The Trial of Dhegdheer: a Somali folktale is the inspiration for a new community opera bringing together communities of Butetown & Grangetown in Cardiff

Robert Fokkens in the first community rehearsal of The Trial of Dhegdheer

A new community opera The Trial of Dhegdheer, to be performed in Grangetown in Cardiff on Saturday 13 June takes a Somali folktale as its inspiration. The folktale, about a terrifying cannibalistic ogress with one exceptionally long ear, offers a way of presenting a wide range of perspectives, from the complications of recycling bags to carriages of injustice and features communities of Butetown and Grangetown alongside professionals, with community participants as jurors, witnesses and the Judge.

Contemporary opera company Music Theatre Wales (MTW) and Fio theatre company are coming together for the event which will be directed by Fio artistic director Mathilde Lopéz, returning to opera following Out of Her Mouth, her 2023 piece on Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre with Mahogony Opera and her 2022 production of Carmen at Longborough Festival Opera. The artistic team also includes includes  poet, community activist and actor Ali Goolyad, electronic pop and soul producer/singer songwriter Eadyth, musician and producer Ani Glass and South African contemporary music composer Robert Fokkens. Design is by Gerald Tyler and Dotty Squibb with Gerald Tyler also providing construction and technical facilitation.

Gweneth Ann Rand who also performed in MTW and Fio’s The Jollof House Party Opera, will join the community cast in the central role of Dhegdheer along with local baritone Thomas Coltman as the Prosecutor and the performance will culminate in the traditional Somali singing form of Buraanbur led by Ifraax.

Further information from the TicketSource website. 

 

Opera in development: composer Renell Shaw extends his practice into long-form music drama with Yasuke, an opera based on the African samurai, for Music Theatre Wales

As well as being having a year-long residency at Kings Place as part of Memory Unwrapped [see my article] composer, songwriter and producer Renell Shaw is extending his practice in other ways as part of a commission from Music Theatre Wales for his first opera. Renell Shaw's Yasuke is a work in development and its premiere is planned for 2027. 

The opera is based on the remarkable, yet true, story of Yasuke, the first known African to appear in Japanese historical records. His story begins in the 16th century, when he was taken from Africa and transported across continents before arriving in Japan. It was not uncommon for individual Africans to be brought to Japan as attendants of Jesuit missionaries. There, Yasuke entered the orbit of the powerful daimyō Oda Nobunaga, rising to become a trusted samurai warrior and one of the most singular figures in Japanese history.

Yasuke has reemerged into contemporary cultural history, appearing as a central figure in the game Assassin’s Creed Shadows, while works such as Afro Samurai have reimagined his legacy in very different ways. The British Museum's Samurai Exhibition (which closed recently) also featured Yasuke, and as part of developing the opera, Renell Shaw and Music Theatre Wales were invited to visit the British Museum for an event linked to the Samurai exhibition and Assassin’s Creed Shadows. While there, Renell Shaw spoke with exhibition co-curator Joe Nickolls about Yasuke and the world he lived in, from the Sengoku period in Japan to the wider movement of people, ideas and power across continents at the time. [see YouTube]

As regards Renell Shaw's music, rather than simply combining musical traditions, the work is focused on building a sound world that reflects the tension and duality within Yasuke’s experience, between cultures, identities and internal states. In December 2025, Renell Shaw worked with musicians from Sinfonia Cymru alongside African and Asian percussion, traditional Japanese flutes and electric guitar in Aberystwyth, in an orchestral workshop and public sharing exploring material for the opera.

Further information from the Music Theatre Wales website

Five days in the Welsh Marches: Presteigne Festival 2026 with Michael Zev Gordon in residence & celebrating Cecilia McDowall, Sally Beamish and Adrian Williams

The Presteigne Festival returns with five eventful days from 27 to 31 August 2026 in the Radnorshire town. This year, composer Michael Zev Gordon is in residence, but the festival is also celebrating milestone birthdays for Cecilia McDowall, Sally Beamish and Adrian Williams.

The first evening features Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale with George Vass conducting the Presteigne Festival Ensemble, with Jonathan Gunthorpe (narrator), Alexander Knox (the soldier), Francesca Isherwood (the devil) directed by Ruth Evans. The evening also features Cecilia McDowall's The Night Trumpeter and the premiere of a work by Lili Harris, with Rowan Pierce (soprano) and Imogen Whitehead (trumpet).

Horn player Ben Goldscheider is joined by Fenella Humphreys (violin) and Clare Hammond (piano) for an evening of trios by Michael Zev Gordon, Huw Watkins, and Lennox Berkeley plus music by Ravel and the young Dutch composer Mathilde Wantenaar. And Fenella Humphreys returns with pianist Jâms Coleman for music by Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Amy Beach, Prokofiev, Sally Beamish, Lili Boulanger and the premiere of an intriguing joint work by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Electra Perivolaris, Lynne Plowman, Claire Victoria Roberts and Mathilde Wantenaar.

Saturday evening sees Goldscheider, Pierce, the Festival Orchestra and George Vass joined by James Gilchrist (tenor), and the Choir of King's College, London for music by Adrian Williams, Grace Williams, Michael Zev Gordon, Cecilia McDowall and the premiere of a new work by Cameron Biles-Liddell.

James Gilchrist and Jâms Coleman join forces for a song recital focusing on Britten's Winter Words alongside music by Adrian Williams and Michael Zev Gordon. At Leominster Priory, Joseph Fort conducts the Choir of King's College, London in a programme that mixes Imogen and Gustav Holst with Elizabeth Poston and Judith Weir plus works by Daniel Soley, and Olivia Sparkhall. The festival concludes with music for violin and harp (Fenella Humphreys and Sally Price) by Arvo Pärt, Saint-Saens, Lennox Berkeley and more, then a festal finale featuring music by Elgar, Dorothy Howell, Mathilde Wantenaar, Gabriel Jackson and Bartok.

Composers in the festival also include Natalie Roe, Thea Musgrave, Henriëtte Bosmans, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Robert Peate, whilst daytime recitals also feature solo cello, solo guitar, piano and string quartet.

Away from the music there are talks and walks along with open studios and exhibitions.

Full details from the festival website.

Music at the Heart of the community: Sinfonia Cymru take us from Latin America and France to concerts in local venues across Wales

One of Sinfonia Cymru's Cymuned Sessions

Sinfonia Cymru is a collective of dynamic professional musicians all aged under 30 committed to taking music across the length and breadth of Wales. Whilst the do perform regularly at some of Wales’ most popular arts venues, including Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (Cardiff), The Riverfront (Newport) and Theatr Clwyd (Mold). They also want to perform in smaller communities and these events include the annual free ‘Cymuned’ tour, which visits museums, pubs, miners’ institutes and village halls across Wales.  

Later this month, the ensemble is joined by Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong [whom we heard earlier this year in one of Opera Rara's Salon Concerts, see my review] for Latin American Song, a journey through Latin America from the lush lyricism of María Grever to the rhythmic brilliance of Esther Forero, with each song written by a female composer, with events in Rhosygilwen, Mold and Cardiff. (24 April - 2 May) Then there are two opportunities to hear Tour de France, the ensemble's celebration of French music with piece by Lili Boulanger, Jean Françaix and Saint-Saëns in Newport and Barry. (6 & 7 May).

On a somewhat different scale, Sinfonia Cymru's Cymuned Sessions will be taking music to the heart of the community. [cymuned is Welsh for community]. They will be bringing live music to local areas, presenting free hour-long concerts. These family-friendly concerts take place in all sorts of venues across Wales: village halls, care homes, fruit and veg shops, cafés, rugby clubs and more. 

First off is a trio of flute, harp and cello travelling to Chepstow, Maesteg, Risca, Cemmaes and Neuadd Llan Ffestiniog Hall from 6 to 17 May, then later in May and June there will be two further ensembles touring to venues including Solva, Narbeth, Tre’ddol, Wrexham Pontyberem and Pentredŵr. All events are free but it is wise to book.

Full details from the Sinfonia Cymru website. 

 

 

From Jamaica to Llareggub: 2025 Presteigne Festival

George Vass & the Presteigne Festival Orchestra (Photo: Presteigne Festival)

This year's Presteigne Festival, which runs from 21 to 25 August 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975), among the most influential musical voices of the 20th century, with a retrospective celebrating his powerfully profound chamber works. Alongside these will be an array of works by contemporary composers. The closing concert of the festival features the festival's artistic director, George Vass conducting the festival orchestra in the Shostakovich/Barshai Chamber Symphony Op. 110a alongside the premieres of Huw Watkins' Concertino for Clarinet and string orchestra (with soloist Robert Plane) and Edward Gregson's Aubade (Gregson celebrates his 80th birthday later this month).

One festival highlight is the premiere of Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade's opera Scenes from 'Under Milk Wood' performed by Nova Music Opera, conducted by George Vass. Rather than setting Dylan Thomas' complete play, Cruttwell-Reade has chosen to set scenes in a way that brings individual characters to life. 

Jamaican-born Eleanor Alberga is the composer in residence and her music in the festival includes the premiere of her song cycle Glimpses, Glances performed by mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons and the Goethe Quartet, along with performances of her ;String Quartet No. 2. Her Violin Concerto No. 2 'Narcissus' will be performed by Benjamin Nabarro with the festival orchestra, conducted by George Vass in a concert that also includes Cecilia McDowall's Da Vinci Requiem and Cheryl Frances-Hoad's With what sudden joy. There is also a chance to hear Alberga in conversation with composer Thomas Hyde. [see my 2022 interview with her].

Marta Fontanals-Simmons will also give the premiere of Gavin Higgins' Four Faerie Folk-Songs [extracted from his cantata The Faerie Bride, see my review] with pianist Timothy End in a concert that includes music by John Casken, Thomas Hyde and Mahler, plus Shostakovich's Four Spanish Songs (no, I hadn't come across these before, either). 

The festival is also presenting new commissions by Kerensa Briggs, James Francis Brown, Martin Butler, Dani Howard, Tayla-Leigh Payne, James B Wilson and Derri Joseph Lewis (a member of the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society composer programme). Alongside these will be music by Thomas Adès, Jonathan Dove, Mared Emlyn, Roxanna Panufnik, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Mark Simpson and Judith Weir. 

Full details from the festival website. 

Make some noise to save the School of Music: Musicians gather in mass demonstration to protest proposed axing of Cardiff University’s School of Music on Saturday 22 February

Last month (28 January), Cardiff University confirmed plans to close Cardiff University School of Music, a facility that has produced outstanding musicians, boasting a wealth of alumni, including lWelsh composers Karl Jenkins, Grace Williams and Alun Hoddinott, as well as contemporary composer David John Roche and current Head of Composition at Royal Academy of Music, Philip Cashian. 

The School also hosts a number of well-known academics, including the composer Arlene Sierra, researcher and Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres awardee Caroline Rae, and concert pianist Kenneth Hamilton. The School of Music consistently ranks as one of the highest performing schools in the university with particularly high student satisfaction.

On Saturday 22 February, musicians from across the country, including past and current staff and students from Cardiff University’s School of Music as well as concerned musicians from across the sector, will gather in a musical protest against proposed course closures, job losses and cuts. Musicians will play in solidarity for the staff and students at the institution, who face the loss of a secure place for work, study and education. 

The demonstration will see concerned musicians, students and alumni gather from 12pm outside the University of Cardiff Chemistry Building before marching up Museum Avenue to Gorsedd Gardens where the performance will continue to the public. There will be performances by the specially formed, Cardiff University Salvation Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, conducted by a talented line-up of conductors, as well as Cardiff University Brass Band and other ensembles who will gather for the occasion with repertoire championing Welsh music making, featuring Cardiff University alumnus Karl Jenkins’ Adiemus and Palladio, as well as alumna Morfydd Owen’s Threnody, plus Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, the ‘Hallelujah chorus’ from Handel’s Messiah, and the Welsh national anthem   

Any musicians wishing to attend are requested to register their interest on the Google form provided https://forms.gle/YdY5TwA9ubGRj74e7 to allow sheet music and information about the performances to be circulated.

We also encourage readers to sign the original change.org petition: https://www.change.org/p/save-cardiff-university-school-of-music

And recent petition to the Senedd: https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246499

Showcasing the talents of young Welsh musicians: Cowbridge Festival's Young Artists Programme features Bute Wind Quintet & Quartet Draig

Since 2010, the Cowbridge Festival has been bringing classical music, jazz and folk to the community in the Vale of Glamorgan. The festival, which is now under the direction of the husband and wife team of violist Rosalind Ventris and conductor Joseph Fort, runs this year from 13 to 22 September, opening with the Castalian Quartet and Rosalind Ventris in Schubert, Coleridge Taylor, Beethoven and Dvorak.

Ahead of this, the festival has announced its 2024 Young Artists Programme, showcasing the talents of young Welsh musicians in two emerging ensembles, the Bute Wind Quintet and Quartet Draig. 

Bute Wind Quintet

Based in Cardiff, the award-winning Bute Wind Quintet (Gabriella Alberti, Sam Willsmore, Hannah Harding, Nathan Barker, Meg Davies) promotes contemporary and underperformed chamber music, delivering an uncompromising artistic image to a range of audiences. In addition to their festival performance, the quintet will receive masterclasses from renowned musicians and mentorship in areas such as stage presence and the business aspects of a musical career.  

Quartet Draig (Elliot Kempton, Jessica Meakin, Ben Norris, Tabitha Selley) formed in 2020 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, winning several prizes, and performing at the Wigmore Hall as well as being Junior Quartet in Residence at the 2021 ESTA Conference. From 2021-2023, they developed creative programming at Saxon Barn with concerts on various themes to engage broader audiences. 

Quartet Draig

Both ensembles will be performing at the festival on 17 September, with an eclectic programme of music by Ross Edwards, Mervyn Burtch, Valerie Coleman, Imogen Holst, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, Edward Kempton, Ernest Bloch, and Percy Grainger. Further details from the festival website.

 

Dynamic duo: director Adele Thomas and creative producer Sarah Crabtree to take over as WNO's General Director and CEO

Adele Thomas

Welsh National Opera has announced that opera and theatre director Adele Thomas and creative producer Sarah Crabtree will jointly take up the role of WNO's General Director and CEO in January 2025, following on from Aidan Lang who stepped down at the end of 2023.

Welsh-born Adele Thomas is directing WNO's new production of Verdi's Rigoletto (for which plans were already in place) which premieres at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff this September before touring to Llandudno, Plymouth, Oxford and Southampton. 

Thomas' opera directing has included Handel's Semele at Glyndebourne, Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Royal Opera House, a vividly theatrical production Vivaldi's Bajazet for Irish National Opera in 2022 [see my review] and a brilliant re-invention of Handel's Berenice for London Handel Festival and the Royal Opera in 2019 [see my review].

Sarah Crabtree is Creative Producer and head of Linbury Theatre (opera) at The Royal Opera House, where highlights include overseeing the world premieres of Mark Anthony Turnage’s Coraline [see our review] at the Barbican, Philip Venable’s 4.48 Psychosis [see my review], Laura Bowler's The Blue Woman and Oliver Leith’s Last Days. 

Sarah Crabtree (© 2023 ROH. Photographed by Charlie Clift)

Many will remember Sarah Crabtree from her time at Opera Holland Park where she worked from 2006 to 2015, becoming Associate Producer to James Clutton there in 2012; she commissioned Opera Holland Park’s first ever new work, Will Todd’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 2012.

Full details from the WNO website.

13 premieres, a focus on Britten, William Mathias at 90: Presteigne Festival 2024

The Shire Hall, Presteigne; photographed by Percy Benzie Abery c. 1910s

This year's Presteigne Festival, the 42nd, runs from 22 to 26 August 2024, bringing music and art to the Welsh Marches. For 2024, the festival has a focus on the music of Benjamin Britten, contrasted with works from his contemporaries, his influences and those who, in turn, were influenced by him. But the festival's continuing espousal of contemporary music remains. Richard Blackford is the composer in residence and the festival features 13 premieres from Blackford,  Michael Berkeley, Nathan James Dearden, Michael Zev Gordon, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Sarah Frances Jenkins, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Joseph Phibbs, Julian Philips, Lynne Plowman, Lara Poe, James B Wilson and James Albany Hoyle (2024 Royal Philharmonic Society composer). There is also a focus on William Mathias who would have been 90 this year

The festival opens with a thoughtful recital from guitarist Paul Galbraith with works by father and son, Lennox and Michael Berkeley alongside Britten, Sally Beamish and John Dowland. Then in the evening there is Walton's Facade alongside a new work by Julian Philips for actor and chamber ensemble performed by actor Anton Lesser, reciters Sarah Gabriel and Alexander Knox, Presteigne Festival Ensemble, conductor George Vass.

The festival continues with Anne Denholm (harp) in Britten, William Matthias and a new work by James Albany Hoyle, pianist Joseph Tong in The Piano in Nature,  cello sonatas by Britten, Beethoven and Debussy from Alice Neary (cello) and Huw Watkins (piano), music for flute, cello and piano from Daniel Shao (flute), Alice Neary (cello), Annie Yim (piano) including Hilary Tann's In the Theatre of the Air.

The Piatti Quartet have an awayday in Bleddfa performing string quartets by Britten and Moeran along with the premiere of Joseph Phibbs' String Quartet No. 4. There is more Phibbs, plus Richard Blackford's The Mirror of Perfection, Britten's Young Apollo and William Mathias' Prelude, Aria and Finale from Rebecca Bottone (soprano), Nicholas Mogg (baritone), Huw Watkins (piano), choir of Royal Holloway College, Presteigne Festival Orchestra, George Vass (conductor).

The choir of Royal Holloway College returns for Festival Eucharist including William Mathias' Missa Aedis Christi and an afternoon concert that includes Richard Blackford's Three Rossetti Songs, two pieces by Nathan James Dearden and Mathias' A May Magnificat.

Rebecca Bottone joins forces with Huw Watkins for a recital featuring music by Britten, Bridge, Walton plus Huw Watkins and Cecilia McDowall, then Watkins joins the Piatti Quartet for Britten, Mendelssohn and premieres by Richard Blackford and Michael Zev Gordon. Dr Sue Stuart-Smith's book The Well Gardened Mind is the inspiration for Annie Yim's piano recital featuring the premiere of Cheryl Frances-Hoad's Dance Suite. 

The festival ends with another concert from Vass and the festival orchestra featuring premieres of works by Sarah Frances Jenkins and Tayla-Leigh Payne alongside Blackford, Adrian Sutton, Lynne Plowman and very early Britten.

Other events include poetry, literature and music-based talks, a Welsh film season, nature walks and the wonderful Presteigne ‘Open Studios’ weekend.

Full details from the Presteigne Festival website.

16-year-old Gerard Coutain wins Main Composer Prize at Eisteddfod yr Urdd, Europe's largest youth festival

Gerard Coutain, winner of the Main Composer Prize at Eisteddfod yr Urdd, 2024

Eisteddfod yr Urdd is Europe's largest youth festival, produced by Urdd Gobaith Cymru, a National Voluntary Youth Organisation with over 55,000 members between the ages of 8 – 25 yrs old, providing opportunities through the medium of Welsh.

This year's Eisteddfod yr Urdd took place at Maldwyn and on the final day (1 June 2024), 16-year-old Gerard Coutain was announced as the winner of Main Composer Prize. Gerard Coutain wins the title for composing a rhythmic and energetic piece entitled Triawd o Llannerch y goedwig (A trio from Llannerch y goedwig) for flute, viola and harp. A total of 14 entries were received, with adjudicators Gareth Glyn and Guto Pryderi Puw having "great satisfaction browsing through the variety of entertaining pieces." Second in the competition was Rafik Harrington from Cardiff with David John Ingham from Swansea in third place.

Originally from Poland, Gerard Coutain has lived in Wales for eight years and is learning Welsh. He commented, "After learning to play the piano when I was 6 years old, I started composing at 14, receiving no formal compositional training since beginning. I’ve drawn inspiration and influence from a variety of composers, including Bach, Stravinsky, Debussy, Lili Boulanger, and more recently Walter Leigh. Prior to entering the Urdd Eisteddfod this year, I was commissioned to write a piece for solo harp, Barbarica, for Young Music Makers of Dyfed in 2023, and last November I was accepted at the Purcell School for Young Musicians to study composition, piano and violin, starting in September. The piece I’ve written is scored for a trio of flute, viola and harp, after the Debussy sonata for the same ensemble. It explores the whimsical elements of nature and folklore, and the different sonorities you’d expect from a hidden away forest clearing."

Full details from their website.

New Directions: two new Digital Opera Shorts from Music Theatre Wales

Music Theatre Wales' New Directions programme is devoted to re-imagining opera and in an age when the funds for commissioning and presenting new opera live are getting harder to come by, the company has released a pair of Digital Opera Shorts. The idea is that these short, digital pieces bring together all the elements that make opera so powerful – a continuous musical arc that conveys the inner story; an impactful human message; image; performance; and the operatic voice.

This year, four artists were invited to collaborate in opera for the first time. None of them had previously met, but all were excited by the potential of this multidisciplinary artform, and by the prospect of creating something in which music, story and image work as a single entity. 

In March 2024, two Digital Opera Shorts were released.

GRIEF explores the physical and emotional impact of loss and features music by British Ghanaian-Nigerian composer, musician and actor Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and text by writer/performer Connor Allen, known for his tenure as the Children’s Laureate of Wales and his role as an associate artist at The Riverfront in Newport. The performance features baritone Byron Jackson, dance and choreography from Arnold Matsena with additional vocals from Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, plus musicians from Sinfonia Cymru including Simmy Singh (who wrote the music for interbeing).

interbeing explores humanity's bond with nature and features music by Simmy Singh, a co-founder of the Manchester Collective and Sinfonia Cymru's creative associate, and libretto and visuals by multi-disciplinary artist ASHA, with soprano Anna Dennis.

Coming up Music Theatre Wales will be presenting Bwystfilod Aflan, a new monodrama by Conor Mitchell and Jac Ifan Moore looking at the reaction to Prosser Rhys’s crown-winning poem ATGOF (Memory) at the 1924 Eisteddfod. The poem is extensively about sexual experience and includes a short section on gay experience which caused controversy at the time. The opera is a co-commission with the Eisteddfod and Aberystwyth Music Centre and produced in association with Sinfonia Cymru to be performed alongside a new work for movement and voice by Eddie Ladd, giving her own take on the original poem. 

Full details from Music Theatre Wales' website.

Gŵyl Machynlleth Festival

The mid-Wales market town of Machynlleth plays host to artists from classical, Welsh and world music each August for the Machynlleth Festival / Gŵyl Machynlleth which, this year, runs from 18 to 25 August 2024 under artistic directors Julius Drake and Dennis Jones, with concerts taking place in The Tabernacle, a former chapel that is now an intimate and acoustically wonderful concert venue.

Welsh artists performing at this year's festival include Clwyd-born pianist Llyr Williams in an all-Chopin recital, Welsh male voice choir Cantorion Gogledd Cymru and the closing concert will feature soprano Natalya Romaniw and harpist Alis Huws. The Three Soloists concert features tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas, soprano Meinir Wyn Roberts and baritone Steffan Lloyd Owen with pianist Eirian Owen.

Other highlights include Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Tom Poster and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Poulenc’s opera La Voix Humaine with soprano Mercedes Gancedo and Festival Co-Artistic Director, Julius Drake, Marmen Quartet and John Myerscough in Haydn, Ravel and Schubert’s quintet, genre-defying soprano Alice Zawadski and her trio in a candle-lit late-night event, a concert and workshop with Tango ensemble Tango Calor, and a host of free events including a market-day open-air concert.

The festival is administered by MOMA Machynlleth, a charity that runs The Tabernacle as well as promoting Welsh language and culture and building a permanent collection of works of art and there are now seven exhibition spaces including a gallery devoted to showing the Tabernacle Collection, and a dedicated sculpture space.

Full details from the festival website.

Encouraging experimentation and innovation: Aberystwyth University's new hub for emerging composers, CERDDWN

CERDDWN composers Top row (left to right): David John Roche, Jefferson Lobo (photo copyright Matthew Thistlewood), Mared Emlyn, Nathan James Dearden (photo copyright Catrin Arwel) Bottom row (left to right): Gerard Cousins, Heledd Evans, Michelle Maddock, Kian Ravaei

A new project, CERDDWN, led by Aberystwyth University is offering a new take on supporting young composers. The project aims to create a hub for musical experimentation and innovation in mid-Wales by connecting up-and-coming composers with orchestral musicians, allowing them to test out experimental concepts, and hone their music-making skills.

Following an open call for applications, four emerging composers have now been selected and presented with a bursary. Over the coming months Gerard Cousins, Heledd Evans, Michelle Maddock, and Kian Ravaei will be given the chance to work closely and experiment with with Aberystwyth community orchestra Philomusica, and professional chamber orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru.

The four emerging composers will receive mentorship from an established composer, who themselves have been commissioned for new works. These four are Jefferson Lobo, Mared Emlyn, Nathan James Dearden and David John Roche. 

Aberystwyth University’s Director of Music, Iwan Teifion Davies, explains that the project "will cultivate some of the untapped talent that exists in Wales, and give an opportunity to those who may not normally have the chance to work with musicians" and will provide "hands-on opportunities for composers to work with orchestras throughout every stage of the compositional process" and "give these emerging composers the space to experiment and evolve their work, test radically new and risky ideas - to fail, retry and improve."

Further details from Aberystwyth University's website.

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama celebrates its 75th anniversary with plans to restore and revitalise Cardiff's historic Old Library

Cardiff Free Library - photo by Bettia's puppet - Own work, Public Domain

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama will be celebrating its 75th birthday throughout this year. A year long programme of events will highlight its transformational journey since it started at Cardiff Castle in 1949 and draw attention to the work it does to innovate, champion collaboration, work with communities and empower excellence in all its many forms.

This week there was an added sense of celebration as the college had a public engagement day (on 7 February 2024) to present the reimagining of the latest addition to the college's campus, Cardiff’s historic Old Library, originally the Cardiff Free Arts School and Library.  

The college has successfully bid for a 99-year lease on the building which opened in 1882 to house Cardiff Free Library and has had a variety off uses since then. The plans, produced in partnership with architects Flanagan Lawrence, will fully restore the building and provide a second centre for the college including providing public access to the building.

Full details of the college's 75th anniversary celebrations from its website. 

Perthyn - a new digital opera

Perthyn is the second Future Directions Digital Opera from Music Theatre Wales created during 2023, in partnership with Hijinx Theatre. Future Directions is a young people's programme that explores how opera can become a powerfully expressive form for people of all backgrounds and identities. Working in collaboration with professional artists, the young, neurodiverse group of people devise and make a new opera, exploring their ideas and learning from and inspiring each other and the supporting artists.

For this project, Music Theatre Wales brought together theatre maker and dramaturg Jain Boon, music maker Mari Mathias, singer Llio Evans and film maker Gavin Porter to work together with the young participants to create a new and original work in three movements. 

Full details from Music. Theatre. Wales. Watch Perthyn on YouTube.

Michael Stimpson's Dylan at the poet's birthplace in honour of 70th anniversary of his death

Dylan Thomas in New York in 1952

Dylan Thomas died on the 9 November 1953 and in honour of the 70th anniversary of his death, the Dylan Thomas Birthplace Trust is presenting an immersive performance of Stimpson's captivating song cycle, Dylan on Saturday 4 November 2023 at Dylan Thomas' historic Swansea birthplace. The event will blend spoken excerpts and musical settings, featuring the baritone Gareth Brynmor John and harpist Alis Huws. The event will also be live-streamed on World of Sound.

Stimpson's song-cycle Dylan was premiered in 2003 in the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea by Jeremy Huw Williams and Sioned Williams. The work combines spoken excerpts and musical settings of Thomas's poems, letters, stories and, of course, Under Milk Wood, into a ruminative and evocative monodrama.

There are further performances of Dylan  in New York, where the poet's life came to an end,  at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on 11 November, home of The Welsh Congregation of New York, and at St John's in the Village on 12 November.

Full details from Michael Stimpson's website.

Works by 36 living composers in this year's Vale of Glamorgan Festival

This year's Vale of Glamorgan Festival runs from 22 to 28 September 2023 and features works by at least 36 living composers. Featured artists are Canadian violinist Mark Fewer and Cello Octet Amsterdam whilst featured composers are David John Roche and Huw Watkins.

At the festival's opening concert, Mark Fewer will be performing Bramwell Tovey’s immense Nine Daies Wonder with Tredegar Town Band. A musical depiction of Will Kempe's 100 mile Morris Dancing journey from London to Norwich in 1600, the piece was premiered by Mark Fewer in Toronto in 2007, and it is a remarkable combination of brass band intensity, virtuosic violin playing, and theatrics like nothing else; the soloist recites lines from Shakespeare during the work and he and the band are also called upon to sing. This concert also includes music for band by Gavin Higgins as well as a new piece by David John Roche commissioned by the festival.

Fewer will also be giving a duo recital with Huw Watkins when the programme includes music by Huw Watkins alongside works by Lynne Plowman, Sarah Lianne Lewis and Steph Power. The extraordinary Cello Octet Amsterdam will be performing music from Kate Moore and Philip Glass, to Theo Loevendie and Sofia Gubaidulina, to Arvo Pärt and Kinan Azmeh, and to a new work by the festival's artistic director, John Metcalf. 

Also featured in the festival are Sinfonia Cymru who will be performing music by Caroline Shaw, Augusta Read Thomas, Lera Auerbach, and Gabriela Lena Frank in Penarth Pier Pavilion, and Augusta Read Thomas will be giving a pre-concert talk.

The six young composers from the festival's Peter Reynolds Composer Studio will be working with Huw Watkins and Mark Fewer, and Cello Octet Amsterdam in two public masterclasses.

Full details from the festival's website.

Gŵyl Machynlleth Festival

Machynlleth is an historic market town in Wales that was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such can claim to be the "ancient capital of Wales".  Modern-day Machynlleth is also the home of the Machynlleth Festival which returns for its 36th edition, under co-artistic directors Julius Drake and Dennis Jones, from 20 to 27 August 2023. The festival’s home is The Tabernacle, a former Wesleyan Chapel now converted for use as an intimate concert hall, and the festival expands into the spaces of the attached gallery, MOMA Machynlleth, as well as the town itself.

Alongside art, talks and workshops the festival features a lively classical music programme. The centrepiece this year is Schubert Day which sees pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja returning to the festival after her triumphant performance last year. She will be playing Schubert’s Sonata in B flat for piano, D960, and with Julius Drake will play for works for four hands, baritone Konstantin Krimmel will be singing Schubert songs and Sir Thomas Allen will coach young singers in Schubert songs in an open masterclass followed by a special concert.

Other visitors this year include Australian composer and viola player, Brett Dean and his daughter, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts Dean, in Brett Dean's new work I Starred Last Night I Shone for viola and mezzo soprano along with music by Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, Michael Berkeley, Rhian Samuel, Edmund Rubbra and Brahms with pianist Jams Coleman.

Lotte Betts Dean will also join the Consone Quartet at the festival's final concert which features music by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Respighi and Mozart. Violinist Anthony Marwood, clarinettist Matthew Hunt and pianist Alasdair Beatson perform Bartók’s Contrasts, Rachel Podger and members of Brecon Baroque perform works by Handel, LeClair and Purcell and the Salieca Trio play Smetana’s Piano Trio in G minor.

Traditional Welsh music plays a strong role at the festival, and this year there is also an exploration of traditional Roma music.

Full details from the festival's website.

Somewhere for the weekend: rare Medieval walls, the development of the Eisteddfod and its own festival, Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan

South Gate, Cowbridge (Photo: Mick Lobb, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Cowbridge is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, some 12 miles West of Cardiff, and it has the distinction of being very few medieval walled towns in Wales, and substantial portions of the walls, together with the south gate, are still standing. The 18th century antiquary, Iolo Morganwg, who developed the rituals of the present day Eisteddfod, had a bookshop in the town.

Since 2010 the Cowbridge Music Festival has provided the town with a mix of classical music, jazz and folk as well as community events, and since 2021 the festival has been directed by husband and wife duo, violist Rosalind Ventris and conductor Joseph Fort. There is plenty of chance to hear the artistic directors in action as Rosalind Ventris is joined by pianist Llyr Williams for Brahms' Viola Sonatas, whilst Trio Anima (Flute – Matthew Featherstone, Viola – Rosalind Ventris, Harp – Anneke Hodnett) will be playing music from their recent debut disc, Between Earth and Sea, and Joseph Fort conducting the Choir of St Paul’s Knightsbridge in Bach's motets.

Visitors to the festival include baritone Roderick Williams with pianist Iain Burnside, the young Welsh pianist Tomos Boyles, and Trio Gaspard, as well as performers from other traditions with the Ukrainian bandura duo, Dvi Doli, (the bandura is a folk instrument combining elements of the zither and the lute), flamenco guitarist Daniel Martinez, the ensemble Khamira which comprises three musicians from Wales and three from India in fusion of Hindustani classical music, jazz, Welsh folk, and rock, and a Welsh jazz big band, The Power of Gower. 

In addition, the festival is presenting performances in care homes, as well as a wide range of outreach workshops for local school children, plus a family performance from Children's Musical Adventures.

The Cowbridge Music Festival runs from 15 to 24 September 2023, full details from the festival website.

Opera Rara and The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama collaborate on fringe events for BBC Cardiff Singer of the World

The ongoing partnership Opera Rara and The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) continues this month with an exhibition that delves into The Foyle Opera Rara Collection, one of the finest collections of manuscripts, letters and memorabilia relating to 19th-century Italian bel canto opera (10-18 June), plus two lunchtime concerts by mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek (13 June), tenor Julian Henao Gonzalez (14 June) and pianist James Southall, Interim Music Director of the David Seligman Opera School at RWCMD, include restorations of Donizetti songs from the collection. The concerts and exhibition are part of RWCMD’s programme of fringe events complementing the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, which takes place from 10 to 18 June 2023.

The Foyle Opera Rara Collection, now held at RWCMD, was created by Patric Schmid and Don White who founded Opera Rara and the collection reflects their interests in the Italian bel canto tradition. The close partnership between Opera Rara and RWCMD also continues through conductor Carlo Rizzi, who as well as being Artistic Director of Opera Rara, is RWCMD International Chair in Conducting.

Full details from the RWCMD website.