Hollywood star joins celebrations for choir’s 90th birthday

Hollywood superstar Sir Jonathan Pryce is taking a break from filming to help his favourite male voice choir celebrate its 90th anniversary.

Sir Jonathan, a vice president of Côr Meibion Trelawnyd, will be the guest of honour at the special birthday concert being organised by the choir at Rhyl’s Pavilion Theatre on Saturday, July 1.

The star soloist will be tenor Wynne Evans, better known these days as Gio Compario from the Go Compare television ads, who is also a popular TV and radio presenter.

The main sponsor for the concert is the arts-loving care organisation Pendine Park via the Pendine Park Arts and Community Trust (PACT) which was established to arts and community activities.

As well as celebrating the momentous milestone, the choir is aiming to support Tŷ Gobaith/Hope House with a raffle to raise money for the charity which has hospices in the Conwy Valley and Morda, near Oswestry, where it provides a vital service for children, young people and their families across most of North Wales and into Shropshire.

The choir, which rehearses every Tuesday evening at the Memorial Hall in Trelawnyd, has also been busy recording its new CD which will be out later in the year.

Oscar-nominated Sir Jonathan, is a native of Carmel, near Holywell, has won numerous awards during his illustrious career, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards.

His long list of screen credits includes playing baddie Elliot Carver in the Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Pope Francis, opposite fellow Welsh actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins, in Two Popes.

Joyous

Sir Jonathan has written a foreword for the concert programme in which he writes: “Over thirty years ago I performed in my first musical ‘Miss Saigon’. I did eight shows a week for almost two years in London and New York.

“People asked me how I could do a show for so long. The answer was simple…I was singing. Singing can be joyous, inspiring, life enhancing and therapeutic. For two years it was all of those things for me…especially therapy!

“I envy the members of Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir who for ninety years have been able to enhance their lives and the lives of others with their joyous and inspirational singing.

“On this, their anniversary, I offer them thanks from a grateful community and wish them many more years together in unison and harmony.

“Congratulations on reaching your 90th anniversary.”

According to the choir’s chair, Bryn Williams, they were “incredibly proud” to have Sir Jonathan as a vice president.

He said: “Sir Jonathan has been a generous and loyal supporter of the choir for many years which is all the more wonderful when you remember the huge demands on his time.

“I’m not sure what he’s filming at the moment because that’s being kept under wraps but the fact that he is coming to the concert is brilliant news – it’s the icing on our 90th birthday cake.

“We are also truly grateful to Pendine Park for being the main sponsor of this special occasion via PACT which does what it said on the tin.

“We would also like to say a special thank you to Pendine’s proprietors, Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, who are stalwart supporters and champions of the arts in Wales.”

Mainstay

Mario said: “The choir has been a mainstay of the cultural scene in Wales for a remarkable nine decades and they are still going strong, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to support them as they celebrate their 90th anniversary.

“The arts in general and music in particular are life-enriching and are central to everything we do at Pendine and similarly the choir is a brotherhood that’s not just about the singing. It’s about being together and looking after each other.

“The other reason we were keen to be involved is that fact that the wonderfully talented Wynne Evans is also going to be performing.

“We know Wynne well as the masterful MC of the Wales Care Awards for many years and we had the pleasure of meeting Sir Jonathan a few years back at the North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph in 2018 which we were also sponsoring.

“All in all it’s going to be a brilliant concert and the presence of Sir Jonathan will ensure that it will be a knight to remember.”

The Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir’s 90th Anniversary Concert takes place at the Pavilion Theatre in Rhyl on Saturday, July 1, at 7.30pm when they will be joined on stage by Wynne Evans and soprano Tesni Jones, from St Asaph. Tickets priced at £25 are available from www.rhylpavilion.co.uk.