Cwmbran Baroque and Monmouth Male Voice Choir singing in St Woolos

Past Events May 15, 2026

On Saturday 13th June we sang in Newport Cathedral as part of a fundraising joint concert with the excellent Monmouth Male Voice Choir. The audience filled Newport Cathedral and their ticket purchases, raffle tickets and donations all contributed to the Ty Mawr Convent’s Access for All plans. £2,600.00 was raised in aid of the project.

https://tymawrconvent.org/access-for-all/

On behalf of Ty Mawr, the Reverend Jean Prosser writes:

Thank you all for your support in raising funds for the Tymawr Access project with the Gala Concert last Saturday.

It was a wonderful evening of superb music from both choirs and smooth organisation by Cathedral staff, brought together with a very appreciative audience; it will live long in our memories - not just that over 200 people came and raised £2,600, but also for the fellowship of renewing friendships, making new ones and sharing the experience in a wonderful setting.

Diolch yn fawr,

Cwmbran Baroque Singers opened the concert with six pieces: Lift up your heads, O ye gates (Mathias), Can you hear me? (Hewitt Jones), For the beauty of the earth (Rutter), Tanzen und springen (Hassler), Verleih uns Frieden (Mendelssohn), Alleluia (Hagenberg).

Cwmbran Baroque Singers ready to begin their first half performance.

Monmouth Male Voice Choir then performed six pieces: Yma o Hyd (Iwan), Tangnefeddwyr (Jones/Williams), Divine Brahma (Bizet), Myfanwy (Parry), Tell my father (Wildhorn & Murphy), What would I do without my music? (Middlebrooks & Belland).

After an interval allowing the audience to mingle, greet friends and enjoy the refreshments provided, Cwmbran Baroque Singers were back on stage, singing five more songs from their extensive repertoire: Exsultate Justi (Viadana), And so it goes (Joel), Sounds of Simon and Garfunkel (Simon), The way you look tonight (Kern), Fiddler man (Rutter).

Musical Director, Carol Williams, ready to begin Cwmbran Baroque's performance in the second half of the concert

Monmouth Male Voice Choir then returned to sing their second group of five pieces: Hiraeth (arr. Humphreys), Ride the chariot (spiritual), O Love (Hagenberg/Matheson), You raise me up (Graham & Loveland), Bydd Myrdd o Ryfeddodau (Gwyllt).

To conclude the evening, both choirs then sang together Rachie (Roberts) and Calon Lan (Hughes). A truly rousing end to the concert. A great selection of contrasting but complementary styles!

The two choirs prepare to sing two Welsh pieces together. Monmouth Male Voice Musical Director, Lewis Hutton conducts.

More about the Society of the Sacred Cross at Ty Mawr Convent

Ty Mawr is a convent at Lydart, near Monmouth. It is place for quiet reflection, contemplation or prayer and is run by a community of Anglican sisters. The community encourages the wider public to experience and benefit from these peaceful surroundings.

These pictures, from their website, show the current difficulties with steps and uneven floors.

The stone steps outside are rough and steep at the moment.

Once inside the convent building, visitors are at present confronted with steep internal staircases, that make access to the Chapel, and even to the toilets, very difficult for some people. Through the Access for All project, the community aims to make sure that no-one is prevented from coming to enjoy the calm of the Chapel and building because of any physical problems.

A beautiful internal staircase but it does not provide access for all.

All these features will be upgraded. Archbishop of Wales, Cherry Vann, is supporting the Access for All appeal very strongly and her words at the concert highlighted the importance of the planned improvements for visitors and potential visitors to Ty Mawr.