We are into December and have already missed out on some really big, prestigious concerts this year, were unable to compete at the European Choir Games, Llangollen International Eisteddfod and missed out on our annual choir training/team building/social weekend at Llangrannog.  Now no Christmas concerts, showbacks for parents or singing at hospital wards, the latter being particularly important to us.  

We have had some zoom rehearsals earlier in the year but some of the younger choir members did not enjoy working online.  With the time lag, other family members present & internet/device problems we decided to only have these occasionally however we have posted guide tracks & lyrics on our student zone area accessible only to choir members to rehearse so that when we can return, we will hopefully not have lost too much ground. 

Hopefully with the vaccine imminent & the warm weather spring should bring, we may start to see the back of Covid19 and the devastation it has left in it's wake in the next few months.  Our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones, those survivors who have been left with severe health problems and everyone who has suffered loneliness, lost their employment and/or suffered hardship over the last 10 months.  Hold tight and love from us all x

 On Saturday 14th December, a big and beautiful concert at Chepstow Leisure Centre included the superb Chepstow Male Voice Choir, the Lydney  Training Band and The Nidus Children's Choir. Sadly the advertised soloist Henry Firth was ill. The Lydney Training Bond was also impressive from young players, playing excellent Christmas music both before the concert and during the interval-when minced pies and juice was provided for all the children.
The band's special pieces were the evocative First Light (solo Lily Mountford) and one of the choir's own pieces, The Water of Tyne.  They also played the very enjoyable Joy to the World, in which the audience participated enthusiastically.

The Children's choir lacked a number of people, some had booked holidays, some had got lost(!) some were ill at short notice, but kindly helped by Amelia Hughes, (who sang the Solo in Gesu Bambino in the second half of the concert,)and Rhys Nicholson. The concert progressed well and many people came up at the end to say how great and well schooled the choir were. 

The Music sets were  The Star Carol, Sing to Him, Gaudete! Silent Night and Torches in part 1 . Part Two heard Gesu Bambino, Mistletoe and Wine- a new carol, Silver Bells, and Winter Wonderland, all  sung beautifully and with precision with panache and personality. The audience were charmed and delighted, and cheered the choir at the end.

The Male Voice Choir sang the Prayer from Lohengrin , a beautifully measured  powerful performance then a Benedictus and The Rhythm of Life. Word in Union was obviously a different version of Holst's 'I vow to thee my Country' and beautifully sung, where Nothing like a Dame and Sweet Georgia Brown finished the first part of the concert, sung with great humour and verve. What really engaged the audience in great bursts of laughter was the Variations of fa la la (or as we call it 'Deck the Halls'.) This carol arrangement was humorously and constantly threaded with interruptions by other carols, and indeed Beethoven's Fifth symphony theme, which was followed by a rendition of the 1812 Overture, where the Santa-Hatted choir, dressed in red jumpers used  party poppers instead of the cannon fire when played by an orchestra. It was very funny and well appreciated. The carol Do you hear what I hear? followed on by O Holy Night, Kumbaya and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It was a wonderful Christmas-themed Concert, and Ian Russell, Kirsten Watson, the conductors, and Rosemarie Lewis (pianoforte) produced male voice music of a very high standard. Altogether, the choir, though slightly depleted in number performed extremely well. Many people came forward to congratulate Conductor Christian Jenkins M.A,B.Mus and Evelyn Nicholson MA, PPRNCM, A Mus LCM, the Musical Director. The Music Technician on this occasion was professional baritone, Nick Dunbar, who has appeared in Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast in the West End, and who kindly stepped in to help.
The New Term begins at 11th January at Nant Bran, Upper Cwmbran. South Wales.

December the 1st was also the evening of the performance of the Choir, which also acts as a Christmas Party for the children, Social for the adults and the lovely Christmas repertoire. Popular this year were some new pieces- Sleigh Ride and Mistletoe and Wine. There were a few problems this year mainly because of illnesses,the previous organiser being called to another event, and a problem with lighting. There were also very very few photos published and so I have had to include last year's photo. Nevertheless there was a lovely atmosphere and fine food provided by the small committee which worked flat out to make the event possible and so enjoyable. Thank you so much Heidi for the music backing tracks, Gabriela Nicholson-Dunbar for singing with the choir, which was appreciated.The raffle was full of generous gifts and the only omission was perhaps-and a sadness, that we were not able this year to perform our mummers play. Memorable solos were sung by Amelia Hughes, Olivia Gibbs and Grace Gardener,Jessica Millard, Gina McStay,and Gwenann McConnell Lawlor, Aimee Pask and the soloists of The Seven Joys of Mary.

 Tremendous supSo it is here! The earliest and very first of our lovely Christmas Concerts in the TLC Community Church in Oakfield Cwmbran at Two Locks. The children were so very excited as they love this season so much and the warmth and welcome of the people of this beautifully decorated chapel is always so comfortable and spurs the choir on to do its very best, and this evening was no exception!! Added to the concert was a delicious buffet, which gave the whole evening a 'party feel.' As usual, the choir performed a mixture of secular and religious carols- 

Star Carol/Shepherd's Pipe/Angel Carol/Gaudete/Silent Night/Sing to Him/Silver Bells/Winter Wonderland/White Christmas/The Sevon Joys of Mary from the little ones. A highlight was 'Gesu Bambino'(Jesus the Child) an Italian carol sung by Amelia Hughes who is already making a name for herself as a singer to watch in Torfaen. Tremendous support was given by Nick Dunbar who found the solution to a technical problem at the last moment, and Gabriela Nicholson-Dunbar, principal of Nidus Performing Arts, who did so much to help in supporting the Second Sopranos and helping with the children. Thank you to both of you.

​The choir was introduced by Christian Jenkins, MA, B Mus who conducted with great verve and humour! The audience seated at little tables, cabaret style filled the chapel, showed their appreciation, their numbers considerably increased since last year. The children enjoyed this experience so much, especially as almost half were new to the choir and needed to learn much repertoire to fill the Christmas concerts. 

HWYL FAWR!  EVELYN NICHOLSON  MA, PPRNCM, A Mus, LCM 
MD  Nidus Children's Choir.

NEXT CONCERTS ******************************************

DECEMBER 1st SUNDAY    St Pierre Golf Course (Manor) Christmas Celebration and FAIR. Lots of Food and Gifts. Performance around lunchtime tba .1.30-2pm approximately. Exact time TBC.

DECEMBER 1st SUNDAY EVENING  The famous Christmas Extravaganza!Our Party and Concert with Buffet. £10 per person. Please contact niduschildrenschoir.gmail.com OR on this email .6.30pm Llanyravon Social Club, Cwmbran, Tables can be booked!

DECEMBER 14th at CHEPSTOW LEISURE CENTRE. 7.30pm with Chepstow Male Voice Choir.

The weekend at Llangrannog was made possible by the hard work of Heidi Nicholson, the choir's administrator and often assistant conductor, pictured here with Christian Jenkins, the choir's conductor. Heidi has been the Mastermind of the Children's Choir for over ten years, since its first performances and coped magnificently organising all the accommodation, transport and effort involved, even abroad. She is also known for being a good friend to choir members and sorting out any problems and liaising with the Fundraising Committee, with which she subsidises the children's fees, making it affordable for all the children to take part. She is also known as a participant of all the fun, this year dressing up as Maleficent (?) at the Hallowe'en Party and taking part in all the childrens' activities, as did Christian.

Other Roles fulfilled by Heidi
Her other 'hat' is as rehearsal conductor, and she often conducts the Christmas hospital visits and local events, which is appreciated by all. Setting up the choir's keyboard is another skill before rehearsals, and she also spends hours working out finances, as the choir's Treasurer, no easy task, as is, of course collecting in money. I ought to highlight all the work also done sorting out the manufacture of new 'hoodies' by Nick Dunbar and Gabi Nicholson Dunbar, who worked hard to get these out to the choir members before Usk. Choir members have to wear these, or the T shirts to all rehearsals and in public places, so we can keep an eye on them and find them quickly among other children, as well as lower key performances. (We are hoping to put an order form on the choir's web site to make it easier for parents to deal directly with the makers of the hoodies. We usually wear black trousers and shoes with the hoodies.)

Heidi as Musical Technician.
Heidi checks the backing tracks we have had made for performances. Checking that the backing tracks comply with the music learned, and having new backing tracks made and set into order on the iPad before every performance, is another time consuming job, that Heidi has taken on for many years!

The work of running a choir is often time consuming, and those who work behind the scenes are often not appreciated enough, but the Nidus Choir is very grateful to Heidi for her effort and hard work, important to make the choir have the stable and growing success it has had from the start. She does all this as a labour of love, as no-one gets paid for their efforts in running the choir. It is to the credit of Heidi and all the staff that the children's choir as achieved its considerable success to date.

The Alto Section (above) Site at Llangrannog and Urdd (below.)Abbie, Megan, Chloe, Lily May, Charley, Mia, Mair, Ioan, Hari and Ryan. Hwylasbri!

The First Soprano Group, Millie, Olivia, Katy, Aimee, Grace, Olivia.Katie.
Second Soprano Group, Jessica,Ruby, Gwennan, Menna, Maddison. (below)

Lunch on the final day! A 'Selfie by Olivia....

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WELL, WE  ARE BACK FOR THE AUTUMN!!!!

Two lovely choir parents put together this lovely tea concert with scrumptious cakes and worked very hard to make this a lovely warm friendly atmosphere in the Devauden Village Hall which raised money for our trip to Llangrannog around Hallowe'en next month and Llangollen next year- all very exciting! Sadly, because of lack of funds we were unable to do the World Choir Games, but in some ways it is a relief as the choir is losing its older experienced members and is gaining lovely younger joiners, who are untried and inexperienced and the smaller concerts and choral training days coming up at Usk and Llangrannog will help with the training. I am grateful to the three young sopranos helping in the second sopranos at the moment, who are more experienced and helping the section, which has recently unexpectedly lost some members to 'A levels'.  They really came into their own yesterday, with other members missing.

The repertoire for this tea concert had to be the simpler diet for the very young, but they acquitted themselves  very well, sounding sweet-toned and being supported by two ex members who had come to help, soprano Amelia Hughes and baritone Rhys Nicholson. Confidence is the issue in a new choir and learning all the work and their support is much appreciated.

The programme included 'The Water of Tyne', 'The Rose' 'Vois sur ton chemin', 'Happy Wanderer,' 'Sing with the Spirit,' 'Black Velvet Band' and 'Hail Holy Queen' and 'Kalinka'. The concentration was very good, although the African carol 'Singabahamba Iothina' was only learnt the day before!  All credit to the hard work, and new members. The audience appeared to enjoy the selection and the tea and this outing of the younger choir. There will be a short concert at Usk at the end of the Singing Afternoon.

Thanks are due to Tim and Debbie Walker for the baking and all the organisation and to Gabi and Nick Dunbar for spending so much time getting the new hoodies embroidered for all those who ordered them and Heidi braving an Abergavenny food fair and picking them up! It was time-consuming for Gabi and Nick and they also provide our premises. Thank you to Katie , Lisa Tim and Jo and all others who helped with the folder organisation and checked all the music and Katie again for handing out the hoodies and tea shirts.

Thank you to our Conductor, Christian Jenkins, who occasionally takes choir, and to Heidi Nicholson for her administration and organising and working the  sound for the accompaniment.  The Feedback from the new parents was very good and a standard has been established where the choir can go from strength to strength. 

The term at Nidus Childrens Choir is winding to a close for the summer and resuming in September . Recruitment is ongoing and we have some very good new singers joining recently. Having to train them quickly to learn the standard repertoire has been challenging but they have been quick and very professional in regular appearances in Choir. We have performed in a very big and successful concert in Monmouth at St Mary's Priory and there was also a very successful evening in Cwmbran.

SINGING AFTERNOON
I am planning a singing afternoon in Usk in October to try and consolidate our repertoire with new people and also begin to learn work for next year. We are still asking for funds to help those children who need financial support for touring and possibly sponsorship for bags etc.

DEVAUDEN FUNDRAISER
Thanks to our lovely secretary, a fundraising afternoon singing will take place in Devauden. This is a wonderful afternoon, where in enjoyment in singing and being knee deep in a delicious tea go hand in hand. We thank everyone involved in their work in raising money.

CHRISTIAN JENKINS (Conductor)
Thank you to Christian for continuing to conduct the choir. The students love your import and you bring a high degree of conducting to the choir.

HEIDI and GABI NICHOLSON are to be thanked from Nidus Theatre Arts, for help with running the choir, and of course ALL the Committee are to be congratulated in this period of re-structuring and rebuilding this lovely choir.

When we return in the Autumn we will also begin to revise our Christmas Repertoire, which we very much like. Please note that the official choir concerts are not optional and will appear on the calendar.