Two of the world’s most promising singers will be taking to the stage in Wrexham for the first time this weekend.
Welsh baritone Garry Griffiths and New Zealand tenor Shaun Dixon are the guest soloists at the annual concert of Rhos Male Voice Choir.
The concert, at the William Aston Hall in Glyndwr University, is on Saturday, October 19 at 7pm.
It will be the choir’s first concert in Wrexham since their wins in the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and the National Eisteddfod in the summer.
Gary Griffiths, who represented Wales this year in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, said he is greatly looking forward to singing with the choir and appearing for the first time in Wrexham.
“It's always great to sing to a new audience and in a place I have never performed before. I will sing a selection of operatic arias to show what the main aspect of my career involves. But I will also include some show songs to give as much variety as possible. “
Although he has not heard the Rhos Male Choir, he said: “Their reputation as an outstanding choir precedes them. Many of my singing friends have told me how good the choir is.”
Speaking about the Cardiff Singer of the World competition, he said: “I enjoyed it immensely, it was certainly a tough week but I feel I have gained tremendous amount of experience from doing it. I felt very proud to represent Wales.”
Gary studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was the 2009 winner of the coveted Gold Medal Competition.
He has regularly sung with Welsh National Opera and his performance in La Boheme earned him the Best Male Opera Singer 2013 at the Theatre Critics of Wales Awards.
New Zealand born Tenor Shaun Dixon studied at RCM, National Opera Studio and with Luciano Pavarotti. Shaun currently works freelance throughout the UK, and has appeared with some of the foremost companies and orchestras including RPO, ENO, WNO and Scottish Opera .
Speaking about his first appearance in Wrexham, Shaun said: “I am very much looking forward to it. I love to sing as that is my main passion in life. Combine that with a lot of enthusiastic men that also love to sing and an audience who love good singing and I'm in heaven.
He said he was greatly looking forward to singing with the Rhos Male Voice Choir: “I know that they are the best male voice choir in the world and have had a great reputation over many many years.”
He promises a repertoir with a nice mix of opera and song. “I'm trained in the Italianate Lyric tenor repertoire so that's pretty much what you'll get. Plenty of pot boilers with good high notes (hopefully). Sort of like listening to the Three Tenors except just one of me.
“I'll also be doing the popular Pearl Fishers duet with Gary Griffiths which should go down well.
The songs he has chosen, he says, have a message – as well as letting him “show off a little”.
“Some make me sentimental , some make me laugh , some just give me an adrenaline rush. When I feel these things I tend to express this in my voice and the audience also feels this. Which is the challenge and art of good singing.”
Tickets details can be found on the choir website www.rmvc.co.uk or by e-mail to rmvcweb@gmail.com or from the William Aston Hall box office (01978 293293). Tickets are £20 or £10 for under 16s.
