This month saw our 90 strong Only Kids Aloud Chorus descend on Gwersyll yr Urdd, Glan Llyn for their Summer residential course. The Aloud music Team, led by Artistic Director Tim Rhys-Evans MBE, introduced the children to a wide range of repertoire including Paul Mealor’s Spirit of Hope and Malaysian folk song, Wau Bulan, complete with some complex ‘armography’! During breaks from rehearsals the Chorus enjoyed the beautiful surroundings of Llyn Tegid, taking part in canoeing, kayaking and raft building and were even treated to their own personal disco!
Here’s what OKA member Kaveh is making of his time with the Chorus so far…
Only Kids Aloud isn’t only about singing. It’s about friendship, music, excitement and fun (lots of it)! We get to travel to great places, singing, rehearsing and performing with a great bunch of people, whilst having fun. For me personally it’s also like having a family away from home; with such a diverse group of people from all over Wales who are all willing to work hard to do what they love doing the most – sing! Singing with the chorus is incredibly rewarding and I enjoy every moment. I work hard to learn the music at home and always look forward to the next regional rehearsal or residential. I’m having the best time of my life being part of the OKA chorus 2019-2020 and look forward to making many more memories in the future.
And Gwen takes us through her Glan Llyn diary…
Monday 12th August – my nerves begin to play havoc with my tummy in anticipation, however they soon disappeared when I bumped into my friend that I made on the very first residential of Only Kids. The 3 hour journey flew by after catching up with her and having a sing song. Rehearsals began almost immediately, with fun warm ups and practising singing ‘The Greatest Showman medley’, ‘Wau Bulan’ (a Malaysian folk song), ‘Sanakam’ (a Latvian folk song) and finally ‘Spirit of Hope’.
My favorite song is the Greatest Showman Medley as it was familiar having watched the film endless times and performed a sing along. Although having had professional training from the Only Kids Aloud team, I feel that my vocals have improved immensely. I also love singing Wau Bulan as I enjoy singing in different languages and learning movements to the song.
Tuesday 13th August – along with more rehearsals we had an opportunity to enjoy some of the activities at Glan Llyn. This included a fastest rowing boat competition on Bala Lake, a L’Oreal Sassy Hair flick competition and a try not to fall in the lake game. It was soooo much fun.
Wednesday 14th August – A quick pack of the bags, breakfast and rehearsal up until lunch time before our taster performance to our parents before we return for our homes.
Keep an eye on aloud.cymru/kids and our social media channels for details of future performances and auditions or contact [email protected] for more information
