The Youth Wind Band at St David's Hall

Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Music Service is based at the Friary Centre in Cardiff. Apart from the provision of instrumental & voice lessons to more than 8000 school pupils in the area by a team of over 95 dedicated tutors, the CCVG Music Service offers a wealth of orchestras and ensembles for school children from Cardiff & the Vale of Glamorgan. The groups all rehearse weekly in the Friary Centre, starting at primary level & advancing to the youth level with near professional standard.

Over 1200 young people are members of the 26 county ensembles:- 4 orchestras, 3 Wind Bands, 3 choirs, 7 Brass Bands, 3 percussion groups, 2 Jazz Ensembles, 2 Guitar Groups and 2 beginner String Groups.

The county ensembles exist to give as many pupils as possible the opportunity to play and sing music in a wide variety of styles and in much larger groups than would be viable in schools. Members also have the opportunity to develop the skills required in ensemble playing and are able to take part in concerts at prestigious venues such as St David's Hall and City Hall, Cardiff, often to audiences in excess of 1,000.

Many of these ensembles have been very successful in international and national competitions and have undertaken concert tours throughout Western Europe. They have been actively involved in fundraising - the Brass Bands alone have raised in excess of £100,000 to help those in the community who are disabled and disadvantaged.

The Transitional Brass Band at St David's Hall

In 2006 The Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Wind Band fulfilled the ambition of many a musician by performing at one of the world's most famous concert halls. They joined the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, the Beatles and Judy Garland in the ranks of performers at New York's Carnegie Hall on their tour of America.

Over 60 young people took part in the performance at the Isaac Stern Auditorium - the largest hall in the venue which opened in 1891 - as part of the New York Wind Band Festival on Monday March 27. Wind ensembles from across the USA and further afield took part in the event in which the Welsh contingent were given a gold award for their performance. Members of the band were then interviewed on ABC's morning news programme Good Morning America as a result of their award.

Two years ago the Youth Orchestra was the first amateur ensemble to be invited to perform at the Riva del Garda festival in Salo, Lake Garda, Italy. They were followed the next evening by the Berlin Philharmonic!

Other recent achivements by these young musicians have also included:

• over 40 students from the Youth Orchestra, Youth Wind Band and Youth Brass Band being accepted by the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and other National Ensembles ;

 • students from the Youth Orchestra being awarded places to study at the Royal College of Music;

• Brass students from our Youth Ensembles winning major awards such as the Richard Fice Award for Brass Players.

Ensembles

DAY/age	ENSEMBLE	TIME	Approx Grade required*
Monday
Primary	Junior Schools' Choir	5.00 - 6.15pm	none!
Secondary	Transitional Wind Band	5.45 - 8.00pm	2 plus
Secondary	High Schools' Wind Band	6.30 - 9.00pm	4 plus
Tuesday
Year 7-9	High Schools' Choir	5.45 - 7.30pm	none!
Secondary	Youth Wind Band	6.30 - 9.00pm	6 plus
Primary/Sec	Junior Guitar Ensemble	6.30 - 8.00pm	learning at least six months
Secondary	Senior Guitar Ensemble	7.00 - 8.30pm	2 plus
Wednesday
Primary/Sec	Transitional Brass Band	6.00 - 8.30pm	2 plus
Secondary	Transitional Orchestra	5.45 - 8.15pm	2plus
Secondary	High Schools' Brass Band	6.00 - 8.30pm	5plus
Thursday
Secondary	Junior Jazz	5.00 - 6.25pm	2plus
Primary	Junior Orchestra	5.45 - 7.15pm	1plus
Year 10 up	Youth Choir	6.30 - 8.30pm	none!
Year 10 up	Youth Big Band Jazz News	6.30 - 9.00pm	by audition
Friday
Primary	Violin Club	5.00 - 6.00pm	learning at least a year
Primary	Cello Club	5.00 - 6.00pm	learning at least a year
Secondary	Symphonic Brass	5.00 - 6.15pm	7 plus for most instruments
Secondary	Youth Brass Band	6.15 - 8.45pm	6 plus
Secondary	Youth Orchestra	6.30 - 9.00pm	6 plus
Saturday
Pri/Secondary	Percussion Groups	9.00am - 12.00noon	by  invitation (limited nos)
Primary	Beginners' Brass	10.00 - 1.00am            or 11.00 - 12noon	none - beginners welcome!
Primary	Foundation Brass Band	10.00am - 12.00 noon	1 plus
Primary/sec	Training Brass Band	10.00am - 12.30pm	1 - 2
Secondary	High Schools' Orchestra	10.00am - 12.30pm	4 plus