2 minute read
Music matters
NEW Voices join established music festival
A new community choir will help a top music festival celebrate its 50th anniversary and two other major milestones.
Organisers of the North Wales
International Music Festival
say that the launch concert at St Asaph Cathedral on Saturday 4th June will be a “big, brassy choral spectacular and it’s going to be loud!” specifically with the triple celebration in mind. “It’ll have
The concert is a curtain raiser for the main festival’s Golden Jubilee event that’s taking place from 17th September to 1st October. It’s all being made possible thanks to the support of the Arts Council of Wales and the headline sponsor, the Pendine Arts and Community Trust, that was set up by the Pendine Park care organisation to provide funding for arts and community activities. Other sponsors include Jones Bros and Salisburys Accountants.
According to artistic director Ann Atkinson, the launch concert is being timed to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee while this year also marks ten years since St Asaph was officially recognised as a city.
“St Asaph Cathedral is the perfect acoustic environment to showcase our highly talented line-up at the launch concert and the festival itself,” commented Ann, who is also a talented Zadok the Priest, music that is associated with the Coronation and Royal Weddings as well as music commissioned for the NEW Sinfonia by the festival during our residency plus some music by my brother, Jonathan,” he said. “We’re going to have a
brass ensemble for a big, brassy choral spectacular. It’s going to be loud!”
The main festival straddles three weekends in the autumn and one of the concerts will be dementia-friendly. Community events, performances in local schools and music workshops will be taking place during the fortnight.
“I can safely say the 50th anniversary festival will be a fitting
celebration and there’s going to be some really exciting concerts that involve young people and members of the community working with leading international soloists,”
added Ann. “We are incredibly grateful to the Arts Council of Wales, Tŷ Cerdd, Pendine Park care organisation, Salisburys
mezzo soprano. “The combination of the stone and the wood creates something really magical somehow. I have also performed in the concert hall at Sydney Opera House and, while it has a brilliant acoustic, I must say that St Asaph Cathedral is actually a much better venue acoustically.”
She added the cathedral would be the perfect place to showcase the new community choir, NEW Voices, which was launched by the NEW Sinfonia orchestra that was
established by brothers Robert and Jonathan Guy, who come from Wrexham.
The aim of NEW Sinfonia, which is also the festival’s resident orchestra, is to provide a platform for talented young musicians.
Robert Guy, the orchestra’s musical director, said the programme for the launch concert had been picked
Accountants, Jones Bros., and all our other sponsors because it would not be possible to stage the festival without their support.” n
