Musicfest is about joy and fun, brightness and variety, the power of music to bring out the best in us all, to unite us, to make us laugh and cry together. As you read this, the lead-up to the festival has already started with events celebrating the immense talent in these hills. You can see the whole programme in a companion post. This is the story behind it.
Planning for this year’s festival began when we learnt of a young Syrian pianist who has been winning prizes and impressing people, who is as at home with Beethoven as with Syrian music. His performances unite East and West. So we begin with a message of reconciliation, a message of hope, and a symbol of what could be. This theme of ‘One World’ recurs through the festival.
The WNO Orchestra under their Czech conductor Tomáš Hanus will play great pieces from central Europe. Catrin Finch and Aoife ní Bhriain continue their dynamic collaboration bringing Welsh and Irish folk traditions together, the spectacular duo of Junyan Chen from Shanghai (piano) and Braimah Kanneh-Mason (violin) transcends whole continents, Canadian flautist Lisa Nelsen joins English harpist Ellie Turner in the Aquilae Duo, and our Norwegian friends Sigyn Fossnes and Kari Ravnan join Paul Turner and Ollie Cuttriss on Friday.
We also have Sinfonia Cymru contributing in four different ways, in the Engine Shed extravaganza with Philomusica of Aberystwyth, in the concert for children of all ages ‘Peter and the Wolf’, in a late night poetry-inspired ‘The Magic Tree Collective’, and finally in the closing orchestral concert, ‘Regenerate’, where the theme of ‘One World’ takes on another significance. This is the ‘one world is all we’ve got’ message, ‘so let’s look after it’. Devised by three young musicians, including Simmy Singh, this re-imagines Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ and Vaughan-Williams’ ‘Lark Ascending’ and folk themes to draw us into a world where music becomes a catalyst for hope, imagination and the future of our planet.
We’re proud also to showcase pianist Raphael James, this year’s Young Musician of Dyfed, a fantastic talent, at Sunday lunchtime, rising star tenor Emyr Lloyd Jones, the ‘Voice of the Future’, on Monday, and clarinettist Anton Clarke-Butler on Friday.
Thursday night will be extra special, with Pedair, four of our leading folk artists in Wales. Their live performances have captured the imaginations and hearts of audiences with their fresh interpretations of the Welsh folk tradition, and their unique gifts as songwriters, responding to the current state of the world, celebrating the resilience of nature, and giving a voice to women.
The Musicfest audience experience would be incomplete without our unbelievable music school students, who are on stage at 6.30pm Monday to Thursday, and all morning Saturday.
Give yourself a break from work, the gardening, or the TV, and immerse yourself in continuous music for a week. Much of it free!
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