Vale of Glamorgan Festival 2016 Brochure

10 – 20 May 2016 valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk

today’s new music tomorrow’s classics PENARTH – ALL SAINTS CHURCH, ST AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH, PENARTH PIER PAVILION LLANTWIT MAJOR – ST ILLTUD’S CHURCH EWENNY – PRIORY CHURCH CARDIFF – BBC HODDINOTT HALL, BAYART GALLERY, DANCE HOUSE

Welcome... … to 2016 Vale of Glamorgan Festival Ensemble MidtVest

As the only Uk festival dedicated to presenting the music of living composers, we are a unique event in the country’s musical calendar.

Parmela Attariwala

This year we will be paying particular tribute to three composers celebrating ‘significant’ birthdays in 2016: John Metcalf, Pēteris Vasks (both 70 this year) and Steve Reich who turns 80 in October.

This year’s festival programme includes the world premieres of four new works in addition to eight UK premieres. We look forward to welcoming an international line up of artists including:

Quatuor Tana

FESTIVAL DIARy

One of the world’s finest choral ensembles, the Latvian Radio Choir Virtuoso viola player Maxim Rysanov who will give the world premiere of a new concerto for the instrument by Pēteris Vasks From Belgium, the young dynamic string quartet Quatuor Tana who have jettisoned traditional paper scores and perform exclusively from iPads

DATE

TIME

Tuesday 10 May

6.30pm

VENUE Meet the Composer: Peter Reynolds & Pēteris Vasks

St Augustine’s Church Hall, Penarth

7.30pm

Latvian Radio Choir

St Augustine’s Church, Penarth

6.30pm

Music and Meditation Talk by Matthew Jones

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Madeleine Mitchell, “one of Britain’s liveliest musical forces” (The Times) performing with BBC National Orchestra of Wales A welcome return visit from the versatile and colourful Danish chamber group Ensemble MidtVest Brilliant young accordion player Andreas Borregaard

Wednesday 11 May

St Illtud’s Church, Llantwit Major

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Canadian duo, Parmela Attariwala (violin) and Shawn Mativetsky (tabla) who combine contemporary classical composition with traditional Indian rhythms Exploring the relationship between music and silence, Alice Neary (cello) and Matthew Jones (viola)

7.30pm

Alice Neary & Matthew Jones

Thursday 12 May

2pm

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff Bay

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Friday 13 May

1pm

Andreas Borregaard & Quatuor Tana

BayArt Gallery, Cardiff Bay

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Saturday 14 May

7.30pm

Quatuor Tana & Andreas Borregaard

Ewenny Priory, nr Bridgend

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FESTIVAL MANAGEMENT

Wednesday 18 May

1pm

Robert Court & Jose Zalba-Smith

St Augustine’s Church, Penarth

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Artistic Director John Metcalf General Manager Jennifer Hill

6.30pm

Meet the Composer: Steph Power and John Metcalf

All Saints Church, Penarth

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Festival Office 204 Cyncoed Road, Cardiff CF23 6BQ

7.30pm Thursday 19 May

Friday 20 May

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valeofglamorganfestival@virginmedia.com

Ensemble MidtVest Maxim Rysanov

1pm

Ian Skelly & Jose Zalba-Smith

6.30pm

Meet the Artists: Steph Power, Parmela Attariwala & Shawn Mativetsky

7.30pm

Parmela Attariwala & Shawn Mativetsky

6.15pm

Pre Performance Talk and Performance: Peter Reynolds Pēteris Vasks & Robert Court

7.30pm

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Press Jo Carpenter Marketing Cathy Morris

www.valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk

Penarth Pier Pavilion

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Dance House, Wales Millennium Centre

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Registered in Wales No 1862934  Charity No 519044  VAT No GB 331 0709 00

THE FESTIVAL GRATEFULLy ACkNOWLEDGES SUPPORT FROM:

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FEATURED COMPOSERS

Latvian Radio Choir

Tuesday 10 May, 7.30pm

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ST AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH, PENARTH CF64 1BA

Latvian Radio Choir Sigvards klava conductor _

Pēteris Vask

Mate saule

ēriks Ešenvalds

Légende de la femme emmurée _

_

6’

_

12’

Pēteris Vasks

Musu mašu vardi

12’

Anders Hillborg

Muo:aa:yiy:oum

14’

JOHN METCALF

STEVE REICH

PēTERIS VASkS

Pēteris Vasks

The Fruit of Silence

5’

Arvo Pärt

Nunc Dimittis

7’

Over the last 40 years, John Metcalf has been at the forefront of Welsh musical life with no fewer than seven operas under his belt and a wide variety of orchestral and chamber works.

Over the last half century, Reich’s music has influenced generations of pop, jazz and classical musicians.

Growing up under Soviet oppression, the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks looked to music to express his personal voice.

Pēteris Vasks

Z les zin, a

9’

His music is characterised by melodic warmth and a distinctive lyrical quality drawing the listener into a sound world that combines a meticulous balance between structure and emotion.

Our birthday celebrations for John centre around the concert held on Wednesday 18 May. John will be in conversation with Steph Power prior to the performance of a number of his chamber works

by Ensemble MidtVest. And to close this year’s festival Alice Neary and BBC National Orchestra of Wales will perform his Cello Symphony on Friday 20 May.

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His instantly recognisable sound combines propulsive rhythms with seductive instrumental colour. “What my generation did wasn’t a revolution” he says, “it was a restoration of harmony and rhythm in a whole new way … essentials that people wanted, that people craved.” The result – an output that continues to evolve and capture the world’s imagination.

Catch performances of Reich’s works by Alice Neary (11 May), Quatuor Tana (14 May), and Jose Zalba-Smith (18 May)

His work is steeped in his country’s folk tradition spiritual, evocative and richly expressive. It is music of unashamed communicative beauty – rooted in the lightness and darkness of a nation he loves.

We look forward to welcoming Pēteris to this year’s festival.

He will be in conversation with Peter Reynolds before the opening concert (10 May) by the Latvian Radio Choir featuring a range of his choral music and joins us again on Friday 20 May when Maxim Rysanov and BBC National Orchestra of Wales give the world premiere of a major new work, his Viola Concerto.

Photo: Janis Deinats

They are one of the world’s finest chamber choirs and this concert will leave you in no doubt as to why. Power and passion permeate each and every performance.

Be it a meditation on Mother Theresa’s words (Vask’s The Fruit of Silence) or Hillborg’s haunting evocation of the Aurora borealis (Muo:aa:yiy:oum), let the Latvian Radio Choir’s sumptuous harmonies wash over you and cast their magic spell.

Tickets: £15

6.30pm St Augustine’s Church Hall Meet the Composer Pēteris Vasks in conversation with Peter Reynolds

“Choral music is the means through which the soul of our nation speaks” Pēteris Vasks

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Alice Neary (cello)

Matthew Jones

Wednesday 11 May, 7.30pm

(viola)

ST ILLTUD’S CHURCH, LLANTWIT MAJOR CF61 1SA

Music and Silence

Alice Neary cello Matthew Jones viola John Tavener

Per Nørgård

Alice Neary

Pēteris Vasks

Steve Reich

Thursday 12 May, 2pm BBC HODDINOTT HALL, WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE CF10 5AL

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BBC National Orchestra of Wales Edwin Outwater conductor Madeleine Mitchell violin

Threnos

3’

Silence

5’

Playing & Epilogue from Sonata: The Secret Melody 6’

Hilary Tann

Matthew Jones

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BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Silence

5’

Das Buch

10’

Silence

5’

The Cresset Stone

10’

Silence

5’

Cello Counterpoint

10’

The ancient stones of St Illtud’s Church have provided a haven for reflection and meditation over the centuries. Perhaps more than ever, we can all benefit from some peace and quietude away from the hectic world we live in. This event provides such an opportunity. Out of periods of silence, the alternate voices of solo cello and viola emerge, creating a unique atmosphere designed to provide both time and space for personal contemplation.

Edwin Outwater

Mark David Boden

Ghyll*

10’

Guto Puw

Violin Concerto – Soft Stillness

25’

Sala**

22’

Pēteris Vasks *World Premiere

**Uk Premiere

Receiving its UK premiere, Vasks’s Sala has been likened to Barber’s much loved Adagio for Strings.

There is certainly a synergy: a gentle whisper of shimmering sounds that builds up to a sweeping crescendo of tense emotion, finally resolved on a note of heavenly peace. We hear it performed alongside a new orchestral work from Mark David Boden and Guto Puw’s Violin Concerto Soft Stillness in which each movement offers a direct response to lines from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

Tickets: £12

Tickets: £15

6.30pm St Illtud’s Church Introduction to Meditation Matthew Jones offers a brief overview of meditation techniques and their effects on listening to music Madeleine Mitchell

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Andreas Borregaard (accordion)

Quatuor Tana

Friday 13 May, 1pm

BAYART GALLERY, CARDIFF BAY CF10 5AF

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Looking on Darkness

Andreas Borregaard (accordion)

Andreas Borregaard accordion Quatuor Tana Bent Sørensen

Photo: Nicolas Draps

Quatuor Tana Saturday 14 May, 7.30pm EWENNY PRIORY, NR BRIDGEND CF35 5BW

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Quatuor Tana Andreas Borregaard accordion

11’

Steve Reich

Piano Phase

15’

Mark David Boden String Quartet*

15’

Steve Reich

Different Trains

27’

Magnus Lindberg

Jeux d’anches

9’

kalevi Aho

Birds of Light from Sonata No 2 ‘Black Birds’ 3’

David Hudry

Anamorphosis*

15’

kalevi Aho

Birds of the Night from Sonata No 2 ‘Black Birds’ 4’

Pēteris Vasks

Quartet No 3

*World Premiere Quatuor Tana and the Danish accordion player Andreas Borregaard represent an exciting new generation of classical musicians – players who have no boundaries in their approach to styles and genres.

Their enthusiasm and commitment to contemporary repertoire is reflected in this lunchtime concert that features two world premieres.

Steve Reich

27’

Against the candlelit setting of Ewenny Priory, a concert suffused with raw emotion. In Reich’s Different Trains, memories of childhood train trips across America collide with the experiences of Jews undertaking very different rail journeys across Europe at the same time. And in his third String Quartet, Vasks also lays bare the suffering of a people overpowered - but never beaten

Tickets: £15

Tickets: £8

If you're not moved by the music, then everything else falls away. Steve Reich Andreas Borregarrd Photo: Caroline Bittencourt

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Robert Court (organ) Jose ZalbaSmith (flute)

Wednesday 18 May, 1pm ST AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH, PENARTH CF64 1BA

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Ensemble MidtVest Wednesday 18 May, 7.30pm

ALL SAINTS CHURCH, PENARTH CF64 3HQ

Robert Court organ Jose Zalba-Smith flute

Ensemble MidtVest

Pēteris Vasks

Viatore

16’

Pēteris Vasks

Te Deum

13’

Steve Reich

Vermont Counterpoint 9’

Pēteris Vasks

Cantus ad Pacem

18’

John Metcalf

Not the Stillness

9’

krzysztof Penderecki

Prelude

2’

Rest in Reason, Move in Passion

18’

ynys Las (Blue Island) Nocturne

5’

Piano Quartet

36’

John Metcalf

Robert Court performs three works for organ by Vasks that encompass an impressive variety of sounds from delicate bird song to powerful outbursts of deep, dark chords.

John Metcalf Pēteris Vasks

Also featured in this lunchtime concert, some quintessential Reich. Jose Zalba-Smith performs Vermont Counterpoint playing live on flute, alto flute and piccolo alongside ten pre-recorded tracks which together create an intricate pattern of rhythm and texture.

Jose Zalba Smith

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Tickets: £8

6.30pm All Saints Church Meet the Composer John Metcalf in conversation with Steph Power

Ensemble MidtVest explore the chamber music of our Artistic Director, John Metcalf.

Characterised by a rich vein of contemplation and tranquillity they provide, as one commentator noted, “a gift that complements a day that goes well or respite on a day that requires it”. The concert ends with Vasks’s powerful Piano Quartet, a searing and emotional love song to his native Latvia.

Tickets: £15 The Knud Højgaard Foundation supports the international touring activities of Ensemble MidtVest from 2014 to 2016

Robert Court

valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk

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Photo: Caroline Bittencourt

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Ian Skelly Jose ZalbaSmith (flute)

Thursday 19 May, 1pm

CINEMA, PENARTH PIER PAVILION CF64 3AT

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Ian Skelly Jose Zalba-Smith flute

Photo: John Batten

Ian Skelly will be familiar to many Radio 3 listeners as a presenter of the weekday programme Radio 3 Breakfast and regular concert broadcasts. He is also an internationally published writer and filmmaker.

He shares with composer Pēteris Vasks a particular interest in ecology and the environment. In this talk he examines the complex interaction between man and nature expressed through Vasks’s musical language with Jose Zalba-Smith providing musical illustration through a performance of the composer’s work for solo flute, Landscape with Birds.

Tickets: £8

Ian Skelly

Parmela Attariwala (violin) Shawn Mativetsky (tabla)

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Thursday 19 May, 7.30pm

DANCE HOUSE, WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE CF10 4PH

Parmela Attariwala violin Shawn Mativetsky tabla Parmela Attariwala/ Gitanjali kolanad Frank**

8’

Meiro Stamm

The Melody of Rhythm** 16’

Robert Rosen

La**

8’

Paul Frehner

Oracle**

6’

Parmela Attariwala/ Gitanjali kolanad Piercing Embrace**

12’

Nicole Rampersaud The Road Ahead is Longer than the Trail Left Behind**

5’

Andrew Staniland

15’

Sudoku**

**Uk Premiere Parmela Attariwala is one of Canada’s most original and compelling performers.

Simultaneously playing the violin and dancing, she weaves an intriguing tapestry of music and traditional south Asian choreography. Joined by tabla player Shawn Mativetsky the duo perform an enthralling programme of music that melds contemporary composition with traditional Indian rhythms.

Tickets: £15

Jose ZalbaSmith

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valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk

6.30pm Dance House Meet the Artists Parmela Attariwala and Shawn Mativetsky in conversation with Steph Power

Please note, Dance House is located behind the Wales Millennium Centre on Pierhead Street, opposite the National Assembly of Wales

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BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Maxim Rysanov

Friday 20 May, 7.30pm BBC HODDINOTT HALL, WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE CF10 5AL

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BBC National Orchestra of Wales Edwin Outwater conductor Members of the BBC National Chorus of Wales Robert Court organ Maxim Rysanov viola Alice Neary cello

Quatuor Tana

Ensemble MidtVest Parmela Attariwala

Pēteris Vasks

Cantabile

8’

Pēteris Vasks

Viola Concerto*

25’

John Metcalf

Cello Symphony

35’

BOOkING INFORMATION

*World Premiere With its rich, sensual sound, there is surely no better instrument to convey the profound emotion of Pēteris Vasks’s music than the viola. His new concerto, performed by the charismatic Maxim Rysanov is one of the highlights of this year’s Festival.

Concluding the concert, Metcalf’s radiant Cello Symphony, a work in which the solo instrument embarks upon a rhapsodic musical journey in the company of chorus and orchestra.

TELEPHONE BOOkINGS:

0844 8700 887 (Mon – Fri 9am – 7pm; Sat 9am – 5pm) Please note a charge of £1.50 is made for each telephone booking)

ONLINE BOOkING (24HRS): www.ticketsource.co.uk/valeofglamorganfestival A booking fee of up to 10% is made on all transactions.

To obtain your tickets choose from the following options:

Tickets: £15 The Viola Concerto is a co-commission by the Vale of Glamorgan Festival (with funds provided by the Hinrichsen Foundation) and BBC Radio 3

Print your e-tickets at home (at no extra charge) Request your ticket details are texted to your mobile phone to show on the door (at a cost of 50p) Request your tickets are delivered by (at a cost of £1.50)

TICkET PRICES

Alice Neary

6.15pm Hoddinott Hall Pēteris Vasks talks to Peter Reynolds about his work for organ and the composition of his new Viola Concerto. Robert Court performs Vasks’s Canto di forza for organ.

Maxim Rysanov

Full price tickets are listed after each event Student Tickets: £3* Disabled People who require someone to accompany them are entitled to a free ticket for their companion

ADVANCE DISCOUNTS

VALE OF GLAMORGAN WALkING FESTIVAL Once again we are teaming up with the Vale of Glamorgan Walking Festival which will be organising accompanied walks during the festival period.

These are free of charge.

THURSDAy 19TH MAy, 2.15PM – 4.15PM Penarth Scenic Walk starting at Penarth Pier FRIDAy 20TH MAy, 3PM – 5PM Cardiff Bay Barrage starting at the Norwegian Church

It pays to book early.

Book before Friday 1 April and enjoy the following early bird prices: £15 tickets reduced to £12 £12 tickets reduced to £10 £8 tickets reduced to £6

Full details available from www.valeofglamorgan walkingfestival.org.uk or by phone on 01446 749 000

valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk

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A distinctive feature of the festival is the range of venues used to host our events – from historic churches and landmark buildings to state of the art concert halls.

Information on all venue locations can be found at our website www.valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk.

Festival Venues

If you are uncertain about access to a particular venue, please call the box office on 0844 8700 887.

All venues are fitted with a hearing induction loop.

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ALL SAINTS CHURCH Victoria Square, Penarth CF64 3HQ

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BAyART GALLERy Bute Street, Cardiff CF10 5AF

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DANCE HOUSE, WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE Pierhead Street, Cardiff CF10 4PH

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ST AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH, PENARTH Church Place South, Penarth CF64 1BA

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BBC HODDINOTT HALL WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE Bute Place, Cardiff CF10 5AL

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EWENNy PRIORy Off A48, Nr Bridgend CF35 5BW

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PENARTH PIER PAVILION The Esplanade, Penarth CF64 3AT

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ST ILLTUD’S CHRUCH, LLANTWIT MAJOR. Church Road, Llantwit Major CF61 1SS

valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk