Search for youngster to sing alongside Sir Bryn Terfel

A search has been launched to find a talented young singer for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to perform with Sir Bryn Terfel and two other global opera stars.

The renowned bass baritone (pictured) will be starring with Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt and Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais in the classic opera, Tosca, at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod this summer.

The concert on Tuesday, July 4, is being sponsored by the arts-loving care organisation Pendine Park and will help celebrate the festival's 70th anniversary.

Organisers are now looking for talented boy sopranos or trebles to audition for the opportunity to join the world class cast in the role of the Shepherd Boy. 

Open auditions will be held for the young hopefuls at the Llangollen International Pavilion on Saturday, April 15.

The candidates will be asked to perform two pieces, “I give you sighs” from the third act of Tosca and one of their own choosing.

The concert will be one of the highlights of what organisers promise will be a festival packed with high quality entertainment, including jazz singer Gregory Porter and Welsh rock legends, the Manic Street Preachers.

Later in the week on Thursday, July 6, Sir Bryn and Pendine Park will be joining forces again as sponsors of the Voice of the Future Competition to find the world's best young singers when the finalists will be competing for the Pendine Trophy and a cheque for £6,000.

But first comes Tosca which is a dramatic love story set against a backdrop of lust, political intrigue and murder. 

The opera tells the tragic story of singer Floria Tosca, played by Kristine Opolais, and her fight to save her lover. Benedikt takes the role of her lover, Cavaradossi who is fleeing from Sir Bryn’s sadistic police chief, Scarpia.

The acclaimed Welsh National Opera Orchestra conducted by Gareth Jones will accompany them.

The festival's musical director, Eilir Owen Griffiths, said: “Building on the success of Carmen and Sweeney Todd, this is another adventurous project for the Eisteddfod to undertake. Under the direction of Amy Lane the production will include stunning video work and subtle staging to bring this wonderful opera to Llangollen.

“By combining the excellence and expertise of Welsh and international talent, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is bringing opera to a much wider and diverse audience.

"We are grateful to Pendine Park for sponsoring the Tosca concert and for their generous support for the Voice of the Future competition later in the week.

"This shows how Pendine’s support helps bring both existing world class opera performers to the Llangollen  stage but also acts as a platform for launching the careers of the stars of tomorrow."
 
Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft MBE said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring this performance of Tosca, which I am sure will be a magical experience, given the stellar array of operatic talent.

“The festival is particularly close to our hearts. Music and the arts are an important part of our enrichment programme and we genuinely believe that they improve the quality of life of our residents at our Wrexham and Caernarfon care homes.

“It's promising to be a truly unforgettable evening of world class opera, right on our doorstep here in North Wales and starring our very own Sir Bryn Terfel. It's going to be a very special night and one not to be missed."

For more information about the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and to book tickets go to  www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Paedophiles should feel `full force of law' - police boss

A police boss has hit out at suggestions that online paedophiles shouldn't be prosecuted in some cases.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner  Arfon Jones was responding to comments by the Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, who believes only offenders who pose a physical risk to children should face a criminal sentence.

According to Mr Bailey, the head of Operation Hydrant, the nationwide inquiry into historical child sexual abuse, the police were struggling to cope with the huge number of criminals looking at indecent images of children online and should concentrate resources on what he described as high risk offenders.

Mr Jones (pictured), a former police inspector, said: "Any offences that involve the sexual degradation of children are heinous. They are among the most serious crimes dealt with by the police and should be punished accordingly.

"Every time an indecent image of a child is viewed it is tantamount to the abuse being repeated over and over again.

"One of the things becoming clear is that many of the people looking at images like these are also creating them so they are also guilty of contact offences with children.

"In my opinion, anybody caught committing offences of this nature should feel the full force of the law and be prosecuted.

"There are strict sentencing guidelines for in relation to crimes perpetrated by paedophiles and they should be adhered to so that the right punishment is imposed and will more often than not involve custodial sentences.

"Of course, there should also be support in place to rehabilitate offenders once they have been punished.

"For example, the Circles of Support scheme works with sex offenders in North Wales has been particularly successful.

"The COSA programme sees members of the community volunteer to work with offenders and since it started in North Wales in 2007 none of the offenders taking part has gone on to re-offend.

"My only concern with COSA is that, while in South Wales it is funded centrally by the National Offender Management Service, we have to pay for it ourselves here in North Wales."

"Protecting children is one of my most important responsibilities and it will be a priority in my new Police and Crime Plan which will be published soon.

"North Wales Police are already leading the way and the force has established a Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) to tackle the emerging threat of child sexual exploitation via the internet.

"They work alongside the force's Cyber Crime Team and High Tech Crime Unit based in St Asaph.

"Online child sexual exploitation is a vile crime committed by dangerous and devious people who come from every section of society and often appear to be leading outwardly respectable lives.

"I’m pleased that we’re investing so many resources in tackling online sexual exploitation because the care of children is the most important thing we do.

"Paedophiles are becoming increasingly sophisticated so it is vitally important that we respond accordingly with a team of our own experts catching those committing these types of crime and bringing them to justice.

"This problem isn’t going to go away and we need to concentrate on raising awareness, education and reducing harm and I think there is some excellent work being done to reach this priority.

"I’m very happy to support the force in providing as much resources as needed to ensure that children, wherever they may be in the world, are safe."

Town's newest antiques fair to be staged

* A water colour of Llangollen in days gone by.

SELLERS from across North Wales and the Marches will be coming to Llangollen later this month for the town’s newest antiques fair.

Taking place at the Hand Hotel (pictured below) on Sunday, March 26, the fair will showcase the wares a select number of dealers from the region.

Staged in two rooms of the historic hotel in the town centre, there will be a wide range of items on sale including quality antiques, collectables including militaria and coins, decorative and vintage homewares.

The fair opens from 9.30am until 3.30pm and there will be refreshments available in the hotel.

Organiser Rob Bellis, of Nook Antiques in Llangollen, has already had a positive response ahead of the inaugural event.

He said: “We’ve had a great deal of interest and are now fully booked in terms of stalls so there will be plenty on offer for collectors or those looking for something interesting or quirky for their home.

“We’ve got some great sellers coming from the west coast of Wales who will be bringing a range of good antiques, some good local dealers, including a couple who make regular trips over to France to source their very interesting stock, and a number of specialists in things like militaria, treen, linens and coins.

“The Hand is a great venue, with its own gardens overlooking the River Dee so it should make for a very good day.”

Admission to the fair is 50p per person.

Parking at the hotel is limited so patrons are asked to use the nearby public car parks when appropriate.

County issues rogue callers alert

Denbighshire residents are advised to be alert following reports of rogue callers impersonating council tax officers.

One man turned up unexpectedly at a house in Prestatyn and stated that he was investigating council tax arrears owed by a previous resident.

No person of that name is known to have previously lived at the address. The householder acted prudently and refused entry to the caller before reporting the incident to North Wales Police and Denbighshire Council the following day.

The caller was driving an unmarked white van and was wearing a lanyard with an identification card which was not shown. He failed to introduce himself and left no paperwork at the address.

A representative from the council tax service has confirmed that no employee of the service was in the area at that time and explains that council employees are instructed to always wear identification, hand it over for inspection and will always leave details of who they are.

The council says it has also received reports of other incidents  in the Rhyl, Prestatyn and Dyserth areas. The first relates to a lone male who stated he was from a money saving website who is believed to be trying to sell insurance, but information on this is limited.

The second incident relates to a group of males knocking door to door selling cleaning products and small knick-knacks, again information is limited on these individuals.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said:  “The council is committed to tackling those involved in rogue calling crime and will use all means at our disposal to ensure they are swiftly brought to justice.”

“Rogue traders usually turn up announced, claim to be respectable tradespeople when they are not and use a range of deceptions to gain personal information which they later misuse or charge inflated prices for sub-standard or unnecessary work.

“However, an effective way of preventing these incidents from happening in the first place is by raising awareness of the problem and advising members of the public on what steps they can take to better protect themselves from falling victim.

"We would recommend that you never engage anyone who turns up at your door and never give them money up front or disclose any personal or financial information. We would also caution against keeping large sums of cash in your own home.”

* More information about how to protect yourself against bogus callers can be found on the Trading Standards section of the Denbighshire County Council website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk

Volunteering event at the health centre tomorrow

llanblogger reader Mike Edwards has sent details of a volunteering event at Llangollen Health Centre tomorrow, Tuesday March 7, from 10am-12.30pm.

For details, please follow the link: https://mercury.postlight.com/amp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fartisans-collective.org.uk%2Fvolunteer-opportunity%2Fdenbighshire%2F

AM opens Llan's new health and fitness centre

* Clwyd South AM Ken Skates cuts the ribbon to open Verve in Market Street.

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates officially opened Verve, Llangollen's new health, fitness and wellbeing centre yesterday (Saturday) morning. 

Facilities at the Market Street centre include an exercise studio, rehab and personal training gym and three treatment rooms.  

Physiotherapist and pilates tutor Susan Wallace of Get Moving Keep Moving said: “We are delivering a number of group exercise classes, including pilates, yoga, MMA, exercise for the mature mover, Feldenkrais and children's yoga.  

“We are planning to add further traditional exercises classes. However as a physio with a fitness and personal training background I am keen to add specialist rehabilitation classes and, linking with the health centre, provide GP referral, falls prevention, back care etc.

“Our treatment rooms are bringing together a host of experienced therapists currently practising in Llangollen and include physiotherapy, chiropractic and acupuncture.  Our gym will be used for rehabilitation and also small group personal training.”  

Visitors to an open morning watched Mr Skates cut the ribbon to declare the new facility open.  

Llan company wins coveted gold service award

* Peter and Lesley Carol celebrate their gold Feefo win at the shop.

ProAdventure of Llangollen has won a Feefo Gold Service award, an independent seal of excellence that recognises businesses for delivering exceptional experiences rated by real customers.

Created by Feefo, Trusted Service is awarded to businesses that use Feefo to collect genuine ratings and reviews.

A badge of honour, this accreditation remains unique as all the awards are based purely on the interactions with verified customers.

This feedback has been collated by the Feefo review platform, with the accolades being awarded based upon performance.

ProAdventure met the criteria of collecting at least 50 reviews between January 1 and December 31 2016, and achieved a Feefo service rating of between 4.5 and 5.0. (Currently 277 Reviews with a 4.7 average for ProAdventure).

Boss Peter Carol said: “It’s a real honour to receive this award from Feefo. To be recognised for delivering exceptional experiences to our customers is a great achievement.

"We’ve been working hard to ensure our customers receive the best service possible, and being able to listen, understand and respond to their needs has enabled us to improve our offering in 2016. We’re looking forward to another successful year ahead."

ProAdventure has grown out of Peter Carol’s 30 years of experience of working in outdoor adventure training and holidays and Lesley Carol’s 30 years of customer service experience.

Peter is highly trained and qualified in leading and coaching in the outdoors, and ran an outdoor adventure activity business for 25 years.

Lesley Carol has spent all of her life adventuring. She has expeditioned in the UK and Chile and has qualified as a Canoe River Leader. She also trained as a Mountain Leader and Nordic Walking Coach and holds the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Andrew Mabbutt, CEO of Feefo, said: “We would like to offer our congratulations to all the winners of this year’s Feefo Trusted Service award. We are so proud that so many businesses are putting customer service first.” 

“We have been working closely with all our customers to build trust and transparency online, and ultimately helping shoppers buy with confidence and make better decisions.” 

Feefo is a ratings and reviews, and customer analytics platform. It collects genuine, purchase-verified reviews on behalf of over 3,000 businesses.

Feefo ensures that all feedback is authentic, by matching it to a legitimate transaction; we believe this is the best way to combat the rising issue of fake reviews.