Welsh singing fest planned in Venedocia

Gymanfa Ganu information

VENEDOCIA — The annual Gymanfa Ganu, or Welsh Festival of Song, will be held at Salem Presbyterian Church in Venedocia on Sunday, September 1.

A light supper will be served from 4-6 p.m. that day, with the program to begin at 7 p.m. The church is handicap accessible.

The Gymanfa Ganu tradition can be traced back to the 13th century in Wales, where the singing of hymns in four-part harmony began. It has been an important part of the Venedocia church’s life since about 1915. Visitors return every year from many states to renew friendships and to hear the thrilling sound of the grand old hymns being sung in four-part harmony by several hundred people.

The conductor for this year’s Gymanfa Ganu will be Dr. Patricia Bowers-Schultz, who recently retired as professor of music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo., where she taught voice, musical theatre and choir. She previously taught French, as well as music, at Dickinson State University in North Dakota and voice at Central State University in Ohio. She also taught French at Bowling Green State University, as well as in the public schools.

Dr. Schultz earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, her master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Oxford.

Her doctoral dissertation, a comparison of singing traditions at the Gymanfa Ganu, led to invitations to conduct and solo at various festivals around the country, as well as to lecture at the prestigious College Music Society’s national conference.

A coloratura soprano, Dr. Schultz has concertized all over the United States: in recital, as guest artist with symphony orchestras and, from 1986 to 2002, was featured in her own original music drama, “Encore for Jenny Lind”, about the famous 19th century “Swedish Nightingale.”

Dr. Schultz, who has many interests, lived for a year in Jefferson City – Missouri’s state capital – after her selection as Faculty Fellow with the Missouri Coordinating Board of Higher Education. She served previously as director of Northwest’s pilot program on notebook computers and her biography has been selected for publication in Marquis’ 2o12 edition of Who’s Who in America.

She credits her continuing interest and knowledge of Welsh singing traditions to being raised in the Welsh community of Gomer. Now residing in Kansas City, she continues to solo and conduct, along with acting in commercials and voice-overs.

She and her theatre-professor husband, Charles, have team-taught in London three times, and traveled there and through Wales on several occasions. They also recently returned from a tour of Germany, Austria and Prague.

Special music for this year’s Gymanfa Ganu will be provided by the Letitia Quintet. The group of young men can trace their history to Venedocia and back to Wales. The name Letitia has been passed down from Letitia Jones Morris, who was born in 1845 in Llababarn Odwyn, Cardinganshire, Wales, and who died in 1925 in Venedocia, to her granddaughter, Jane Letitia Morris Bates, and from Jane to her daughter, Mary Letitia Bates Fancher, who is the mother of three members of the quartet. Quintet members are Eric, Brian, Jon and Kevin Fancher and Todd Case.

All five are grandsons of Jane Letitia Morris Bates, who was born and raised in Venedocia. Kevin and Brian Fancher are music teachers in the Cleveland area, while Eric Fancher is an actor in Cleveland. Case is a freshman majoring in biology at the University of Toledo, while Jon Fancher is pastor of Rocky River Presbyterian Church in suburban Cleveland.

The quintet will be accompanied by Mary Fancher, a vocal music teacher in Rocky River and director of music ministry at Avon Lake United Church of Christ.

Organist for the Gymanfa Ganu will be Ladonna Allenbaugh, while the pianist will be Connie O’Neill. Rev. Tom Emery is pastor of Salem Presbyterian Church.

For more information, call Jean Owens at 419.667.3523 or email joytrips@watchtv.net.