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The programme for Vale of Glamorgan Festival 2013 which takes place from May 9 to 18 May has been announced and tickets are on sale.

Six World Premieres and Seven European Premieres

The Festival is well known for having an artistic vision that is both adventurous and unique with an international outlook, featuring only the work of living composers and focussing on their recent music. This year’s Festival features six world premieres, seven European premieres plus performances by resident and visiting artists, some performing in the UK for the first time. The programme combines day and evening concerts, workshops, talks, discussions and special events.

Premieres will include new works by composers Sebastian Currier, Graham Fitkin, and Ramunas Motiekaitis, choral commissions by Galina Grigorieva, Aaron Kernis and John Metcalf plus the first public performance of Heartland Percussion Concerto by BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ Composer in Residence, Mark Bowden.

Composer Features

Fitkin at 50

One of the Festival’s main features will be a new commission and programmes of music by composer Graham Fitkin in his 50th birthday year following a long association with the Festival. The composer will be present throughout, taking part in a number of events including a pre-concert talk prior to the final concert (18 May).

Award-winning American composer Sebastian Currier

The music of Grawemeyer award-winning American composer Sebastian Currier will also be a main feature with the composer leading a “Discovering New Music” event (9th May) introducing audiences to his music and putting his piece Static under the microscope. Currier will also join audiences at Fonmon Castle on 12th May for a performance by the Solstice String Quartet including a world premiere of his new work for solo violin Links and two European premieres of his music.

Further festival highlights include:

• Two appearances by leading UK harpist Ruth Wall. (9 & 18 May). Ruth specialises in the development and performance of new music and works closely with her partner, composer Graham Fitkin. She will be showcasing her skills in a programme entitled Girl with Three Harps including the Scottish Lever Harp, Renaissance Bray Harp and Medieval Gaelic Wire Strung Harp at Cardiff’s Norwegian Church on 18 May.
• A lunchtime concert by the Fidelio Trio in an all British programme by Fitkin, Bennett and Nyman (10 May)– one of two co-promotions with the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
• A performance of Welsh composer Andrew Lewis’ sonic work Lexicon, using sights and sounds to convey the complexity of language, emphasising the challenge to people with different profiles of dyslexia. The inspiration for the work is a poem As I See It was written by a twelve year old boy. Lewis will also work with school children in workshops in the lead up to the festival to produce a brand new work using technology to be performed alongside his work Lexicon. (11 May)
• A Lithuanian, Estonian and Mexican festival influence with visits by St Christopher Chamber Orchestra and Accordionist Raimondas Sviackevicius (Lithuania), Vox Clamantis (Estonia) and the first visit to the UK by Onix Ensemble (Mexico).
• A visit by the dynamic Percussions Claviers de Lyon (France). Five talented and creative keyboard percussionists that have been producing new repertoire for marimbas, vibraphones and xylophones for over 25 years to reach out to audiences in original performances.
• Composers attending the Festival will reveal and discuss the nature of their artistic inspiration in a Composer Symposium open to the public. (17 May)
• Two concerts with BBC National Orchestra of Wales joining forces with percussionist Julian Warburton on15 May and cellist Raphael Wallfisch on 18 May.

Atmospheric Settings for Festival Events

The festival will take place at venues across Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan in a blend of formal and informal, ancient and modern venues including concert halls, studios, castles and churches in city, countryside and sea landscapes. Each venue is chosen to offer an ideal and atmospheric setting to hear the pieces of music performed.

Festival Performances and events will take place at St Donats Arts Centre, Ewenny Priory, Fonmon Castle, All Saints Church, St Augustine’s Church and Washington Gallery in Penarth and Holy Cross Church, Cowbridge. The Cardiff venues include the Norwegian Church, Dora Stoutzker Hall at Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and Urdd Hall and BBC Hoddinott Hall at Wales Millennium Centre.

A Festival with a Strong Artistic Vision

Ensembles and artists are invited to be a part of the Festival by Artistic Director and composer John Metcalf who first founded the Festival in 1969. He explains “We don’t consider who will be on tour and then put a festival programme together. We think about the themes we would like to explore and composers we would like to feature. From here we decide who we would ideally like to invite to the festival to give the best experience for our audiences. This means that we have performers coming from all over the world, many appearing in the UK for the first time. We are also able to combine this with some of the best of our home grown talent.”

Full information on festival events is available from www.valeofglamorganfestival.org.uk. Tickets are available from valeofglamorganfestival.ticketsource.co.uk or by calling 0844 8700 887.

The 2013 Vale of Glamorgan Festival is funded by the Arts Council of Wales and the Vale of Glamorgan Council with additional support from UK Trusts and Foundations including in 2013 the Colwinston Charitable Trust and The Idlewild Trust.

Press tickets, Information and Images

Penny James (Wales)

Penny James Press and Marketing Services/Freelance Publicist

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penny.james@btopenworld.com

Jo Carpenter (National)

Music PR Consultancy

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With the dust now settled following the first Vale of Glamorgan Festival in its new Spring time-slot, plans are now shaping up for the 2013 Festival which will take place during the period Thursday 9 – Saturday 18 May 2013.   Further details will be announced in the Autumn but in the meantime, hold the dates in your diary for more great new music from exceptional composers, artists and ensembles.

In this short video John Metcalf, Artistic Director of the Festival, introduces some of the principal themes and venues of the 2012 Festival.

(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iac0xHnjcyU )

Also check out Susan Scheid’s blog entry which talks about her visit to the Festival, and contains video interviews with John Metcalf and a link to Edo de Waart speaking about Qigang Chen.

The Festival recently unveiled a new scheme for supporting the commissioning of work to be premiered in future festival programmes.  The Commissioning Support Circles are designed to encourage supporters to contribute towards enabling the creation of exciting new repertoire and in its first year will focus on three new  pieces  by composers  Gavin Bryars, Craig Vear and Tom Green.  Full details of the schemes are now available on the “Support Us” page .

This website now has the full programme for the 2012 Festival, including concerts, venue information and directions, and more.

Noteworthy news and last-minute changes for performances will also be shown here, so please check back for the latest news on the Festival.

Great news from Juice Vocal Ensemble.  The shortlist for the 2011 British Composer Awards has just been announced and Dai Fujikura’s away we play which received its world premiere during the 2010 Festival performed by Juice has made the shortlist in the vocal category.  http://www.britishcomposerawards.com/

The Festival may now be over, however, there is still the opportunity to enjoy the concert featuring the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Jean-Michael Lavoie (conductor) and soloists Gerard McChrystal (saxophone) and Oliver Coates (Cello).  Follow the link for details of the BBC Radio 3 Broadcast this Saturday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014m38q