This page documents the 79th Annual
Gymanfa Ganu (Welsh Hymn Singing Festival) presented by the
Welsh Gymanfa Ganu Association of WI, Inc. (WGGAW)
held at 2:30 pm on 5-01-2011 at the
First Congregational Church, Oshkosh, WI.
| Concert Photos
| Discography
|
"Gymanfa Ganu" pronunciation: Gy (guh, rhymes with duh), man (mahn, as in c'mon), fa (va, as in nova), Ga (gha, as in Ghandi), nu (knee) ... so, say it together: guh-mahn-va-gha'-knee .
Per the WGGAW page at Ripon College, "Gymanfa Ganu" means "singing festival" (ganu = singing, gymanfa = festival).
As far as I know nobody recorded the entire performance, so, unlike the 1983 and 1997 Festivals, it will never be available as a commercially released recording.
I guess we have to assume that "YouTube" can break whatever copyright
laws it wants to whenever the law happens to get in its way. A video of
all five copyrighted pieces sung by the Chorus can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZI_wftsGxY
1) "The Star-Spangled Banner",
2) "Bridge Over Troubled Water",
3) "My Lord, What A Mornin'",
4) "Shenandoah",
5) "Go Chain De Lion Down"
Presumably the composers and/or arrangers are getting absolutely
nothing for the world-wide continuing performance of these songs. It
seems people have learned nothing about supporting our musicians since
the original furor caused by
Napster back in 1999-2001.
The fifteen Chorus members were not listed in the program. Two names are still unknown. These are the only ones I know for sure:
Chantorion Men's Chorus:
Director:
Todd Kaphaem
Algoma Boulevard United Methodist Church, Oshkosh:
Ken Cook, Todd Kaphaem (Chantorion Chorus Director)
First Congregational Church, Oshkosh:
Rev. Ralph Dibiasio-Snyder (Pastor),
Chancel Choir:
Tony Hengst, Doug Henkle, Thatcher Peterson
First Presbyterian Church, Oshkosh:
Chuck Isaacson
First Presbyterian Church, Reedsburg:
Rev. Joseph Corbin ** (Singing Festival Leader)
Oakhaven Church, Oshkosh:
Joe Feldkamp, Steve Frazier, Wayne Hawley, John Loe
Peace Lutheran Church, Oshkosh:
Don Lewis **
Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society, Madison:
Dan Proud **
church?, North Fond du Lac, Tom White **, ?
** = member
Welsh Gymanfa Ganu Association of Wisconsin (WGGAW)
Pictures of the Chorus can be seen on the FCC 2011 Gymanfa Ganu Photos page.
Cantorion/Chantorion -- although "Cantorion" is "singers" in Welsh, "Chantorion", meaning "bard or poet", comes from the second line of the Welsh National Anthem:
Hen Wlad fy Nhadau (Land of my Fathers)
"Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion enwogion o fri ...
Land of my Fathers, O land of the free,
A land of poets and minstrels, famed men." ...
Festival Program scans:
