Young stars audition to sing alongside Bryn Terfel

Singing for Bryn, auditioning at the Wales Millennium Centre for the chance to sign with Bryn Terfel in Sweeney Todd at this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod were, from left, back, Elizabeth Smith, Meinir Wyn Roberts, Bethan Rumsey, Angharad Elise Thomas, front, James Hope, Rhys Nicholson, Daniel Lee and Owain John.

A young singing star from the Vale of Clwyd was among over 30 hopefuls to try out for a prestigious role alongside opera superstar Bryn Terfel at this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

 

The great bass-baritone from Caernarfon (pictured below) will head an all-star Welsh cast in a performance of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway smash hit Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

The show, first performed in 1979, will see Terfel play the title role of the murderous barber with a cast that also includes Carmarthen tenor Wynne Evans, Gio Compario of the Go Compare television ads.

 

And 11-year-old Owain John, from Llansannan, near Denbigh, took part in auditions held in Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre, singing Not While I’m Around, from the Sondheim show.

 

Now a shortlist will be drawn up from over 80 young singers performing at the auditions, in Cardiff and at the Royal International Pavilion, in Llangollen, on Saturday, March 8, so that Bryn Terfel can himself choose the three young unknowns who will take the stage alongside him.

 

The roles to be filled are star-crossed young lovers Anthony and Johanna and street urchin Tobias Ragg who works for Todd’s rival, Pirelli (Wynne Evans) and then for piemaker Mrs Lovett, Todd’s murderous accomplice.

 

The Anthony and Johanna roles are for tenors and sopranos over 18 while Tobias will be played by a ten to 14-year-old.

 

At audition each singer performs a song from the show and after the Cardiff event Eilir Owen Griffiths was impressed by the quality of the entrants.

 

He said: “The standard has been very, very high and it’s been very exciting.

 

“Everyone is coming very well prepared and they are clearly taking it very seriously but then there is a lot at stake because performing a major role alongside an icon like Bryn Terfel could be the springboard for someone’s career.

 

“Each of them has had to sing a piece from Sweeney Todd, a song by the character they are trying out for and I’ve been very pleased with the quality of the singing.

 

“One of our roles at the Eisteddfod is to provide an opportunity for young talent to flourish and there can be no bigger opportunity than to sing alongside a legend like Bryn Terfel.

“Just the chance to actually audition for a role like this is an experience in itself and one which will stand them in good stead in the future.”

 

Owain, who goes to Ysgol Bro Aled, in Llansannan, began singing in the village eisteddfod aged about three and already has National and Urdd Eisteddfod successes under his belt.

 

He is also a member of Only Kids Aloud and is due to sing with Bryn Terfel in Cape Town, in South Africa, this year.

 

He and his mum made the long journey down to Cardiff to audition because the Llangollen auditions clash with the Urdd Eisteddfod preliminaries.

 

He said: “I enjoyed singing the audition and I’m looking forward to singing with Bryn Terfel in South Africa but it would be great to sing with him at Llangollen as well and with Wynne Evans.

 

“I love singing and I go round Eisteddfods singing duets with my older brother Dafydd Cernyw, who is 13.”

 

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Sondheim is set in 19^th century London and tells the story of the crazed barber who murders his clients and supplies the bodies to his accomplice, piemaker Mrs Lovett.

 

Sondheim’s multi-award winning classic was first performed on Broadway in 1979 and has since been a regular production across the world and on the big screen in 2007 when superstar Johnny Depp played Todd and Helena Bonham Carter his accomplice.

 

Bryn Terfel has played the role before, in 2002 in Chicago but hasn’t sung it since 2007 although he will be fronting a performance of it by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in New York this month.

 

It will be the first time he has performed on the International Eisteddfod stage since he opened the 2006 festival and that was his first appearance at Llangollen in a decade.

 

He said: “I’m absolutely thrilled I’m able to appear at the 2014 International Eisteddfod. I’m a proud Welshman and the International Eisteddfod is unique, the atmosphere, the colour, the audience, even the flowers, it really is a very, very special event.”

 

Eilir Owen Griffiths added: “It’s brilliant to have Bryn back this year and what an experience for those who come through the auditions to be on stage with him.

 

“It’s very exciting and the orchestra for the performance, the Sinfonia Cymru, is a very young orchestra also, conducted by maestro Gareth Jones.

 

“We need to be leaving a legacy and giving an opportunity for young people to shine.”

 

Sweeney Todd will be the curtain raiser to six tremendous days at Llangollen which kicks off on Tuesday, July 8, with this year’s concerts featuring Dutch jazz diva Caro Emerald, American tenor star Noah Stewart, a new work by composer Karl Jenkins, the Cape Town Opera, the Choir of the World competition on Saturday night and legendary British rockers Status Quo closing the event on Sunday night.

 

To book tickets and for more information on the 2014 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Llan Community Garden hosts special event this Saturday

Llangollen Community Garden is hosting a Wild Weekend for Wales event on Saturday, March 8.

The event, from 10am-3pm, is sponsored by Keep Wales Tidy will see groups all over Wales doing practical projects to help wildlife. This spring the main focus is on pollinators.

Members of Llangollen Community Garden will be:

Establishing their Coppice Area

• Thinning the sapling trees, clearing bramble, coppicing some of the ash
• Planting hazel
• Under planting with snowdrops (and hopefully primroses).

Planting 2 Fruit Trees

• Planting a plum and a damson. Food for the bees and us!

Planting Honeysuckles

• Putting up wires to grow a honey suckle along the stone wall behind the social area
• Putting up trellis and planting 2 honeysuckles to cover the metal fencing erected by DCC

Tidying up our existing Flower Beds

• The garden's existing Bee Beds need some tlc after the winter
• We will be planting some extra “bee” plants too, mostly from plant divisions from our own gardens

Log / Bug Piles

• As an extra to their pollinator plans garden members will saw up some of the many branches in the garden
• The aim is to create 1 or 2 smaller log piles in the children’s area suitable for future mini beast hunting

All welcome

• Wear footwear suitable for mud and old clothes. Gloves & tools provided.
• Also provided; tea, coffee, juice plus biscuits & cakes too. If possible bring a mug, but we will have some spares.
• Children welcome if accompanied by an adult.

Tell your friends

• Drop in for an hour or two, or bring lunch and stay all day!

               

University to move out of Tyn Dwr Hall

* UCLAN is moving out of Tyn Dwr Hall.

BOSSES say they will do all they can to avoid compulsory job cuts when the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) pulls out of Llangollen’s historic Tyn Dwr Hall later this year.

The university took over the Victorian mansion in 2009 and spent £2 million on refurbishing the building which has since been used as a centre to prepare students for careers working outdoors, through tree climbing and living in Mongolian-style tents in the grounds.

But, as part of a major cost-cutting exercise, UCLAN now says it has decided to cease to deliver these activities at the hall from this autumn.

 

A UCLAN spokesman said: “Following a review of operational activity and academic need, the university has decided to use alternative facilities to the Tyn Dwr Outdoor Centre.

“The centre is currently used to deliver elements of courses run through the School of Sport, Tourism and the Outdoors, and it will cease to deliver these activities at Tyn Dwr from the end of the 2013/14 academic year.

“In future years, the university will deliver these activities in other parts of its estate or by using external providers when required.”

The spokesman added: “The decision comes as part of the university’s need to achieve recurrent cost savings of £10 million from its non-academic cost base by 2015, while still protecting and enhancing the student experience.

“We are committed to consulting with the recognised trade unions and staff with a view to minimise, mitigate and reduce any staff reductions through a variety of means including voluntary redundancy, TUPE transfers if appropriate and redeployment.

“The university will do all that it can to avoid compulsory redundancies.”

The hall, which dates back to the 1860s and is reputed to be haunted, was given a fanfare opening following a £2 million facelift in February, 2009.

Tyn Dwr Hall was built by John Dicken, an iron master, as a holiday home for himself and his family, with the estate covering roughly 12,00 acres, including much of the Berwyn Mountains.

In later years it became a youth hostel and in 2006 when it was earmarked for closure there was an unsuccessful campaign to save it.

The university spokesman did not reveal how many staff are currently employed at the hall or what is likely to happen to the building once UCLAN moves out.

Llangollen Chamber of Trade & Tourism said in a statement: “Llangollen Chamber of Trade & Tourism is saddened to hear the news about the forthcoming closure of Tyn Dwr Hall by UCLAN.

“This is devastating news for the existing employees and yet another example of the damage caused by expenditure cuts in local government, particularly in the education sector such as this.

“We can only hope that a buyer is found very soon and can offer some safeguarding of employment opportunities for the employees currently working there.”

County Councillor Stuart Davies said: "I am horrified to hear about the job losses at Tyn Dwr, coming on top of the proposed redundancies from Dobsons it is even more important that we push for more job making opportunities in the town.

"Work is ongoing to facilitate more job making opportunities. I continue to liaise with AMs to further these aims and to try and safeguard existing jobs."

Fatal accident near Mold this morning

North Wales Police say they were called to a serious incident involving an off-road Land Rover at Moel Llys Y Coed, near Mold, in the early hours of this morning (Sunday).

 

In a statement, the police say: "The Land Rover appears to have toppled down a hilled public area. Sadly, the driver sustained fatal injuries.

 

"No other vehicles are thought to be involved and there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances."

Carrog to launch new community map

The local community in Carrog will be launching their new community map at an event in the Neuadd at 3.30 pm on Thursday, March 6.  

The map has been created by local artist Ben Davis with a lot of involvement from local residents. The images on the map have been drawn by children during workshops, and these have been painstakingly coloured in using photographs of real textures.  

The result is highly unusual and eye catching, with lots of detail to explore.  Old photographs have also been included to give an insight into how people in the community used to live.

The project has been managed by the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and funded by the Communities and Nature Programme managed by Natural Resources Wales.

The highlight of the event will be a rendition of “Bro Edeirnion” by the local choir Côr Merched Edeyrnion.  The poem was originally written by W.E. Williams, a former headmaster at Glyndyfrdwy school.

Fiona Collins, the Village Hall Secretary and local storyteller is very excited about the launch. She said: "'The village community has been very much involved at every step on the process, and children and adults alike are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the finished map.  

"I have only lived in the village for ten years and have already learnt a lot about my adopted 'milltir sgwar' from the map  - and it's not even here yet!  The fact that members of the choir have agreed to come to sing their signature tune, Bro Edeyrnion, makes the opening event even more special."

For more information contact Ros Stockdale on 01978 869615 or ros.stockdale@denbighshire.gov.uk

Happy St David's Day

Happy St David's Day

from llanblogger!

Eisteddfod's gem of a fundraising idea

 

* Call me: Christine Dukes is collecting unwanted phones,

 jewellery and foreign currency to raise money for the Llangollen

International Musical Eisteddfod.

 

 

UNWANTED jewellery, foreign currency and mobile phones are helping Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (LIME) retain its place as Wales’s Mecca for music, dance, costume and culture from around the world.

 

A host of international stars headed by rock legends Status Quo will line up for this year’s festival from July 8-13, which will once bring visitors flocking from across the globe.

 

But keeping the whole glittering affair running requires a huge fundraising effort and, as the Llangollen’s Festival Support Co-ordinator Christine Dukes explained, new ways of bringing in vital revenue are constantly being explored.

 

One of the latest ventures is a gem of an idea to recycle unwanted jewellery along with foreign currency and old mobile phones.

 

Christine said: “We are always looking for new and novel ways of raising money to support the expense of staging our iconic annual festival and exactly a year ago we decided to sign up to be involved with an organisation called Recycling For Good Causes.

 

“It’s an ethical company which has been working successfully with a wide range of charities such as LIME since 1996.

 

“The idea behind it is that people bring in their unwanted items which are then collected by the company and sent away for recycling.

 

“Money raised from selling off the donated items is then sent back to the charity, which has no overheads to pay.”

 

Christine added: “It’s a very simple idea which we introduced exactly a year ago and in the past 12 months we’ve raised quite a healthy amount of money from it.

 

“Basically, people are invited to donate items that they no longer have a use for. That might be jewellery that’s gone out of fashion, foreign currency that could have been lying forgotten at the back of a draw for years or old mobile phones.

 

“Phones seem to become outmoded fairly quickly as newer, more sophisticated models are introduced all the time.

 

“The currency can be from the UK or any foreign country. It can be either coins or banknotes, and I think many people still have some of that kind of thing lying around at home which they’d like to get rid of and benefit a good cause at the same time.”

 

According to Christine, LIME has attracted enough donations over the past year to warrant two collections by the Midlands-based Recycling For Good Causes, and these have included a diverse selection of items.

 

“We’ve had quite a few foreign banknotes, watches and even old trophies which had been handed out for sporting performance. There have also been a fair number of mobile phones of all makes and ages. But the thing we’ve had the most of by far is costume jewellery, in all shapes and sizes,” she said.

 

“Some of the items of jewellery, such as necklaces, have been broken but the good thing with this scheme is that you can still get money for them.

 

“Being part of Recycling For Good Causes has been a great success for us but, up to now, the people making donations have mainly been those who are associated in some way with LIME.

 

“We now want to spread the word about it as far as possible so that other people are encouraged to let us have their unwanted goods which we can sell on to ensure the fantastic festival we stage each year can continue to be the amazing success that it is.

 

“Goods can be brought in to the LIME headquarters any day Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and we would be delighted to receive all donations.”

 

The curtain raiser for this year's Eisteddfod will mark the return of opera superstar Bryn Terfel to Llangollen.

 

The acclaimed bass baritone will be playing the lead in a special English-language production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street featuring an all-Welsh cast.

 

This year's will also feature concerts by Dutch jazz sensation Caro Emerald and veteran British rockers Status Quo as well as a world premiere of a new work, Adiemus Colores, by top composer Karl Jenkins.

 

He will conduct his Latin American themed work with American tenor Noah Stewart, Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores and Latvian accordion player Ksenija Sidorova to the accompaniment of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod Orchestra.

 

The Friday night concert, Spirit of Unity, will feature the Cape Town Opera, Africa’s premiere opera company, famed for their "vibrant vocalism and high-octane stage performances".

 

Appearing with them will be Wales’ representative in Cardiff Singer of the World, Gary Griffiths, the Wales Millennium Centre Only Kidz Aloud Chorus under the baton of celebrity conductor Tim Rhys Evans and British Sinfonietta, one of the UK's leading independent professional orchestras.

 

The Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy on the Saturday night is the blue riband event of the week-long festival which will close with a Sunday night concert by Status Quo.

 

To book tickets and for more details about the urban dance competition go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk