Choirs on song for new recruits

By Nick Dermody
BBC News

Only Men Aloud! rehearse for the BBC's Last Choir Standing final

As three choirs prepare to compete for the title of the BBC's Last Choir Standing, singing groups in Wales are reporting a rise in new members.

The show is due to end on Saturday with Only Men Aloud!, Ysgol Glanaethwy and Revelation performing.

It has been cited as the reason why choirs are now hitting a high note when it comes to recruits.

In one choir based in Cardiff, seven new members have joined in the past week alone.

Ian Owens, chairman of Cardiff Blues Choir, said: "They're seeing that it can be fun."

He said seven people signed up last week for his choir's rugby-based repertoire of songs and hymns in two languages in support of the city team.

He said: "It's making people think about choirs other than the traditional male voice choirs of old.

"They are singing modern songs in a new and fresh arrangements. It's going to make people think that they too can sing out in the bathroom."

Only Men Aloud! are half of the Welsh talent in the final on Saturday

But even a more traditional choir like the Morriston Orpheus Choir based in Swansea has seen a surge in interest in their skills.

Spokesman Clive Williams said people at the choir's recent concerts had been impressed with the standard of the Welsh choirs in the contest.

He said: "There is amazing interest - it's very encouraging.

"It does show the number of people who are viewing it. I think there will be a lot more people wanting to join as a result.

"We had new recruits before we broke up for August. I do think that the programme has stimulated a lot of interest and helped people to make that commitment."

Treorchy Male Choir from the south Wales valleys which has more than 100 members, is preparing for its fourth tour of Australia next year.

Revelation are hoping to secure first place at the competition

Soloist Dean Powell, 36, said: "There has been a renaissance in the male voice choir tradition which can only be of benefit to each and every one of us.

"The well-publicised success of choirs such as Froncysyllte and Only Men Aloud! has assisted to some degree in attracting new recruits."

Only Men Aloud!, from Cardiff, along with Ysgol Glanaethwy, from Bangor, will compete against Revelation from east London in the grand final of the talent show on Saturday.

Yet Ysgol Glanaethwy said it was bracing itself for a flood of membership inquiries when school resumes after the summer.

Choir member Siwan Puw said: "All of a sudden my friends who have nothing to do with Ysgol Glanaethwy have an interest and I'm sure I could say that about all the other members.

"It's not that they weren't supportive in the past, but they were much more interested in what we're doing now than if we hadn't been on television.

"There will probably be more people applying in September and probably much younger applications."

Ms Puw, 17, who hopes to read law at university, said she hopes whichever campus she attends has a choir she can join.

She said: "I will definitely be joining a choir there. It gives that sense of community outside of that academic side of my life."

The final of Last Choir Standing will be on BBC One on Saturday, 30 August (1800 and 2050 BST).