 On November 19, 2016 the Orangeville Chorus are honoured to be joined on stage by the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir, who celebrate their twentieth anniversary this season. This is an impressive milestone for choir founder Gwyn Roberts, still singing with the choir in his eighty-fifth year. After immigrating to Canada in 1991, Gwyn missed singing with the Caernarfon Male Voice choir near his native home, and had the idea of starting a Welsh choir in Toronto. Drawing their roots in close-knit mining communities, many Welsh towns and villages have active male voice choirs, singing in four-part harmony “off book”, i.e. from memory. Initially drawing from the Welsh community in and around Toronto, the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir today boasts 50 members of all ages and backgrounds, singing a variety of music including operatic arias, Canadian folk music, Broadway show tunes, and, of course, traditional Welsh songs. The members enjoy a sense of camaraderie and shared experience, especially after touring together across Ontario, the Maritimes, Canada’s West Coast, New York, and in 2002 and 2013, in Wales itself. The choir always welcomes new members, whether they have Welsh roots or not, and anyone interested can drop in at a Wednesday evening rehearsal at 7:30 pm at Dewi Sant Welsh Church on Melrose Avenue in Toronto. Visit www.welshchoir.ca for details. |