Celebrating student creativity at the ��ý Music Festival and ��ý Chamber Choir concerts with ��ý Fund support

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The ��ý Fund, has enabled student involvement in the ��ý Music Festival and supported members of the ��ý Chamber Choir as they prepared and performed in a series of concerts throughout the academic year. The ��ý Fund is made up alumni donations and administered by the Development and Alumni Relations Office.
The ��ý Music Festival drew enthusiastic participation from 23 students across the School of Arts, Culture and Languages, many of whom were studying composition modules within the music degree. Renowned composers Lynne Plowman and Claire Roberts led a pre-concert talk, encouraging engagement and offering a valuable exchange of ideas with students about the creative process behind their works.
An extended programme booklet, made possible by the ��ý Fund, enriched the concert experience and provided valuable context for both students and attendees. The festival continues to be a platform for learning, exchange, and artistic exploration.

Composers with BU staff during pre-concert talk

Across two semesters, the Chamber Choir performed in three well-received concerts, including a festive highlight in Conwy. Students broadened their musical repertoire and deepened their understanding of contemporary music through the performance of new and unusually challenging choral compositions, including Animal Crackers by Eric Whitacre and a piece inspired by aerosol cans titled Psst! by Guto Pryderi Puw, Reader in Music Composition.
Participation in the choir offered students hands-on experience in public performance, collaboration and interpretation - strengthening their confidence and general musicality.

Dr Guto Puw, Reader in Music Composition, shared:

These projects enable our students to explore, perform, and appreciate all kinds of chamber and choral music. With the Sinfonia Cymru concerts at the festival, it was very engaging to be able to hear the thoughts of the actual music creators in person before the performances of each piece, it makes the whole process more real for the students and the audiences alike. It’s very rewarding to guide the Chamber Choir in their performance at different concerts this year, where we were able to perform some unusual choral repertoire at ��ý Cathedral and a very enjoyable Christmas concert at St Mary's Church, Conwy. Thanks to our alumni and the ��ý Fund for helping to bring these experiences to life.”