480. The Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir (Original)

Several members of the Hong Kong Welsh Choir recently attended a Noson Lawen held by the Hong Kong St. David's Society, singing some songs from our repertoire, with a number of us also doing individual performances. There were songs performed not only in English and Welsh but also in Chinese, Italian and Tagalog.

For my first performance at this venue I sang a solo version of a song that I was asked to write for the 30th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir.

Lyrics:

With the songs of mine and chapel,
With Myfanwy and Yvory
With Gwahoddiad and Calon Lan,
We come to tell our story,
Men from every walk of life,
Some are young and some are hoary,
To bring music from Wales, the land of song.

From the Hong Kong Cultural Centre
To the Cathedral of St John
From Angeles in the Philippines
To the city of Saigon
May the spirit of Jack Edwards
Ever guide us on,
The Welsh Male Voice Choir of Hong Kong.

From the Opera House in Sydney
To London's Albert Hall
From carols at Helena May
To the St David's Society Ball
Armed with airs and melodies
We'll answer to the call
To bring the world our joyful brand of song.

From the Safari bar in Bangkok
To the Old China Hand,
Our glasses raised in fellowship,
Together we will stand,
Our voices raised in harmony
In many a foreign land,
The Welsh Male Voice Choir of Hong Kong.

Notes:

Myfanwy, Yvory, Gwahoddiad, Calon Lan: Well-known Welsh songs which are part of the choir's repertoire.

"Some are young and some are hoary": A reference to "Men of Harlech", one of our signature songs.

Hong Kong Cultural Centre: We joined with the Kassia Women's Choir and Kassia Youth Choir to perform a concert, "Raising the Roof" at this venue in June, 2005.

St John's Cathedral: We do several concerts at this venue, including an annual Christmas concert. We also rehearse twice a week in a hall at the cathedral.

Angeles, Phillippines : We do an annual concert tour in Angeles to raise money for The Bahay Bata Center which provides a home, education and a future for abandoned children.

Saigon, Vietnam: We do an annual concert in Saigon to raise money for charities such as Operation Smile and victims of agent orange.

Jack Edwards OBE (24 May 1918 - 13 August 2006): Life member and patron of the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir. A former British World War II army sergeant and POW survivor, well known for his dedicated efforts in tracking down Japanese war criminals and in defending the rights of Hong Kong war veterans.

Sydney Opera House: The choir took part in a festival of male voices at this venue in November 2007.

Albert Hall, London: In 2004, the choir took part in "1000 Voices - A Festival of Male Choirs" at the Royal Albert Hall, and will do so again in October 2008.

Safari Bar: A bar in Bangkok where the choir sometimes meets on our annual tour to Bangkok to perform at the St David's Society Ball.

Old China Hand: A bar in Hong Kong popular with expatriates. The choir traditionally meets there after Tuesday evening rehearsals for a few drinks and some more singing.

You can hear a playlist of my original songs (in alphabetical order) here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B9F8E3B7A8822951

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• song
• hkwmvc
• noson
• lawen
• myfanwy
• yvory
• gwahoddiad
• calon
• lan
• jack
• edwards
• angeles
• saigon
• bangkok
• old
• china
• hand

[speakswahilidammit]

Fantastic!! So many of us, one way or another, are Celts abroad. I grew up in Tanganyika/Tanzania, but I'm Cornish & now live in Falmouth. Keep it up, you lighten many hearts!

[raymondcrooke]

@speakswahilidammit I miss the Hong Kong Welsh. I'm now back in Australia and a member of the Melbourne Welsh Male Voice Choir. Thanks for your comment.

[auswelshmalechoir]

Great song! The afterglows are always the best!

Fond memories of our time at the Royal ALbert Hall in 2004.

Come to Melbourne, Australia and sing with the Australian Welsh Male Choir

[raymondcrooke]

I may well do that when I retire back in Melbourne next year!

[garyjamesmerrill]

Hi guys. If you like this, you might like the film I posted a few weeks ago. I visited the choir in October 2008 and have finally edited the footage into a coherent film.

Do a search on You Tube for 'double dragons hong kong welsh male voice choir' and you can watch it. All comments appreciated.

[speakswahilidammit]

@raymondcrooke Oh. Well at least it's still Welsh! Our Cornish Male Voice Choirs are very similar. After all, the Welsh & Cornish are close cousins. I suggest Hayley Westenra singing with the Cornwall Male Voise Choir in truro Cathedral. It's on youtube. We Celts are all over the world. So it's great you keep the traditions, & songs, alive. If you have time, please look at my video on Speak Swahili Dammit.

[SirCoughsalot]

It's like out of medieval times, with drink flowing and music ringing through the hall! Wonderful!

[oldstewball]

Hello

Raymond...

It did my heart a lot of good seeing how much pleasure you've brought to the social gathering. Music,good food and drink and merry-making. What could be better?

Many thanks for sharing your wonderfully-spirited time.

Peace,

Stewball

[lewdite]

Exactly right! MORE! MORE! MORE!