Gymanfa Ganu scheduled in Venedocia

Published:  Tuesday, September 8, 2009 (5 months ago)
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The annual Gymanfa Ganu or Welsh Festival of Song will be held at the Salem Presbyterian Church in Venedocia on Sunday.  A light supper will be served from 4-6 p.m. and the program will begin at 7 p.m.
The tradition can be traced back to the 12th 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. To hear the grand old hymns sung by several hundred voices is an unforgettable experience. People from several states return each year.
The director this year will be Mary L. (Bates) Fancher, who is the daughter of Jane Letitia (Morris) and Rev. Robert H. Bates. She has bachelor’s degree in music education from the College of Wooster with emphasis in voice and clarinet and also a master’s degree in music education and choral music from Eastern Michigan University. She has been conducting choirs for more than 25 years and she has taught in public and private schools in grades K-12. Her choirs have received high ratings at Ohio adjudicated events.  She has been  a soprano soloist in various churches and in the professional ensemble, the CleveWest Consorte. Currently she a music educator in the Rocky River City Schools and the Director of Music Ministry at a 1,200 member church in suburban Cleveland. Her church choir was recently a finalist in the Cleveland Classical Music Radio Church Choir Challenge. They performed for judges Craig Jessop, who is formerly of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, composer Joseph Martin and a University professor.  Mary has attended the Venedocia Gymanfa Ganu for most of the past 40 years. She is married to the Rev. Dr. Jon M. Fancher and is the mother of three adults, sons, Kevin, Eric and Brian.
Soloist this year will be Jo Baer, who has roots in Salem Church and in Venedocia, which go back for four generations. Her great-grandfather, John D. Richards, joined the church in 1850 and was music director for over 25 years. Great-grandfather Thomas Spencer Morgan was a church elder and a delegate to a World Presbyterian Church conference in Atlanta in the early 1900’s. Her great–uncle, Carl Morgan, was music director for 10 years and her great-uncle Haydn Morgan director of the men’s chorus at the age of 21. She has chosen one of her uncle Haydn’s songs to perform at the Gymanfa this year. Her grandfather, Wendell  Morgan, was active in the Men’s Chorus for many years. He and his wife Edythe raised six of their seven children in Salem church until 1938 when they moved to Mercer County. She sings at every opportunity and is active in the choir at First Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids. She has been attending the Gymanfa Ganu in Venedocia since she was 14 years old.
Organist this year will be Connie O’Neill and the pianist is Sue Fickle.
For more information contact Jean Owens at 419-667-3523 or at joytrips@watchtv.net.

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