Welcome to the fifteenth annual Conwy Classical Music Festival. I hope very much that you will find plenty to interest you in this year’s wide-ranging programme, and that you will support the festival in order to keep music live.
As you will see from the programme, the festival once again draws on the rich vein of talent which we have here in North Wales, as well as featuring established artists from further afield.
Evening concerts will include a scintillating programme of works by Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Shostakovich and Beethoven from The Festival Orchestra under the direction, once again this year of Paul Barritt, permanent guest leader of the Halle Orchestra and an opera evening given by some of the cream of Wales' young singers.
Our own community Orchestra, under the baton of Rosie Hearn, will also contribute to the evening concert series, opening the festival with a programme of works by Brahms, Mozart and Dvorak. Early music will represented by a concert from The Marian Consort, who specialize in vocal music of the Renaissance and who are often to be heard on Radio 3, and by a programme of lute songs by Dowland, Campion and others from Gwendolen Martin, Emma Walsh and Christoper Webb, with lutenist Toby Carr. Chamber concerts by the Manchester Ensemble, with works by Richard Strauss, Schubert and Brahms and by Violinist Ian Watson, Saxophonist Steve Summers and Pianist Christina Mason-Scheuermann will also be on offer. An authentic Welsh evening with the Bro Aled Male Voice Choir, Cor Cantilena, Mezzo Michaela Parry, baritone Emyr Lloyd Jones and harpist Dafydd Huw completes the evening line up.
Lunchtime concerts at 1pm will feature some of the best vocal talent that North Wales can provide, including Charlotte Forfar, Cai For Davies, Caleb Rhys Jones, Sian Wyn Gibson and Huw Llywelyn. Instrumentalists taking the stage at lunchtimes will be pianists Christina Mason-Scheuermann, Annette Bryn Parri and Ellis Thomas, The Thorne Trio from London and the Fitzsimmon Ensemble from Manchester.
Morning concerts by Christopher Sabisky (flute and harp) and by the Thorn Trio, a lecture by Trystan Lewis on the role of music at the National Eisteddfod on its visit to Conwy County, a choral workshop with Gwendolen Martin and Toby Carr, and a Festival Evensong will all feature in the line-up.
A new introduction this year will be an afternoon concert on Wednesday, July 24th by the winner of the Pendine International Voice of the Future Competition at the Llangollen Eisteddfod, which promises to be an exciting addition to the proceedings
The festival is dedicated to providing opportunities for the local community and visitors alike to enjoy quality music in beautiful surroundings. It is one of the largest music events in Wales to be funded solely by audience donations and sponsorship - there are no set admission charges - ensuring that the festival is totally accessible and inclusive. Please do join us. You will be made very welcome.
Chris Roberts, Director
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