The Potato Shed

Geelong Welsh hosted VicWelsh on this occasion, opening the concert after an introduction by compère Janice Wilding.

Conducted by their Musical Director Jeanette John and accompanied by Victoria Hayes, their first bracket featured All That Jazz, What’ll I Do, Y Fory (Tomorrow), and the well-known Calon Lân (A Pure Heart), beautifully sung to the tune of The Rose.

As the ladies exited, VicWelsh took the stage, introduced by compère John White, who welcomed accompanist Lorna Ogilvie and Musical Director Rushan Hewawasam. The first bracket featured four Welsh songs, beginning with the famous Cwm Rhondda (Rhondda Valley), with the capacity audience eagerly joining in on the Bread of Heaven chorus. This was followed by Ar Lan Y Môr (By the Seaside), and then the choir’s first-ever performance of Y Darlun (The Picture), which was warmly received. The bracket concluded with Gwahoddiad (Invitation), featuring an English verse sung by Rushan in his peerless tenor voice.

The ladies returned to stand in front of VicWelsh, forming a combined choir of some 75 choristers. Conducted by Jeanette, the ensemble sang the patriotic Welsh song Down in the Valley, followed by Robat Arwyn’s stirring Benedictus.

After the interval, VicWelsh asked the rhetorical What Would I Do Without My Music, before delivering the heart-aching Anfonaf Angel (I Will Send an Angel) — the third piece in the programme by the supremely talented Welsh composer Robat Arwyn. Next came Australian composer Paul Jarman’s most famous work Pemulwuy, which tells the story of the late eighteenth-century Aboriginal guerrilla fighter. Once the applause subsided, Rushan began rehearsing the audience for the final chorus of When the Saints Go Marching In. The multiple rehearsals paid off, as the concert concluded with a rousing performance and reprise, much to the audience’s satisfaction and acclaim.

The Geelong Welsh Ladies then returned with a second bracket including Seal Lullaby, Cross the Wide Missouri, the fun and chaotic Welsh kitchen song Sosban Fach (Little Saucepan), and the uplifting European Union anthem World in Union.

The men rejoined the ladies on stage for two final combined items. Conducted by Rushan, they began with the (slightly premature) Welsh ballad Take Me Home, followed by the joyful American composition Let Us All Sing — a fitting message for the finale.

With the audience upstanding, Rushan conducted the Australian national anthem. Jeanette then took a straw poll of audience and choir members with Welsh connections before launching into the Welsh national anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

Geelong Welsh Ladies’ acting president Dee Day closed the concert with thanks to both choirs, the audience, and the Potato Shed management. She then presented chocolates and flowers to both musical directors and accompanists.

As a final surprise, Rushan stepped up onto the podium and invited the ladies to turn around while VicWelsh sang their farewells to them and to the captivated audience with the famous Sunset Poem from Under Milk Wood. This chant always serves as a moving conclusion to any concert, but today it had an extra dimension — a deeply fitting finish that cemented personal and musical friendships between these two beloved Welsh choirs.