A Christmas Concert

BIC, Solent Hall
Sunday 19th December 2010

After two acclaimed sell out tours in 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 both of their albums and a few firm favourites.
Classical Brit Winners, Only Men Aloud was formed in 2000 by Tim Rhys-Evans. 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.

In 2003 they won the Male Choir category in the inaugural year of S4C’s Cor Cymru. They performed at the Opening Ceremony and Royal Gala at the Wales Millennium Centre, and also sang in the pre opening banquet. This was the first official musical performance by any group in this new national venue.
In 2008, Only Men Aloud 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.
In October 2008, 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 they went on to sell over a quarter million albums within the UK.

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.

In 2009, the boys completed two successful trips to the United States, a critically acclaimed sell out tour of the United Kingdom recorded their second album Band Of Brothers in Cardiff with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales which was released October 12thand stayed at number 1 in the classical charts for a number of weeks. They performed for Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace and completed a second sold out UK tour in December 2009.
OMA have now been on successful third trip to the USA in March 2010, and won ‘Album of The Year’ category at the Classical Brit Awards on May 13th.

Booking

Tickets are on sale now.  Call the Ticketline on 0844 576 3000, book online at www.bic.co.uk or visit the BIC or Pavilion Ticket Office in person.  Minicom 01202 454804.  Corporate & Community Groups 10+ 01202 451865.

Show:        Only Men Aloud
Venue:        BIC, Solent Hall
Dates:        Sunday 19th December 2010
Time:        Doors 7pm
Tickets:        £29.50, £26.00, £20.00