Llan school triumphs in arts competitions

Llangollen schools have done well in county-wide creative arts competitions.

For the first time ever, Denbighshire schools entered competitions covering art, creative writing, film-making and music composition as part of the festival, Denbighshire Enrichfest 2015 - Get Inspired! 

Staged in collaboration with the Arts Council of Wales, the festival aims to showcase the talents of children and young people across Denbighshire who have been challenged and inspired to produce a wide range of work, adding value to their work in the classroom across the curriculum. 

This unique Denbighshire initiative reflects current thinking that the creative arts can have a beneficial knock-on effect on children's well-being and self-esteem and can engage them in a new and innovative way and get them inspired as never before. 

Having been inspired via enrichfest.2015, many of these children and young people, it is anticipated, will go on explore careers opportunities in the increasingly important creative arts industries sector in Wales and further afield.         

No sooner has the competitions phase of Denbighshire Enrichfest.2015 reached its climax in May and a glittering Awards ceremony staged, the exciting performance elements get underway, involving 200 Primary, Secondary and Special school pupils in performing arts workshops and masterclasses, tutored by leading practitioners from the world of musical theatre, led by Mark Puddle, a native of North Wales and a leading West End London performing arts entrepreneur.

The climax to these week-long workshops, which are being held in the north and south of the county, will be Showcase Performances at Llangollen Pavilion on Friday June, 19 from 5-6:15 pm and Rhyl Pavilion Theatre on Friday June 26, from 5-6:15 pm, when the public, including parents, teachers, governors, councillors and other organisations can see for themselves the fruits of all the hard work undertaken by the children and young people.

Overall Schools Competition winners are:

Young Artist: Daniel Bailes, Year 7, Blessed Edward Jones High School, Rhyl
Young Writer: Alexander Whetstone, Year 6, Ysgol Bryn Collen, Llangollen
Short Film Competition:  Ysgol Bryn Collen (KS1), Llangollen
Young Musicians: Ysgol Dewi Sant (Year 6), Rhyl 

Councillor Eryl Williams, Cabinet Lead Member for Education, said: "We have been thoroughly delighted with the response to the Enrichfest initiative.  It has captured the imagination of our children and young people and shows that there is a real interest in Denbighshire in the creative industries sector in Wales." 

Full competition results: 

Young Artist Competition 

Reception/ Year 1 and 2:
1st  Alice Jackson, Year 1, Ysgol Bodfari.
2nd Sasha Davies-Jones, Year 1, Ysgol Bryn Collen, Llangollen
3rd  Ryan Jones, Year 1, Ysgol y Parc, Denbigh 

Years 3 and 4
1st Courtney Cox, Year 3, Ysgol Clawdd Offa, Prestatyn
2nd Alex Davies, Year 3, Ysgol Pendref, Denbigh
3rd Tom Priestley, Year 3, Ysgol Bodfari. 

Years 5 and 6
1st Ioan Beating, Year 5, Ysgol Mair, Rhyl
2nd Lori Roberts, Year 6, Ysgol Emmanuel, Rhyl
3rd  Jan Ranci, Year 6, Ysgol Mair, Rhyl 

Secondary
1st  Bayley Wilkinson, Year 9, Rhyl High School
2nd Daniel Bailes, Year 7, Blessed Edward Jones High School, Rhyl
3rd  Kieron Nolan, Year 7, Blessed Edward Jones High School, Rhyl 

Young Writer competition 

Reception, Years 1 and 2
Winner: Danielle Jones, Year 2, St Asaph Infants 

Years 3 and 4
Winner: Matilda Cook, Year 4, Ysgol Bryn Collen, Llangollen 

Years 5 and 6:
Winners: Libby Morrissey, Year 5, Ysgol Clawdd Offa, Prestatyn & Alexander Whetstone, Ysgol Bryn Collen, Llangollen 

Short Film Competition;
1st Ysgol Bryn Collen (KS1), Llangollen
2nd Ysgol Caer Drewyn, Corwen
3rd  Ysgol Bryn Collen (KS2), Llangollen 

Young Musicians: Music Composition On-line Contest:
1st  Ysgol Dewi Sant, Year 6, Rhyl
2nd Roan Pritchard, Year 6, Ysgol Emmanuel, Rhyl & Christopher Jones, Year 10, Rhyl High School. 

Major music event coming to Pavilion

Details of the programme are:

Both evening concerts begin at 7.30pm and will finish about 11.30.

Tickets are limited and you can buy from the website. (£15)

Friday eve.  7.30 pm
Whitefern Mountain String Band
Blossom Hill Bluegrass band
Baker's Fabulous boys
Ruben and Matt & The Truffle Valley Boys

Saturday eve. 7.30pm
Mind The Step (Appalachian Dance)
Kentucky Cowtippers
Grass Snakes
Ruben and Matt & The Truffle Valley Boys

WORKSHOPS
Sat (10 am - 12 noon)
Workshops - Banjo/Guitar/Mandolin/Fiddle/Dobro/D.Bass

1-30pm  - Vocal Harmony
2pm  - Appalachian Dance
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2.30 pm    OPEN MIC

PICKIN' AROUND THE SITE

Cream of young talent in Mayor's Charity Concert

* Members of the Young 'Uns reprise their recent show, Half a Sixpence.

 

Pictures courtesy of Malcolm Potter.

 

THE cream of Llangollen’s young talent took to the stage at the Town Hall last Friday for the annual Mayor’s Charity Concert.

The show, proceeds from which are to be split between the town’s Christmas festival and the Wales Air Ambulance, opened with members of Llangollen Operatic Society’s junior section, the Young ‘Uns, performing scenes from its recent successful production of the musical Half a Sixpence.

They were followed by the recorder group and a specially formed rock outfit from St Collen’s School who played a song they had personally penned for the occasion.

Next on the bill came pupils from Ysgol y Gwernant with songs and recitations in the Welsh language.

During the interval the retiring Mayor, Cllr Bob Lube, presented cheques of £300 each from his charity fund to six local youth organisations.

The second half of the show began with a rousing set from Llangollen Silver Band and continued with solo musical pieces from harpist Lucy Mwale and acoustic guitarist Jamie Thomas who performed a number of his own compositions.

Finale came from the Silver Band who were called back for an encore at the end of their set.

The show was neatly compered by Llangollen’s town crier Austin Cheminais.   

 

 

* St Collen's recorder group during their performance.

* An up-tempo number from Collen Rockers.

* The girls from Ysgol y Gwernant take the stage.

Castle Street meeting planned for May 26

Town councillor Phil Thane has sent the following message about the Castle Street traffic initiative he is promoting:

Earlier this year Cittaslow Llangollen ran a Crowd Funding scheme to collect enough money to get renowned traffic engineer Ben Hamilton-Baillie to take a look at Castle Street and suggest some
possible solutions.

They got the money, booked Ben, and it's happening on May 26th at 7pm in the Town Hall.

Cittaslow Llangollen are hopeful this one day visit and presentation will kickstart some new thinking about an old problem. Everyone has an opinion about Castle Street, but Ben is an expert who has tackled many similar problems.

The presentation will last about an hour, and there will be time for questions. There will be free refreshments too, provided by the Spar.

* For more information about Cittaslow Llangollen, please visit
www.cittaslow.llangollentowncouncil.co.uk or
www.facebook.com/CittaslowLlangollen.

To download a flyer about the event on May 26th, click here:
http://bit.ly/1zVvP2s

Youngsters will raise curtain on Llangollen 2015

 

* Young people from the Eisteddford parade through Llangollen town centre.

 

AROUND 4,000 schoolchildren will join in a day of music and fun to raise the curtain on this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

 

They will be heading for the International Pavilion to take part in a concert entitled Bongos, Brass and Plenty of Dance which is the centrepiece of Children’s Day, the traditional prelude to the annual cultural festival being staged from July 6-12.

 

The 40-minute musical extravaganza will be staged twice, at 10.30am and again at 12 noon, on the opening day, Tuesday July 7.

 

The crowds of young visitors will later head out on to the Eisteddfod field to enjoy a packed programme of street theatre complete with clown, stilt walkers and Bollywood dancing.

 

There will also be music and dance performances on the outside stages and a series of workshops.

 

The junior choirs competition will be at 1.30pm and the centrepiece of the day will be the colourful parade of competitors which will start winding its way through the town at 4.30pm.

 

The concert will feature a rousing performance by The Alto Brass Ensemble, which includes a quintet of some of Wales’s finest brass players plus two percussionists, one of whom, Owen Gunnell, was voted a BBC Musician of the Year in 2000 and has gone on to become a star of the international performance circuit.

 

Children's Day is being sponsored by the Pendine Park care organisation who are also supporting the Alfie Boe concert on the Thursday night, July 9.

 

Other big draws include Oscar-winning music legend Burt Bacharach, the immensely popular Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and TV choirmaster Gareth Malone.

 

There will also be the world premiere of a new work to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Welsh colony in Patagonia in a concert that will also star former royal harpist Catrin Finch.

 

For the final concert, Ali Campbell, the voice of UB40 who sold 70 million records, who'll be reunited on the eisteddfod stage with two other founding members of the group, percussionist, trumpet player and vocalist Astro and keyboard player Mickey in a concert sponsored by the Village Bakery.

 

The Children’s Day concert programme has been tailored to appeal to a young audience and includes such popular numbers as the rousing themes from the blockbuster movies Pirates of the Caribbean and Monsters Inc.

 

Owen Gunnell is famed for his expertise in introducing children to the excitement of music.     

 

In 2003, he graduated from the Royal College of Music and has appeared as a soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, BBC Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, Macedonia Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Viva.

 

He is one half of the percussion duo, O Duo, who have won many prizes and performed and been broadcast on television and radio all over the world.

 

O Duo are also well known as artistic directors for Children's Classic Concerts in Scotland, curating and performing in a variety of concerts ranging from chamber size to symphony orchestra size.

 

Owen, who is based in East Anglia but has family ties in South Wales through his parents, promised that the event would be “fun, slick and interactive”.

 

He said: “I’ve worked quite a lot with children over the years, so I know that you’ve got to give them something that’s entertaining. I think we’re definitely going to do that with the programme we’ve chosen.  

 

“We also plan to get some of the children in the audience up onto the stage so they can try for themselves some of the percussion instruments we’ll have like xylophones and vibraphones.

 

“I’m looking forward very much to being at Llangollen for such a fantastic occasion.”

 

Apart the ensemble, there will also be some dazzling performances by a number of the dance groups who are performing at the Eisteddfod later in the week and musical workshops which the children will be invited to join in.

 

Another highlight of the concert will be the delivery of the traditional Peace Message.  

Since 1952, young people have sent out a poignant Message of Peace and Goodwill from the stage of the Eisteddfod during the Children’s Day concert.

 

This year the message will be delivered by pupils from Mountain Lane Primary School in Buckley.

 

Later on Children’s Day there’s a further musical feast planned to thrill the young audience in the Pavilion in the shape of a junior children’s choir competition featuring singers from 10 schools.

 

Contestants come from across Wales, England and as far afield as St Paul’s Co-ed Primary School in Hong Kong.

 

Throughout the day from 8.30am young Eisteddfod visitors can enjoy a colourful selection of children’s activities on the field including Bollywood dance workshops and street theatre featuring clowns, musicians and stilt walkers.

 

Rounding off a busy day will the iconic International Parade in which competitors from across the globe will process in their national costumes, flags fluttering, through cheering crowds from the Eisteddfod field to Llangollen town centre led by bands and Eisteddfod president Terry Waite in an open-top vehicle.

 

Eisteddfod Musical Director Eilir Owen Griffiths said: “The whole Children’s Day programme will have the accent firmly on entertainment.

 

“It promises to be an excellent day out which matches many requirements of the National Curriculum, linking awareness of global citizenship and culture with a pleasurable experience.

 

“The concert by The Alto Brass Ensemble has been designed to introduce children to the brass family of musical instruments and should be the Eisteddfod’s most interactive concert experience ever.

 

“The concert programme includes two pieces – the themes from Pirates of the Caribbean and Monsters Inc – which children can very much relate to and enjoy.

 

“We are delighted to have Owen Gunnell as one of the ensemble who is a percussionist of international repute and famed for the way he works with children in an enjoyable and interesting way.

 

“This year’s Peace Message, to be delivered by the children from Mountain Lane Primary School in Buckley, is on the theme ‘one voice’ which signifies the way countries from many countries come together to sing together with one voice at the Eisteddfod.” 

 

* To book tickets and for more details on the 2015 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

 

Operatic reprises Sister Act at Dolywern

* Leonard Cheshire's Syliva Jones, left, explains to society

members how the money they raised from Sister Act will be used.

Thirty members of Llangollen Operatic Society visited Leonard Cheshire Disability in Dolywern to entertain the residents and staff with songs from heir recent smash-hit production of Sister Act.

Society spokeswoman Louisa Jones said: "We sang a selection of songs from the show, lasting around 45 minutes.

"All those who had played nuns wore their habits to add to the effect and our audience all seemed to enjoy the performance.

 

"At the end, we presented Sylvia Jones, the volunteer coordinator and activities organiser, with a cheque for £882.

 

"This, together with a donation from HSBC, who very kindly matched the sponsorship raised by Elaine Ansloos, its manager in Chirk, came to £1,000.

 

"Sylvia thanked us for the donation and said the money would be used for residents' activities such as arts and crafts, IT, in-house entertainment and outings.

 

"It would also help to support two Japanese volunteers who stay with them for a year a time and do activities with the residents."

 

Louisa added: "It is a pleasure for our members to go and perform at the home following our production each year and we are always given such a warm reception.

 

"It really is a fantastic organisation and we are proud to have been able to raise funds on their behalf.

 

"The remainder of the money raised by the Nun Run, the charity event we did just before the show, will be used to cover Sister Act production costs and specifically, the costume spend, which was significant as all of the fantastic habits were made from scratch, by hand, by our very own costume team." 

Silver Band plays at VE Day event

* Llangollen Silver Band members with veterans at the

VE Day anniversary celebration in Bellevue Park, Wrexham.

Llangollen Silver Band were delighted to be invited to play at Bellevue Park, Wrexham last Monday  as part of the VE Day 70th anniversary celebrations.

On a beautiful Bank Holiday afternoon the band began by accompanying hymns in a service led by the Rev Gerald Griffiths.

Tributes were also paid by Councillor David Griffiths and the chairperson of the Friends of Bellevue Park, Barbara Jones.

Attending the service were a number of World War Two veterans and all in attendance observed a two-minute silence to remember the fallen.

The band's principal cornet player, Mia Thomas, ended the silence with the haunting call of The Last Post.

Following the service the band performed a varied musical programme whilst the veterans and audience enjoyed a tea party in the sunshine.