followed by the choir travelling for a weekend to Leigh-on-Sea singing with the Leigh-on-Sea Orpheus Male Voice Choir. This concert was enjoyed by everyone and of course the weekend away was enjoyed by all the ladies.

Past Chairlady, Barbara Gray celebrated her 80th Birthday by having a lavish birthday celebration at The Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Swansea where the ladies enjoyed entertaining her guests before joining in and helping Barbara with her celebrations.

The Annual Concert in April was wonderful. Angharad Rees,Soprano was a joy to listen to and ’Women in Jazz’ gave an outstanding performance. It was the first time a jazz band had performed in Tabernacle Chapel and it was such a success I am sure it won’t be the last time. The ladies of the choir very much enjoyed singing in this concert. It certainly was a concert to remember.

In May the choir sang at a humanist wedding in the Fig Tree in Dryslwyn. The weather was nice and the happy couple looked radiant. The choir performed well and everyone had a nice time.

We also sang in St. Mary’s Church, Clydach for a musical evening performing alongside Cwmtawe Chamber Orchestra. On the evening of the concert the church was very cold due to the failure of the heating, but this did not stop us giving a performance to remember and in the process raising £455 for Cancer Research UK.

In June the choir accepted an invitation to perform in the Pontardawe Arts Centre to help raise funds for ‘Help our Heroes’. A number of professionals also gave up their time for this very worthwhile cause. The choir were honoured to take part in this event.

At the end of June we accepted and invitation from Ynystawe Primary School to perform at a benefit concert, ‘Singing for Sam’, at St. Mary’s Church, Clydach. Also performing were Ynystawe Primary School Choir, Morriston RFC Male Choir and Morriston Comprehensive School. This was a very successful concert and the audience very much enjoyed. In his thank you letter to the choir, Sam Lloyd informed the choir that the total proceeds from this concert were £1250.00.

A lot of the concerts we attend are to help raise funds for charities and other organisations. Morriston Ladies Choir take great pleasure in knowing we have helped raise much needed funds for all the very well deserving organisations. It is something we look forward to continuing to do in the future.

In July many of the choristers travelled to Wells Cathedral. The Cathedral is a marvellous structure with wonderful acoustics and the venue made this a lovely concert which was enjoyed by the choir and the public, many of whom stayed in the Cathedral to listen to all of the performance. After the concert we all went to a restaurant for a lovely meal and a beverage or two!!