Patronal Festival at St Michael's Church, Llantarnam

At unavoidably short notice Cwmbran Baroque Singers stepped in and sang at the annual Patronal Festival of St Michael at Llantarnam Church in Cwmbran. This meant that rather fewer than usual of us were available to sing, but those who were able to attend thoroughly enjoyed taking part.

That Saturday evening we were sharing the stage with The Linden Singers.

We sang a short programme of songs from our recent Summer concerts during the first half. As in the Summer, Carol Williams had chosen music from many eras, stretching from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries.

After a short interval, with very welcome refreshments kindly provided by members of the church, we relaxed and listened to the fantastic, upbeat singing from the ladies of the Linden Singers.

Their programme was a lovely contrast to ours. The timescale was from the 1950s to the 2020s and many of the songs were so well known and singable that it was hard not to join in. Great fun!!

Our appreciative audience seemed to enjoy hearing the really wide range of music on offer from both choirs.

We have to thank Martyn Jones, organist and Musical Director at Llantarnam, for inviting us to sing. Thank you to Martyn too for accompanying us on the evening. Finally, we thank Carol Williams, our Musical Director. She really brought out the best in us, as she always does.

D Martyn Jones, Director of the St Michael's Festival, writes:

Well, the St Michael's Choral Festival has come to an end for this year. Three excellent choirs over the two nights. Melody Makers entertained us on Friday evening with a varied selection of songs, then tonight Cwmbran Baroque Singers and Linden Singers gave us a wonderfully contrasted programme ranging from 17th Century madrigals to 20th century musical theatre.

We have once again enjoyed a wonderful weekend of music making and hopefully raised some much needed funds for the church. Thanks to all those participating choirs, Melody Makers, Cwmbran Baroque Singers and Linden Singers and their music teams who made the weekend a success. Special thanks to the Parish Social Committee for all their support providing refreshments and front of house support.