Cymanfa Ganu

The day after our annual St David’s Day Concert, Victoria Welsh joined with other local Welsh choirs to participate in the annual St David’s Day Cymanfa Ganu (hymn festival) organised by the Melbourne Welsh Church, held at St Michael’s Church in Collins St, and led for the first time by an Australian conductor (albeit with a Welsh name), Trevor Jones, with organist Lachlan Redd.  The programme consisted of:

Twelve well-known hymns sung lustily in 4-part harmony, in both English and Welsh, by the whole congregation. 

Two items (Be Thou My Vision and Vaughan Williams’ “Old Hundredth”) sung by the four choirs

Harp solos by the inimitable Huw Jones, former harpist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

For the first time the singing of the two choir items and some of the congregational hymns was complemented by two trumpeters and a tympanist.  The congregation, which came close to filling the large church, left feeling they had well and truly done justice to this traditional Welsh celebration.