A weekend to celebrate all things woodwind: the WhirlWinds Festival at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (Photo Kirsten McTernan)

The Autumn season of concerts at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff includes the WhirlWinds Festival (14-16 October 2022), a weekend curated by Robert Plane, the college's head of woodwind, to celebrate all things woodwind, and hear an incredible range of instruments played in classical and jazz styles. The festival is opened by jazz-legend Courtney Pine in concert with pianist Zoe Rahman, with a new album, Spirituality, bringing the bass clarinet to the fore.

The woodwind quintet, The Orsino Ensemble, present two concerts Youth and Tradewinds as well as a masterclass, and they will also be popping up in the foyer with a series of Cameos performing eclectic works embracing electronics. Clarinettist Robert Plane will be performing Boulez' Dialogue de l’ombre double combining live performance with pre-recorded tracks, and Plane also joins forces with former colleagues from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for Mozart's Gran Partita, side by side with college students.

Students and junior college performers will be giving free foyer events, including the UK premiere of Nicola LeFanu’s evocative In the Forests of the Night alongside a Led Zeppelin classic in the student saxophonists' concert Stairway to Heaven.

College students will be joining with performers from Wells Cathedral School for a lunchtime concert, and there will be a massed performance, Community Currents (16/10/2022) bringing together students from music services, as well as enthusiastic amateurs of all ages directed by Ceri Rees, director of the Royal Welsh College Big Band.

Full details from the college's website.