Matthew Rhys's first book - Patagonia

Patagonia has long intrigued many an intrepid traveller, particularly the Welsh, who flock to this area of South America to trace the footsteps of their ancestors, founders of a Welsh speaking colony in the area back in 1865, which still survives to this day.

Hollywood actor and Welshman Matthew Rhys, is one such traveller. Patagonia is a photographic account of his month-long journey on horseback from the Atlantic to the Andes. His co-riders were all descendants of the 30 Welsh-speakers who had made the same gruelling journey 125 years ago.

Evocative black-and-white photography features throughout, along with extended captions for each of the 90 images. Penned by Matthew Rhys, these provide the reader with first-hand insight into the demands of the trek and an overview of the lives of his fellow travellers.

The author’s introduction will also provide the journey’s historical context, and will remind the reader of the pioneering courage of those Welshmen who originally established the Welsh colony in Patagonia.

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Title: PATAGONIA ISBN: 9781848511972

Author: Matthew Rhys Price: £19.99

Category: Travel / Photography Format: 200mmx300mm, hb, 120pp

Publication date: 30^th October 2010

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

• Matthew Rhys hails from Cardiff but currently lives in Los Angeles.
• He is most well known for his role in hit American TV series Brothers and Sisters which attracts approx. 10 million viewers per episode.
• He is a familiar face worldwide following his critically acclaimed portrayal of Dylan Thomas in 2008 Hollywood film The Edge of Love.

AVAILABLE FROM: Gardners Books Ltd, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QH

Tel: 01323 521777 Fax: 01323 521666 E-mail: custcare@gardners.com

New Book Celebrating 50 Years of Pontarddulais Male Choir

Pontarddulais Male Choir’s first fifty years recalled in new book

2010 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of Pontarddulais Male Choir. Brothers, Sing On! is an account of the first fifty years of the choir and has been written by Eric Jones, the choir’s President to commemorate the event.

The author recalls the choir’s development; its Eisteddfod triumphs, overseas tours and televisual and recording highlights.

Eric Jones explained, “Firstly I wanted to write the book to celebrate the half centennial of the choir in 2010. But more than that, because there is so little written about choral tradition in Wales generally. There are hardly any books published which discuss one particular choir specifically. The consensus amongst music experts is that Pontarddulais Male Choir have managed to maintain extremely high standards for a number of years and that the choir, since it was established has been amongst the best in the field.”

Brothers, Sing On! is published by Y Lolfa in September 2010 and launched at Pontarddulais Rugby Club on Wednesday evening, 6^th of October.

Only Men Aloud announce a UK-wide Christmas Tour 2009

After a critically acclaimed sell out tour in April and May 2009, Only Men Aloud are back with a very special Christmas themed tour. The show will be a selection of festive Christmas repertoire plus a mixture of songs from the first and second albums (the second being called ‘Band of Brothers’ and released on the 12th October) plus a few firm favourites. Only Men Aloud was formed in 2000 by Tim Rhys-Evans and in 2008, entered what was to be the UK’s biggest choir competition to date, with choirs battling to become voted the best choir in the UK on BBC One’s hit Saturday night show Last Choir Standing. After battling through the rounds, OMA gave some incredible performances and after an all Welsh Final, were crowned the winners and the nation’s favourite choir. After winning Last Choir Standing, Only Men Aloud signed a five album, multi-million pound record deal with Universal Classics and Jazz, and joined Merlin Elite's management roster. The choir's top-twenty debut album was recorded over five days at AIR studios in London, and achieved gold status within the first week of sales and went on to sell over a quarter million albums within the UK. Tim’s primary aim was to encourage younger men to get involved with one of Wales’ oldest and best loved traditions, male voice singing. The group are unafraid to tackle music not normally associated with male voice choirs; their repertoire ranges from the 17th Century to the present day, and has included several world premieres in this time. This tour follows on from the hugely successful sold out debut tour for which they received standing ovations at every single show. The varied collection of repertoire plus the unique choreography lends to what is an extremely enjoyable night of entertainment. The choir appears regularly on network radio and television. Notable broadcasts include the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, Radio Three Choir of the Year from The Royal Festival Hall, and a performance on HMS Belfast for the BBC One New Years Eve broadcast. This year has seen two successful trips to the United States completed and a private performance for Prince Charles, Camilla and their guests at Buckingham Palace. Tickets are £29.50 / £26.00 / £20.00 Regional and £35.00 / £27.50 / £22.50 London Tickets go on general sale Friday 4th September @ 10:00am Available at www.gigsandtours.com 24 hr cc hotline 0871 2200 260 TOUR DATES December 1, 2009 - Glasgow December 3, 2009 - Lladudno December 5, 2009 - Cardiff December 6, 2009 - Norwich December 7, 2009 - Ipswich December 8, 2009 - Birmingham December 9, 2009 - Liverpool December 11, 2009 - Brighton December 14, 2009 - Manchester December 16, 2009 - Portsmouth December 17, 2009 - Bristol December 18, 2009 - Nottingham December 20, 2009 - London

A Year On From Winning ‘Last Choir Standing’ Only Men Aloud Release Their Second Album ‘Band Of Brothers’

What a difference a year makes! Only Men Aloud, the Welsh choir who won last summer’s BBC1 TV show Last Choir Standing, return this autumn with their second album. Band of Brothers will be released a year after the win, which gained them the title of “The Nation’s Favourite Choir” and launched them into a new realm.   The choir, made up of 20 young men from South Wales, have experienced a rollercoaster ride since winning the BBC1 prime time Saturday night show. Within hours of winning and following a vicious bidding war between major record labels, Only Men Aloud signed a multi-million pound, five-album deal with Universal Music. The record deal, the largest ever for a choir by quite some margin, was signed at Wales’ iconic Millennium Stadium exactly a year to the week before their second album launch. Their first album achieved gold status within a week and went on to sell over a quarter of a million copies. In addition to their recording deal, Only Men Aloud signed to a world class management team who boast a roster including Denise Van Outen, Jodie Kidd, Jay Kay, Vanessa-Mae and Louise Redknapp. Their next step was to take on the US, and they were immediately snapped up by CAA (Creative Artists Agency), the agency behind David Beckham. They have now performed at several huge venues across the US on two separate tours and are scheduled to be back in the USA in early 2010 for a lengthy tour.  Back in Britain, the choir completed a critically acclaimed and sold out UK tour including their hometown Cardiff Arena, and also had a personal invitation from Prince Charles to perform for Camilla, Prince Charles and their guests at a private function in Buckingham Palace. The choir have attracted a number of high-profile and varied collaborations such as Josh Groban and Russell Watson plus home-grown Welsh talents Bonnie Tyler, Rhydian Roberts, Bryn Terfel, Aled Jones and Katherine Jenkins. OMA now return with their second album Band of Brothers, in which they present interpretations of modern classics such as ‘Somebody to Love’, performed with Kerry Ellis who hails from the Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’. The choir also go back to their Welsh roots, with traditional anthems such as ‘Land of Our Fathers’ and ‘Blaenwern’. Demonstrating the choir’s eclectic background and tastes, from opera through to rock songs, they are all truly great tunes despite being from varied sources. Tim Rhys-Evans, MD of OMA, said of the new album, “From the beginning I wanted this to represent the wide range of repertoire. The arrangements have a filmic feel. I wanted it to be the kind of album that, if you were driving through a huge, open landscape, you would play on your car stereo. It’s fab and dandy – go buy a copy”. Only Men Aloud Biography Only Men Aloud were formed in January 2000 by Choir Master and Music Director Tim Rhys-Evans to inject some new blood into the Male Welsh Choir tradition. The choir have had regular slots on BBC Radio 4 and also Songs of Praise and in 2003 won the male choir category in the inaugural year of S4Cs Côr Cymru. Following on from this, the choir were chosen to perform on three separate occasions during the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre. They performed in the Opening Ceremony, Royal Gala, and also sang in the pre opening banquet honouring various eminent Welsh figures including Bryn Terfel, Sian Phillips and Shirley Bassey. In 2008 Only Men Aloud entered what was to be the UK’s biggest choir competition to date, with UK choirs battling to become voted the best choir in the UK on BBC1’s hit Saturday night show ‘Last Choir Standing’. After battling through the rounds, OMA gave some incredible performances and after an all Welsh Final, were crowned the winners and the Nations favourite choir. The choir signed a multi-album record deal with Universal Music and their debut album was released in November 2008, which has sold over a quarter of a million records. OMA have had an extremely busy year with international releases of their debut album plus a full UK sell-out tour, including Cardiff International Arena. This year also sees the choir record and release their second album with Universal Music. Only Men Aloud have also just returned from their second trip to the USA. Earlier this year the choir were personally invited by the Welsh Assembly to perform as part of Wales Week USA. The choir were invited to perform in front of the First Minister of Wales and the British Ambassador at the British Embassy in Washington DC. The event promoted Wales as the featured Country in this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which has seen Only Men Aloud return to the States in June and July of this year. Their time in the States has also included performances in New York as well as several TV and Radio appearances, including major American television channel CBS. For more information visit www.onlymenaloud.com