Preview of North Wales International Music Festival at St Asaph

Aug 26 2010 Flintshire Chronicle

A stellar cast of world class performers is heading for a cathedral where the acoustics are “better than Sydney Opera House”.

The North Wales International Music Festival has now established itself as one of the highlights in the UK’s cultural calendar.

And the line-up at this year’s event between September 18 and 25 at St Asaph Cathedral is being hailed as one of the best ever.

The stars will include The Sixteen, the highly popular choral ensemble known as the voices of Classic FM, and the Classical BRIT winning trumpeter Alison Balsom.

More musical delight will be provided by the Prince of Wales’s harpist Claire Jones.

She recently enchanted guests at the Prince of Wales’s Gloucestershire home, Highgrove House, during a private performance of a new harp concerto commissioned by him.

Claire is a favourite of royalty and Hollywood celebrities alike – she has also played for the Queen, the Aga Khan and the Oscar-winning superstar, Nicole Kidman, as well as other members of the glitterati.

Also performing this year will be the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Ensemble Cymru, and the acclaimed violinist Tasmin Little.

It will be an emotional return for the internationally renowned pianist Iwan Llewelyn Jones, who hails from Anglesey.

On Tuesday, September 21, he will perform at an evening concert at the festival where he first played in 1989.

Also returning this year will be the talented Welsh baritone, Jeremy Huw Williams.

The festival’s artistic director, Ann Atkinson, is a talented mezzo soprano in her own right and will again be among the singing stars this year.

Human rights campaigner Terry Waite, 71, will be a addressing the congregation at the Festival Eucharist in St Asaph Cathedral on Sunday, September 19 at 11am.

Later that day he will be the guest speaker at the festival lunch at the nearby Oriel House Hotel.

According to Ann, the cathedral provides the perfect acoustic environment to showcase the highly-talented line-up.

The cathedral was chosen as the venue for the festival by its founder, the royal composer William Matthias, who wrote the anthem, Let the people praise Thee O God, for the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

According to Professor Matthias, one of his greatest achievements was the creation of the hugely popular music festival in 1972.

He visited every potential venue in North Wales before deciding that St Asaph Cathedral provided the very best acoustic setting for the event.

Ann explained: “The cathedral has a very special acoustic – the combination of the stone and the wood creates something really magical somehow.

“I have also performed in the concert hall at Sydney Opera House and, while it has a brilliant acoustic, I must say that St Asaph Cathedral is actually a much better venue acoustically.”

It was a sentiment echoed by the Dean of St Asaph, the Very Rev Chris Potter.

He said: “The acoustic is just stunning which is why the event has been so successful and enduringly popular.

“The interior of St Asaph Cathedral has changed often over the centuries and the configuration now seems to be just perfect.”

For more information about what’s on at this year’s festival and to book online go to: www.northwalesmusicfestival.co.uk.