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Women's Work in Music - Ensemble Cymru perform new music in Pontio

Two classical music concerts at ¾«¶«´«Ã½â€™s Pontio are set to be the highlight of the First International Conference on Women’s Work in Music (4-7 September) celebrating the achievements of women musicians. The Conference has been timed to mark the 40^th anniversary of the death of Grace Williams (1906-77), one of the first professional Welsh composers of the 20th century to attain international recognition.

The concerts on Monday 4 September in Neuadd Powis at 5.45pm and Wednesday 6 September 7.30pm at Pontio’s Theatr Bryn Terfel will feature Grace Williams’s music and also include world premieres by leading British composers Nicola LeFanu and Eleanor Alberga.  

Ensemble Cymru’s Monday evening concert showcases some of the finest chamber music by female composers. Pride of place goes to Grace Williams’s Sextet, a rarely-performed work, which includes a prominent part for trumpet - the Welsh composer’s favourite instrument. The Ensemble are joined by baritone Jeremy Huw Williams for the world premiere of Nicola LeFanu’s The Swan.

Internationally acclaimed Welsh singers Elin Manahan Thomas and Jeremy Huw Williams make their Theatr Bryn Terfel debut, accompanied by American pianist Paula Fan, for On Wings of Song on Wednesday 6 September. This innovative concert features music by female composers across the ages – from 11th-century Hildegard of Bingen’s exquisite Caritas Abundat to Grace Williams’s My Last Duchess and current Master of the Queen’s Music, Judith Weir’s electrifying King Harald’s Saga. During a Pre-concert talk at 6.15pm Elen ap Robert and Geraint Lewis discuss the work of the composer Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and other female composers of her time. The discussion will be in Welsh with simultaneous translation, and will be streamed live on the web.Tickets for the Landmarks and On Wings of Song concerts are available online  or by phoning 01248 38 28 28 or calling in at Pontio Box Office.

Publication date: 29 August 2017