Sinfonia Cymru 2014

www.sinfoniacymru.co.uk

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Mr & Mrs G Cheesman

Mr & Mrs John Cosslett

Geraint & Elizabeth Talfan Davies

Marian Evans

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Sinfonia Cymru is a registered Charity (1058196)Sinfonia Cymru is a Company Limited by Guarantee (03240356)

SINFONIA CYMRU IS A REVENUE FUNDED CLIENT OF THE ARTS COUNCIL OF WALES

Media Centre, S4C, Parc Ty Glas, Llanishen, Cardiff, CF14 5DU

02920 754556 @sinfoniacymru /sinfoniacymru

Sinfonia Cymru would like to thank…

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WelcomeWelcomeI am delighted to announce Sinfonia Cymru’s 2014 season.

We are excited to be presenting such a rich and varied selection of repertoire this year, welcoming Guest Artists Catrin Finch and Llŷr Williams back to Sinfonia Cymru, and embarking on a new international collaboration celebrating Small Nations, Big Sounds, a project artistically directed by orchestra leader Bartosz Woroch, who explains more on page 9.

Our year begins with our Richard Strauss series, a programme celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth. Written for 23 solo strings, Metamorphosen captures the profound grief of the composer after the bombing of the Munich and Dresden opera houses. By contrast, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is a bubbly, frothier masterpiece that conveys something different altogether, accompanied with readings based on the Moliére play of the same name to be narrated by Richard Harrington, star of the recent acclaimed Welsh drama, Y Gwyll/Hinterland.

In June, we have a dance-inspired programme with Catrin, who performs music by Ravel, Debussy and Mathias alongside orchestral works by Copland and Ibert conducted by Ben Gernon, winner of the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award. November’s series marks the keenly awaited return to the orchestra of Llŷr Williams, who will perform Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 and Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1; the perfect complement to his epic Beethoven Sonata Cycles at several of the UK’s major venues throughout 2014.

Alongside our main concert series, the orchestra will continue to perform in smaller groups as part of The Riverfront’s lunchtime recital series (First Wednesdays) whilst also making appearances at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod with Bryn Terfel (Sweeney Todd) and with Lady Leshurr at The Big Splash Festival in Newport.

There will be three more installments of the flagship UnButtoned event at Chapter Arts over the coming year, put together by Sinfonia Cymru Curate, who also help programme our recitals and main concert series’. We will also increase our commitment to education and outreach, working with school children and young musicians in Newport, Llanelli, Harlech, Brecon and Presteigne.

We’re so glad to be able to continue this journey, and look forward to welcoming you to this mouth-watering season of concerts and performances.

Gareth Jones Musical Director

www.sinfoniacymru.co.uk 3


A programme that celebrates virtuosity of both performer and composer, Sinfonia Cymru’s celebration of Strauss’ 150th Anniversary sets the composer’s Metamorphosen alongside his buoyant Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Written as an elegy to the bombing of Munich and Dresden in WWII, Metamorphosen is one of Strauss’ most deeply heartfelt works. In contrast, the incidental music to a revision of Moliere’s comedy Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme displays Strauss’ colourful orchestration and sense of humour.

For the first time in Wales, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme will be performed alongside readings based on the original Moliére play by Richard Harrington star of the acclaimed Welsh detective series Y Gwyll/Hinterland.

21st - 23rd March 2014

Sinfonia Cymru: Strauss

Strauss: Metamorphosen, for 23 solo strings, Op. 142Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60

Conductor: Gareth JonesNarrator: Richard Harrington (Y Gwyll/Hinterland)

Friday 21st March, 7.30pmPontyberem Memorial Hall01269 871 724 / 02920 754556ticketsource.co.uk/sinfoniacymru

Saturday 22nd March, 7.30pmDora Stoutzker HallRoyal Welsh College of Music & Drama02920 391 391 rwcmd.ac.uk

Sunday 23rd March, 3.00pmThe Riverfront, Newport01633 656 757www.newport.gov.uk/theriverfront

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Ravel: Introduction and Allegro, Op. 46Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane Mathias: Melos, Op. 73Ibert: DivertissementCopland: Appalachian Spring

Harp: Catrin FinchConductor: Ben Gernon

Internationally acclaimed harpist Catrin Finch and Sinfonia Cymru present a dance-flavoured programme under the baton of Ben Gernon, winner of the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and current Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Featuring the original chamber orchestration of Copland’s evocative Appalachian Spring, Debussy’s Danse Sacrée et Profane and Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro, alongside Mathias’ Melos and Ibert’s light-hearted Divertissement, this programme displays an intimate group of players as they discover the synergy between music and dance.

Thursday 5th June, 7.30pmTheatr Ardudwy, Harlech01766 780667theatrharlech.com

Friday 6th June, 7.30pmY Ffrwness, Llanelli0845 226 3510carmarthenshiretheatres.co.uk

Saturday 7th June, 7.30pmDora Stoutzker HallRoyal Welsh College of Music & Drama02920 391 391 rwcmd.ac.uk

Sunday 8th June, 3.00pmThe Riverfront, Newport01633 656 757www.newport.gov.uk/theriverfront

Sinfonia Cymru & Catrin Finch

Main: Ben Gernon Winner of Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award.

Inset: Deutsche Gramophon Artist Catrin Finch - © Sven Sindt

5th - 8th June 2014

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Sinfonia Cymru will be joined by acclaimed Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams described by The Guardian as a performer with ‘acute sensitivity’ and ‘penetrating insight’. The Wigmore Hall regular will reunite with the orchestra for the first time in three years, presenting a double concerto programme and a career first, as he performs Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 for the first time alongside Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24. Rossini’s virtuosic Overture to ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’ and Schubert’s Symphony no. 5 complete an invigorating programme.

Sinfonia Cymru & Llŷr Williams

Rossini: Overture to ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’ Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in Bb, D. 485Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

Piano: Llŷr WilliamsConductor: Gareth Jones

Friday 21st November, 7.30pmPontyberem Memorial Hall01269 871 724 / 02920 754556ticketsource.co.uk/sinfoniacymru

Saturday 22nd November, 7.30pmAberystwyth Arts Centre01970 623232 aberystwythartscentre.co.uk

Sunday 23rd November, 3.00pmThe Riverfront, Newport01633 656 757 www.newport.gov.uk/theriverfront

21st - 23rd November 2014

www.sinfoniacymru.co.uk6


Recitals

First Wednesday: MarchWednesday 5th March, 1.00pmPoulenc: Sonata for Violin and Piano, FP 119Strauss: Violin Sonata in Eb Op. 18

Featuring Sinfonia Cymru leader Bartosz Woroch accompanied by fellow YCAT artist Robert Thompson.

First Wednesday: OctoberWednesday 1st October, 1.00pmProgramme to be announced

First Wednesday: NovemberWednesday 5th November, 1.00pm Programme to be announced

Tickets: £4 - 5

February - November 2014

The Riverfront is owned, managed

and funded by Newport City Council


www.sinfoniacymru.co.ukwww.sinfoniacymru.co.uk8


Bartosz Woroch

Sinfonia Cymru Guest Leader & Director, YCAT violinist Bartosz Woroch, talks about his new role as Artistic Director of Small Nations Big Sounds

This year, Sinfonia Cymru is involved in its first ever International collaboration and I am absolutely thrilled to have been given the fantastic opportunity to lead the project on behalf of the orchestra. In July, three members of the orchestra will join me to form a string quartet, and together we will perform six concerts, three at the Festival Della Valle D’Itria in Puglia, Italy and three at the Rapla Church Music Festival in Estonia. In October we meet again in Wales and then travel to Sweden for the final part of the project for six concerts, three in the magnificent Musikaliska concert hall in Stockholm and then three across Kalmar County. We will be joining forces and performing alongside truly exceptional soloists and ensembles from across Europe. Camerata Nordica is a sensational string ensemble based in Sweden that last year wowed audiences and critics at the BBC Proms. Also, a wind quintet from the Swedish Wind Ensemble, soloists from the Pille Lille Music Foundation and singers from the Rodolfo Celletti Belcanto Academy in Italy also join us. With such an impressive line-up and a mix of very different musical backgrounds, it’s bound to be not only a fantastic musical experience but also a great way to meet new friends and share something rather special. Aside from performing and traveling, I am chiefly charged with programming the concerts taking place here in Wales, and in doing so, creating a very unique music festival in collaboration not just with our European partners but also with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Named Small Nations, Big Sounds, I am pleased to say that it will involve a much larger group of Sinfonia Cymru players. Although the sheer number and diversity of musicians poses a real challenge when it comes to programming, it also enables us to widen the spectrum and look for hidden jewels and true delicacies of the classical music world. I can’t give too much away, but I know that there will be a great mix of music representing the participating nations and others besides, as well as some new music being specially commissioned for the project.

It is a terrific event and I can’t wait to get started!



4th - 6th October 2014

Small Nations Big Sounds

In Partnership with RWCMD

Saturday 4th October, 7.30pmSunday 5th October, 2.00pmMonday 6th October, 7.30pmDora Stoutzker Hall, RWCMD

July14th - 18th Italy19th - 24th Estonia

October4th - 6th Wales7th - 14th Sweden

Soloists:Singers from the Rodolfo Celletti Belcanto AcademySoloists from the Pille Lille Music Foundation:Andreas Lend Oksana Sinkova Virgo Veldi

Ensembles:Sinfonia CymruCamerata NordicaSwedish Wind Ensemble

Camerata Nordica

Swedish Wind Ensemble

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The Big Splash

Saturday 31st May, 2014Newport

Sinfonia Cymru collaborate with BBC Urban Prom star Lady Leshurr for The Big Splash 2014. The festival features live music, street theatre, family entertainment and free firework spectacle.

www.newport.gov.uk/bigsplash

UnButtoned

The flagship event from Sinfonia Cymru Curate features musicians from the orchestra performing a live score with heavy electronic influences and classical music elements alongside BAFTA-winning electronic composer Tom Raybould with reactive visuals by BAFTA-winning design team RoughCollie.All three of the performances in 2013 at Chapter Arts Centre were extremely well received and the highly immersive show deemed a great success. The team is looking forward to developing the event further with more performances planned for late 2014.

Bryn Terfel in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetMonday 7th July, 7.30pm International Music Eisteddfod, Llangollen

Sinfonia Cymru join Bryn Terfel for an all-Welsh production of Sweeney Todd at this year’s International Music Eisteddfod in Llangollen. Sponsored by the Wrexham-based care organisation Pendine Park.

www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

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How can you help?

Please help us to support young musicians at the start of their careers.

Sinfonia Cymru can only thrive as an ambitious orchestra committed to supporting young musical talent in Wales with the dedicated support of our audiences, funders, donors, Friends, Patrons and partner organisations. We would like to thank all of you for your empowering support, as we continue on our musical journey throughout Wales and beyond.

There are a number of different ways you can get involved with Sinfonia Cymru:

You can join the Supporting Friends of Sinfonia Cymru for just £30 per individual or £50 per household per year or the Patrons of Sinfonia Cymru for £100, £240 or £600+ per year. You can pay monthly or annually by cheque or standing order. As a Friend or Patron you will receive regular newsletters and a discount of £1 off full and concession ticket prices for the orchestra’s main orchestral concerts each year.

You can support a Professional Pathway Award for the 2014/2015 academic year either individually or as member of a syndicate.

Or simply join our mailing list and receive information only about all our forthcoming concerts and events by post or email.

You can find out more about the orchestra and how to get involved at our website www.sinfoniacymru.co.uk or contact us directly by phone (02920 754 556) or email ([email protected]).

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June:

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July:

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October:

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November:

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First Wednesday | Newport

Sinfonia Cymru: Strauss | Pontyberem

Sinfonia Cymru: Strauss | Cardiff

Sinfonia Cymru: Strauss | Newport

Big Splash | Newport

Sinfonia Cymru & Catrin Finch | Harlech

Sinfonia Cymru & Catrin Finch | Llanelli

Sinfonia Cymru & Catrin Finch | Cardiff

Sinfonia Cymru & Catrin Finch | Newport

Bryn Terfel in Sweeney Todd | Llangollen

Sinfonia Cymru | Italy

Sinfonia Cymru | Estonia


Small Nations Big Sounds | Cardiff

Central European Influences | Cardiff

Nordic Sounds | Cardiff

Sinfonia Cymru | Sweden


Sinfonia Cymru & Llŷr Williams | Pontyberem

Sinfonia Cymru & Llŷr Williams | Aberystwyth

Sinfonia Cymru & Llŷr Williams | Newport

Calendar of Events:

Media Centre, S4C, Parc Ty Glas, Llanishen, Cardiff, CF14 5DU

02920 754556 @sinfoniacymru /sinfoniacymru

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Sinfonia Cymru 2014

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