Beat Those Wintertime Blues With Teddy And The Melbourne Welsh Male Choir

Described as the ‘Best Welsh Male Choir outside of Wales’, with their own unique sound, The Melbourne Welsh Male Choir is back and celebrating the onset of winter with two major concerts this June at both the Melbourne Recital Centre and at Ulumbarra Theatre in Bendigo.
The Melbourne Welsh Male Choir, which formed in 1984, is the youngest of the three Welsh male choirs in Victoria. Currently, it has around 50 members, ranging in age from the mid-40s to 88. Despite only 10-15 of the singers actually hailing from Wales, most claim either Welsh heritage or links to the UK.
For these two special performances, the 50-strong choir will be joined by acclaimed New Zealand born bass-baritone, Teddy Tahu Rhodes for his third time with the choir, performing solos plus a selection of the best known and loved songs from stage and screen including Les Misérables, with the choir. Tahu Rhodes’ will also be joined by Melbourne soprano, Kate Amos, who won the choir’s Singer of the Year Competition in 2016. She will perform “Adele’s Laughing Song” from Die Fledermaus and join Tahu Rhodes for duets including “Là ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni.
As expected, the choir will be singing some Welsh favourites, along with ‘They Call the Wind Maria’ from Paint Your Wagon (1969), and a new arrangement of the gospel song, ‘I Believe’. Another addition to the repertoire will be ‘The World in Union’, the well-known theme song for the Rugby World Cup.
David Ashton-Smith OAM, the choirs director, is thrilled with the line-up and program for these performances. “Teddy Tahu Rhodes performed to great acclaim with the choir in 2015 and we were chuffed when he approached the choir seeking another chance to sing with us. This time round, the people of Bendigo also get an opportunity to enjoy his glorious voice and striking stage presence,” he says.
“Kate Amos, who has extensive performance experience in opera, operetta and musical theatre, is a great addition to the concerts,” he continues. “Kate’s vocal versatility is a delight. The concerts are the perfect way to beat those wintertime blues.”
The Melbourne Welsh Male Choir has performed all over the world, from Wales and London to Salzburg, Vienna, Atlanta Georgia and Johannesburg, while here in Australia it has starred at events as disparate as the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 150thAnniversary of the Eureka rebellion.
No matter the venue, what defines the Melbourne Welsh Male Choir is the richness and harmonies of the combined voices; this choir embodies the great strength of the Welsh choral tradition and with performances that lift spirits, it’s no wonder this choir is so popular.
When & Where: Melbourne Recital Centre – June 23 & Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo – June 24.
Written by Chloe Cicero