April at St David’s Hall

APRIL starts in style with the eyes of the UK on St David’s Hall and the Welsh capital as the BBC 6 Music Festival (Fri 1 - Sun 3 April) comes to Cardiff for the first time ever! We are delighted to be part of such a diverse line-up across the city, and at the National Concert Hall of Wales we are so excited to host Welsh huge, home-grown artists like Gruff Rhys, audiobooks and 2020 Welsh Music Prize winner, Deyah. Plus, there are several internationally renowned acts gracing our stage including Little Simz, Khruangbin and Cat Power before a festival weekend finale of Father John Misty with BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

BBC NOW (Sat 9 April) return with a powerful performance of St Matthew Passion as part of our Cardiff Classical season, which also features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Thurs 28 April) playing an evening of orchestral masterpieces by Walton, Beethoven and Vaughan Williams. There’s also an inspiring afternoon of arias as Rebecca Evans, Catrin Finch and BBC Singer of the World 2019, Andrei Kymach lead a stellar cast uniting for a Voices for Ukraine (Sun 10 April) charity concert. Opera fans are in for a treat too as Puccini: Tosca (Thurs 21 April) and Bizet: Carmen (Fri 22 April) offer a pair of breathtaking performances accompanied by the Ukrainian National Municipal Opera Kyiv. Talking of which, there’s also a double-header of Strictly shows with 2021 winner, Giovanni Pernice (Sun 24 April) and runner-up, Johannes Radebe (Mon 25 April); and if that wasn’t enough there’s Aljaž and Janette in Remembering the Oscars (Tues 19 April). As ever, there’s a healthy helping of hilarious comedy at the Hall starting with Nina Conti (Fri 8 April) and her trusty sidekick, Monkey in The Dating Show. Nish Kumar (Sun 17 April) reels off incisive political zingers with aplomb in Control, while tickets are selling fast for Ed Gamble (Fri 15 April) with his Electric tour date. Fans of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps will love the Two Pints Podcast Live (Sat 16 April) with Will Mellor and Ralf Little, while TOWIE addicts won’t want to miss Gemma Collins (Weds 13 April) in The GC’s Big Night Out. The Searchers’ frontman Mike Pender headlines a legendary line-up celebrating a golden era of music in The Sensational 60s Experience (Fri 29 April). Prog-rock icon, Nick Mason (Weds 27 March) returns for a sold out Saucerful of Secrets show, and Marti Pellow (Weds 20 April) sings solo and Wet Wet Wet classics on his Greatest Hits tour. Our nightmusic season resumes as Héloïse Werner & Anne Denholm (Tues 5 April) join forces, and next up in Roots Unearthed is American Western swing trio, Hot Club of Cowtown (Tues 26 April). Plus, there are two Lunchtime Concert with the UK’s leading under 30s orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru (Tues 5 April) and acclaimed organist, Elin Rees (Tues 26 April). Cricket legends Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell share an evening of insight, analysis and anecdotes in Test Match Special (Thurs 14 April) with special guest, Vic Marks. Lastly, if you’re after Easter holiday family fun then look no further than Zog and the Flying Doctors (Mon 11 - Tues 12 April), and Toy Story in Concert (Mon 18 April) as the classic film is accompanied by Randy Newman’s Oscar and Grammy award-winning score performed live by the Novello Orchestra.