Final call for talented young musicians from Powys to enter new “launching pad” competition

The Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition is being launched at the North Wales International Music Festival that’s being held at St Asaph Cathedral between September 12 to 21.

It’s being funded by the festival’s headline sponsors, the Pendine Park care organisation via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust which supports community and arts activities.

The performances during the final will be broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru and the winner will receive a cash prize of £2,000 and the Pendine Trophy, as well as being invited back to perform at next year’s festival.

The contest is being masterminded by the event’s new Artistic Director, royal composer Paul Mealor, who is following in the footsteps of his mentor and fellow royal composer, William Mathias, who founded the festival.

Entries are being accepted via the festival’s website, nwimf.com and the deadline has been extended until 5pm on Friday, September 6.

The Grand Final will be at St Asaph Cathedral on Wednesday, September 18, at 7pm.

Professor Mealor said: “I am very excited about my first festival. I grew up here in St Asaph and I sang in the cathedral choir and my first experience of high quality classical music was here at the festival.

“I can remember turning pages for William Mathias when he was playing here back in the 1980s so it’s lovely to come back for this exciting new chapter and from September 12 to 21 St Asaph is once again going to be the cultural capital of Wales.

“The idea of the festival is that there has got to be something for everyone, so you’ve got big stuff like the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and The King’s Singers.

“Then you’ve got the world’s number one brass band, Foden’s Band, and the new community opera commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Disaster

“And this year we’re launching our new festival fringe alongside the traditional concert programme to reach out to the local community.

“Another exciting development is the inaugural Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition which is open to anyone who is born, living here or studying here to come and perform at the Cathedral which has one of the best acoustics in Wales.

“The competition will be judged by four of the top musicians around the world – we have Alun Jones, singer and the former principal of Chetham’s School of Music; Alis Huws, the former harpist to the Prince of Wales; world renowned concert pianist, Cyrill Ibrahim while the chair is Lisa Tregale, the Director of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales.

“This can be a launching pad for a fledgling career because you’re performing to top class people.

“We’ve already had a lot of interest from some incredibly talented young musicians and we’re extending the deadline for a week until Friday, September 6, to ensure we give as many of them as possible the chance to enter.

“There’s a prize of £2,000 and the beautiful Pendine Trophy, an engraved silver salver which has been gifted to us by Mario and Gill Kreft.

“They are two of the most important benefactors to the arts in North Wales, if not the whole of Wales. They have not just supported the festival financially but also spiritually.

“Mario and Gill are genuinely passionate about the arts and it’s important to Wales to have people like them. They have done a huge amount for the festival before I came and we hope they will carry on.”

Mario Kreft MBE said: “We’re delighted to be able to support the festival again this year and we’re particularly pleased to be able to help launch the exciting new competition for Wales’s finest young musicians.

“The Pendine Young Musician of Wales is Paul’s brainchild and it’s a wonderful concept. We hope it will grow into a really important, pre-eminent competition and help talented young people with their first steps into a career in music.

“It chimes perfectly with our ethos at Pendine because the arts are the golden thread in everything we do, whether it is music, art or the spoken word.

“We know how much it enriches the lives of our residents and our staff and we bridge the generations by working with children from local schools, as well as working with the Prince’s Trust to bring young people into social care.”

The opening night of the festival will feature the world premiere of a community opera with NEW Sinfonia and NEW Voices to mark the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Disaster when 266 men and boys were killed.

Other highlights will include performances by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Foden’s Band – the world’s current number one brass band, and Ar Log, one of Wales’ finest folk bands.

Baritone Jeremy Huw Williams explores the music of founder William Mathias along with Fauré, and the combined choirs of Trystan Lewis’s North Wales Choral Union make their festival debut with a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah.

The Festival Fringe takes place in other venues in St Asaph and features an RnB/Hip-hop concert with Aisha Kigs, Welsh folk music with Angharad Jenkins and Patrick Rimes, a poetry and literary evening with poet Grahame Davies and our first ever North Wales Comedy Night.

The event has also been supported by main grant funders the Arts Council of Wales, Colwinston Charitable Trust, Arts & Business Cymru, Tŷ Cerdd and Salisburys Chartered Accountants. This year’s festival is also part funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for Denbighshire.

Tickets and further details about the festival programme and the Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition are available online at nwimf.com. Tickets are also available from Cathedral Frames, St Asaph - 01745 582929 (Weds - Fri, 10-4) and Theatr Clwyd by phone - 01352 344101 (Mon-Sat, 10-6).

By Ceidiog Hughes - Contributor