~ Saturday, July 7, 2018 ~Topsail United Church, 2426 Topsail Rd., Conception Bay S.

~ Monday, July 9, 2018 ~St George's Heritage Church, Middle Ridge Rd., Brigus

~ Wednesday, July 11, 2018 ~St. Paul's Anglican Church, Church Rd., Trinity

~ Friday, July 13, 2018 ~Cochrane Centre, 42 Bannerman St., St. John's

Ode to NewfoundlandWhen sunrays crown thy pine-clad hillsAnd Summer spreads her handWhen silvern voices tune thy rillsWe love thee smiling land, we love thee, We love thee, we love thee smiling land.When spreads thy cloak of shimm'ring whiteAt Winter's stern commandThro' shortened day and starlit nightWe love thee frozen land, we love thee, We love thee, we love thee frozen land.When blinding storm gusts fret thy shoreAnd wild waves lash thy strandThro' spindrift swirl and tempest roarWe love thee wind-swept land, we love thee, We love thee, we love thee wind-swept land.As loved our fathers, so we loveWhere once they stood we standTheir prayer we raise to heav'n aboveGod guard thee Newfoundland, God guard thee, God guard thee, God guard thee Newfoundland.

WELSH NATIONAL ANTHEM

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi, Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri; Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad,

Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed. Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad. Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,

O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.

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The Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir (TWMVC) was established in 1995when its founding member and first president, Gwyn Roberts, gatheredtogether a group of like-minded men of Welsh heritage to kindle the spiritof traditional Welsh male voice singing in their adopted country. Althoughmany of the current members still lay claim to Welsh connections, theTWMVC has members from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The choirproudly draws on the great Welsh tradition of singing songs born of themountains and valleys of Wales. At the same time it emphasizes a multicultural context in its broad repertoire including spirituals; operaticarias, Canadian folk songs as well as Broadway show tunes and contemporary music. Their blend of traditional and contemporary music,all sung off book, appeals to a broad audience.

The Choir has performed in churches, cathedrals and concert hallsthroughout Ontario, Quebec and New York State. In August 2002 andJuly 2013 the choir completed highly successful tours of Wales. DuringJuly 2005 they toured the Maritimes where they performed five concertsfor appreciative audiences in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. InSeptember 2008, the choir was invited to take part in a combined choir of400 voices at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City and in 2010the choir had a very successful tour of the Canadian Rockies. The choirwas privileged to perform as the headline choir at the North AmericanFestival of Wales in Rochester New York August 31 to September 3,2017. Our concert repertoire includes the simple message that what wehave in common with one another far outweighs our differences. Ourcommon ground is our humanity, and best expressed by what we at theTWMVC do best – promoting choral traditions that have enriched thehuman experience through the ages.

For more information about the choir and future concerts please go to our website welshchoir.ca

WILLIAM WOLOSCHUKARTISTIC DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL CONDUCTORBorn in Sudbury, Ontario, William Woloschuk beganhis musical career after receiving his first piano at theage of seven and completed his graduate studies inchoral conducting from the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. He studied under the tutelageof Volodymyr Kolesnyk (Kyiv State Opera, Ukraine).From 1997-2000, William was Artistic Director for theSouth Florida Men’s Chorus – Fort Lauderdale, FL,and for fifteen years was Dean of Music for St. Sophia

Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Montreal. In the summer of 2004, Williamattended the Kunstuniversität in Graz, Austria, where he studied under Rodney Eichenburger. William founded Counterpoint Choral in 2001 and wasits Artistic Director for 6 years. In August 2006, William enthusiastically accepted the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Director for theToronto Welsh Male Voice Choir. In November 2007, William conducted theWorld Premiere Performance of Hilda Morgan’s orchestral arrangement of“Nidaros”, incorporating additional material by Bob Marshall, featuring theTWMVC with the Northumberland Orchestra in Cobourg, Ontario. Williamdebuted at Carnegie Hall where the TWMVC performed this stirring piece inSeptember 2008 & again as Guest Conductor of the Ontario Philharmonic inNovember 2009. William has greatly impressed the North American Welshcommunity with his ability to empower the “Welsh soul” into the choir’s performances even without his being Welsh.

MATTHEW COONSPRINCIPAL ACCOMPANISTMatthew is an award-winning organist and pianist. He has been the accompanist for the Toronto WelshMale Voice Choir since 2014. He was the former accompanist of Counterpoint Chorale. Matthew collaborates frequently with local choirs, notably Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir. He has served as Organist at a number of churches in Toronto. Hecurrently is organist for Dewi Sant Welsh UnitedChurch in Toronto. Matthew holds a Bachelor of

Music Degree from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music where hestudied organ performance with Dr. Patricia Wright.

GREG BROWNCOMPÈRE – Baritone

We are so pleased to be here!In 2016, when we started planning our next tour, it did not take verylong to understand that the overwhelming first choice of the provincewhere every Choir member wanted to visit was Newfoundland. Eversince that decision was made there was a palpable level of excitementevery time the tour was discussed. The two years of planning havepassed very quickly & now we are here ready to enjoy the renownedNewfoundland hospitality. Everyone we talked to about our tour whohad already visited, without exception, remarked on what a wonderfultime they had and how friendly everyone had been. We are excited tobe here and will, no doubt, be very sad to leave.

Graham Parker, President

TORONTO WELSH MALE VOICE CHOIR2018 Newfoundland

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THE WELSH FLAG AND THE RED DRAGONThe proud and ancient battle standard of the Welsh is The Red Dragon(Y Ddraig Goch) and consists of a red dragon, standing with one foot raised,on a green and white background. The red dragon has been associatedwith Wales for centuries, and as such, the flag is claimed to be the oldest national flag still in use. But why a dragon? The answer to that particularquestion is lost in history and myth. One legend recalls Romano-British soldiers carrying the red dragon (Draco) to Rome on their banners in thefourth-century, but it could be even older than that. It is considered that theWelsh kings of Aberffraw first adopted the dragon in the early fifth century inorder to symbolise their power & authority after the Romans withdrew fromBritain. Later, around the seventh century, it became known as the RedDragon of Cadwaladr, king of Gwynedd from 655 to 682. The red dragonwas even said to have been used as the British standard at the Battle ofCrecy in 1346, when the Welsh archers, dressed in their beloved green andwhite, played such a crucial role in defeating the French.

As the national flag of Wales, the red dragon appears to have regained popularity in the early part of the twentieth century, when it was used for the1911 Caernarfon Investiture of Edward, Prince of Wales. It wasn’t until 1959however, that it became officially recognised as the national flag of the principality. The Red Dragon now flies proudly over public and private buildings throughout Wales, and thousands still cross the border into England every other year, when the two nations meet for their ‘historic struggle’ on the rugby battlefield known as Twickenham. Welshmen, womenand children carrying the dragon as a symbol of pride in their history andculture.

MALE VOICE CHOIRS IN WALES - A Brief OverviewThe Welsh male voice choir has become the country’s most treasured andremarkable feature, with nonconformist (e.g. Baptist, Methodist) origins in the18th century. During this time, congregations in both the north and south ofWales formed tenor-bass choirs that led chapel-goers in the singing ofhymns, both in English and in Welsh. Singing in these choirs was one of thecrucial methods the Welsh used to establish their rugged individualism, especially in the wake of their dying language, political struggles (miners’strikes and unionist skirmishes) and cultural constraints from the English (the Anglicization of Welsh national schools). Choirs & solo singers alike performed their repertoire at festivals, namely Eisteddfod (roughly pronounced: “ei-steth-VOD”), an annual gathering of performers in differentcities around the nation. Fortunately, these traditions are still (mostly) robusttoday. Since its pious and political 18th century heyday, Wales has been appropriately referred to as “the Land of Song.”

TORONTO WELSH MALE VOICE CHOIR

1st Tenor: Charles Barrett; Michael Conroy; Arthur Jones; Kevin Morris; Gwyn Roberts;

Michael Stevens; Niels Christensen; Nigel Finan; 2nd Tenor: Greg Andre-Barrett; Greg Douglas; Ray Freebury; Frank McMichael; Jim Osborne; David Riches; Al Sadegursky; Gordon Yanchyshyn; John Tayles; Baritone: Brad Archer; Harry Blackburn; Greg Brown; Gareth Jones;Stephen Jones; Cliff Marsh; Bruce Mullock; Graham Parker; David Thomas; Robert Varga; Bill Watson; Colin Worley; Bass: Peter Andrews; Richard Challenger; Ed Golem; Phil Jones;Brian Morey; Gary Clipperton; Don Maudsley;

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RHAGLENPROGRAMME

Intermission ~ Toriad

Anthems Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau O Canada

Ode to Newfoundland

Yma O Hyd (Still Here!) Words and Music by Dafydd Iwan;Soloist: Greg Brown – Baritone;

Brian Morey on the Bodhran and Kevin Morris on guitar

Gwahoddiad (Invitation) Welsh Hymn; Welsh words by Ieuan Gwyllt

Northwest Passage Words and music by Stan Rogers; Soloist: David Thomas – Baritone

Arranged by Rob Smail

Carrickfergus Traditional Irish Folk Song arranged by Mark G. Siren

Soloist

Deus Salutis Words by G.H. Jones; Arranged by Mansell Thomas

The Sound of Silence Words and music by Paul Simon;Arranged by Benjamin Bedroske

Nessun Dorma Music and Words by G. Puccini; Arranged by Meuryn Hughes

Fogarty’s Cove Words and Music by Stan Rogers;Arranged by Ron Smail

Finlandia Music by J Sibelius; Words by Elfed

Suo Gân A Welsh Lullaby; Arranged by Lance Wiliford

Hallelujah Words and Music by Leonard Cohen; Arranged by Jonathan Wikeley

Trilogy from Les Misérables Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Words by Alain Boublil

and Herbert Kretzmer;Arranged by John Samuel

Calon Lân Music by John Hughes; Words by Daniel James;

Soloist: Gareth Jones - Baritone; Arranged by Tim Rhys Evans

Soloist

Y Tangnefeddwyr (The Peacemakers) Music by Eric Jonesand words by Waldo Williams

Cyfri’r Geifr - Counting the Goats Traditional; Arranged by Caradog Roberts

We’ll Rant and We’ll Roar Arranged by Mark Sirett

Sosban Fach Traditional Welsh Folk Song

We Rise Again Words and music by Leon Dubinsky;Arranged by Stephen Smith;

Soloist: Robert Varga - Baritone

Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir ~ 2018

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