Friends of Cwmdu Music-It's Spring!
Our Anniversary concert.
We were thrilled to be able to celebrate our tenth anniversary with an exhilarating concert given by Rachel Podger–hailed as the queen of the baroque violin by the Sunday Times, but the virtuosa of the Usk Valley for those of us who live here. The church was full and the audience enormously appreciative of the opportunity to listen to–and watch at close quarters–an international superstar of the violin. Rachel played brilliant baroque music by Johann Joseph Vilsmayr and Nicola Matteis, Jr, and an exciting modern Phantasia by her friend and collaborator, Chad Kelly. But it was Kelly’s arrangement of JS Bach’s Toccata and Fugue BWV 565 with which the first half of the concert ended, and then the concert’s final work–Bach’s Partita no 1 in G minor for solo violin–that mesmerised us all.
The icing on the cake was the way that Rachel so engagingly spoke about each piece she played. What a privilege and what a wonderful evening!
Our next concert, a date for your diary.
Saturday, May 11th 7:30pm, at St Michael and All Angels, Cwmdu. Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Students/Graduates: The Bute Wind Quintet.
The Bute Wind Quintet is an award-winning ensemble consisting of current students and recent graduates of the Orchestral Performance master’s programme at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, several of whom are individual prize winners. The group was formed to record a performance of Malcolm Arnold’s Welsh Dances suite for the International Malcolm Arnold Festival and it was within their first year of meeting that the ensemble won the Wind Plus Chamber Prize adjudicated by James Turnbull, performing David Maslanka’s 4th Wind Quintet.
Gabriella Alberti (Flute), Sam Willsmore (Oboe), Hannah Harding (Bassoon), Nathan Barker (Horn) and Meg Davies (Clarinet) are currently Artists in Residence at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre where the Bute Wind Quintet maintains a high standard of performance across many musical styles, performing in masterclasses with Adam Walker and Ben Goldscheider.
We will also have an Artist/Maker in residence: Rebecca ‘Becky’ Way. Artist and Teacher.
Predominantly recognised for her watercolour landscapes and pastel portraits, more recently her work has been in pen, ink, and mixed media.
Tickets are now available at our online store, and there are more programme details here. (If you check this link from time-to-time you'll also see any updates related to our forthcoming concert.)