TOUR TO DISNEYLAND PARIS MARCH 2020
Between the 6th and 9th of March 2020, 80 boys from across all our Only Boys Aloud groups in North and South Wales travelled to Disneyland Paris. The boys performed as part of the St David’s Welsh Weekend at the Park which included a set at the Videopolis Theatre stage. As well as performing, the boys had some free time in the Park to enjoy the attractions and even got to see Mickey and Minnie dressed in their Welsh costumes!
TOUR TO LORIENT, FRANCE 2018
In August 2018, the Only Boys Aloud Academi were invited to take part in Lorient Interceltic Festival in Brittany, France. We were delighted to attend this festival celebrating all things Celtic and representing Wales. We performed at the Opening Concert in the Theatre, the Mayor’s Reception, the Wales Pavilion and at the Grand Nuit du Pays de Galles. It was a fantastic festival and we’re very grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for the invitation.
TOUR TO YPRES NOVEMBER 2017
Between 2 – 4 November 2017, Only Boys Aloud took their brand of Welsh male choral singing to Belgium to honour all who fell at the battle Ypres 100 years ago. The boys performed at a packed out St Martin’s Church in the square in the centre of Ypres and also paid tribute through sing at the grave of the famous Welsh poet, Hedd Wyn.
Some of the repertoire reflected on the tragedy of war including:
Le Chant des Marais – a song written in a prisoner of war camp
Aberystwyth- A new arrangement of the Welsh hymn by Tim Rhys-Evans- the hymn is known to have been sung by Welsh WW1 soldiers immediately before they went ‘over the top’
Other repertoire had an international feel emphasising a need to express our common humanity with choral music from across the globe and in a variety of languages.
Of course there were trademark Only Boys Aloud repertoire including Welsh stantards like Caradog Williams’ beautiful setting of the Saunders Lewis poem ‘Gwinllan a roddwyd i’m gofal’, Men of Harlech and the OBA anthem Calon Lân.
OBA is choir of young men and consequently the programme came right up to date with pop and music theatre also on the bill.
