Former royal harpist Hannah Stone will be one of the stars of the North Wales International Music Festival at St Asaph Cathedral this month.
The gifted virtuoso will be playing a harp concerto written by Anglesey composer Gareth Glyn on Saturday, 17 September.
The piece tells the story of Amaterasu, who is the goddess of light in the Japanese Shinto religion.
The concerto was commissioned by the festival and premiered back in 2015 by Hannah and she will once again be accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
The performance will launch this year’s festival which celebrates its 50th anniversary and runs until 1 October.
Among the other highlights are performances by early music group Red Priest, award-winning Welsh folk band Calan, the spectacular Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers and resident orchestra NEW Sinfonia who will be performing with the National Youth Chamber Choir of Great Britain.
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, Colwinston Charitable Trust, Arts & Business Cymru, Tŷ Cerdd, Salisburys Accountants, Tŷ Architecture and manorhaus.
According to Hannah, the story of Amaterasu is an extremely long and complex tale.
She said: “Basically Amaterasu has an argument with her unpredictable brother. They disagree and the brother gets ever angrier and wreaks havoc across the world.
“The brother then throws a pony through the roof of the workshop in which Amaterasu is working and she is so frightened she goes into a cave and rolls a huge rock in front of the entrance which plunges the world into darkness.
“The other gods hold a meeting and decide to hold a party outside the cave. Amaterasu becomes curious and rolls back the stone and once again light and colour fills the earth.”
Gareth was commissioned to compose the piece by the festival and since its premiere it has been included in Hannah’s repertoire.
She said: “I have worked with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on the piece since the premiere. We recorded it in 2019 and have played it since then in concerts.
Hannah has been a regular performer at the North Wales International Festival and says she loves playing in cathedrals and churches.
“Acoustically, St Asaph Cathedral is brilliant and I think the harp blends itself to that kind of setting and it’s probably one of my favourite places really to play.
“Sometimes in concert halls, especially modern places, people try and play with the acoustics and sometimes get them right and sometimes they don’t but with older buildings like churches and cathedrals you’re on to a winner.”
As well as taking part in this festival, Hannah is busy with concerts and recitals, some of them with her husband, opera superstar Sir Bryn Terfel.
More details about the festival can be found at www.nwimf.com