The Ontario Welsh Festival, 2005
 If you didn't get to attend
the Ontario Gymanfa Ganu in Stratford April 29 - May 2, 2005, then I'm sorry. And I'm even sorrier that you missed
hearing the wonderful C$ocirc;r Maelgwn Gwynedd, who enthralled us at Saturday night's concert and during Sunday's
two Gymanfa sessions.
This general consensus was
that this was one of the best weekends ever. What made it so? Much of the success of the weekend is owed to the
presence and involvement of the choristers and their wives. Not only was this one of the best choirs that I have
heard, but every member participated fully in all aspects of the weekend. We found out early just how much fun
they were when they took part in Friday night's Noson Lawen. We listened in awe to the soloists and duets and laughed
hysterically at their skits. The choir's delightful director, 26 year old Trystan Lewis, in addition to being a
musical genius, has a wicked sense of humor - as I discovered!
St. John's Church was packed
on Saturday evening. The concert was magnificent. Such was the quality of the singing that we, the listeners, wondered
if the entire choir consisted of soloists. Trystan was dynamic! For such a young man to command such respect and
discipline was remarkable. Their repertoire was varied and different. After three rousing national anthems, the
program began with the emotional Anthem Geltaidd by Dafydd Iwan. (This happens to be the title of their latest
C.D.) Another of Dafydd Iwan's newer songs, "Hawl i Fyw", had been translated into English and the solo
part superbly sung by bass baritone Edgar Jones.
Amongst other soloists were
Bryn o'r Bryn, Blue Ribbon winner Tom Davies and tenor Sam Roberts, who is the brother in law of the Reverend Lord
Roger Roberts of Llandudno.
By the end of the evening
we (and especially the women) had completely fallen in love with Trystan and were plotting how to prevent him from
leaving Ontario!!
No Male Voice Choir concert
is complete without its "afterglow" and we were treated to a second "feast of fun and music"
until the wee hours. An extra bonus was that every member spoke Welsh. When did we last have a visiting choir where
the only language of communication was Welsh? Trystan conducted in Welsh, directed in Welsh, joked in Welsh and
thought in Welsh. What a treat!
Then came Sunday. Trystan,
our twenty six year old musical dynamo, was to conduct his 80th Gymanfa Ganu! He was a fount of knowledge and was
full of interesting tidbits about the various composers. Did you know that "Tydi a Roddaist" was written
while waiting for a train at Crewe Station??
President of the Welsh Festival
of Ontario, David Pugh, chaired the morning session and Vice-President, Hefina Phillips the afternoon session.
During the morning session Trystan became a bit confused about the order of service and commented that he wasn't
sure if he needed a secretary or a wife! At the afternoon session Hefina, to get her own back after a trick Trystan
had played on her on Friday night, presented him with a large box of applications for both positions!! Of course,
the altos got first refusal!
We had jelled into one large
family by the end of the weekend, and we were so sad to say "Ffarwel" to these new found friends.
Thank you, David, for steering
your committee through the preparations for this wonderful weekend, and thank you everyone for all your commitment
and hard work. We are fortunate to be able to welcome Trish Stevens and Arun Bajaj to our midst. They will be a
tremendous asset.
Stratford is such a super
city that we have decided to return there in 2006. Do join us.
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