CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE ST DAVID'S HALL 7.12.2011

Over 500 children in nine ensembles perfomed to a sell-out St David's Hall audience. There was a great atmosphere and every ensemble played magnificently. One of the Primary Cluster Choir pupils said "This has been the best experience I have ever had!"

To begin the concert the Youth Brass Band, conducted for the first time by their new conductor, Charles Maynard, performed with style and polish "Concert March Bandology", "David of the White Rock", "All Creatures Great and Small" and the theme from "Batman - the Movie":



They were swiftly followed by the Advanced Percussion conducted by Celi Johnston. They performed "Sex and the City Theme Tune", "The Lord's Prayer" and "Amorada" with real panache:



Then came the Cluster Choir consisting of 250 children from the primary schools which feed into Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg. They were:
Ysgol Gymraeg Pen-Y-Garth, Ysgol Gwaun-Y-Nant, Ysgol Iolo Morganwg, Ysgol Sant Baruc and Ysgol Sant Curig.

They began with "Sisialai'r awel fwyn", sung with confidence and clarity.



Next was "Dawel Nos", a simple but beautiful carol:




The Cluster Choir then sang "Gwyl y Baban" with real power in the Hallelujah" sections



and finished with a jolly performance of "Nadolig Llawen I chi gyd"





The Training Brass Band appeared for the first time at the Christmas Showcase and confidently performed "Calypso Christmas", "White Christmas" and "God Rock Ye Merry Gentlemen"



The first half finished with the Vaughan Williams' "Folk Song Suite" and "Soul Bossa Nova" performed by the High Schools' Wind Band, conducted by Kyle Jones:



Junior Jazz, conducted by Mark Cheeke got the second half off to a great start with performances of "Augustus Gloop", "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day", "Time Out" and the "Theme from Shaft"



The Youth Big Band "Jazz News" really nailed it with great renditions of "Peter Gunn", "Israel", "Santa Baby"(vocal: Elinor Davies)and "I've got you under my Skin" (vocal: David Wigley)




The High Schools' Choir, conducted by John Wickett and Iona Jones beautifully performed "Sing we now of Christmas", "Molwn, Clodforwn Ef" and "Don't stop beleivin'"



The climax of the concert was the High Schools' Orchestra with perfomances of "The Hall of the Mountain King", "Serenade for Orchestra" and a stirring rendition of "The Dambusters March"



The concert ended with everyone performing "O Come, all ye faithful"


THE 2011 CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE RETIRING COLLECTION RAISED £506.41 FOR CLIC SARGENT CANCER TRUST - thanks to all who contributed to such a worthwhile cause.




Music Service News 28.09.11

CCVG Youth Orchestra award nomination

Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Youth Orchestra has been shortlisted for a Music in the Community award by a panel of community music makers selected by the Gramophone magazine, the Times newspaper and Making Music as an outstanding example of what such ensembles can do for their communities. The winning orchestra will collect their prize at the Dorchester Hotel in London on October 6th.

CCVG Youth Wind Band (YWB) news

Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Youth Wind Band have a fantastic couple of years to look forward to, beginning with a CD recording of easy listening tracks and Christmas Music which will be ready for their concert at Cardiff City Hall on November 14th. On 27th November they will be performing in the National Concert Band Festival in Cheltenham and from there hope to play in the Royal Academy of Music on 1st April.

Sean O’Neil, the Musical Director of the YWB is in the process of organising the first Cardiff and Vale International Wind Band Festival with performances in the new Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. The Festival will include Youth Wind Bands from other counties in Wales and England as well as the RWCMD plus workshops and rehearsals. The internationally famous euphonium player, David Childs has agreed to be part of the festival and Sean hopes that a number of other well-known soloists will be able to perform.

The YWB has, for the third time, been invited to perform in New York in 2013, on the back of their two successful tours in 2007 and 2010 when they performed in the world-famous Carnegie Hall.

CCVG Junior Schools’ Orchestra grows.

Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Junior Schools’ Orchestra (JSO), whose members are all of primary age, has grown to over 180 in number this September, mainly due to the huge success of the Strictly Strings project last summer where over 200 string pupils from 14 primary schools got together in City Hall for a massed string orchestra concert in front of a sell-out audience. Credit must also go to Gary Beauchamp, the Music Director of the JSO who ran a number of orchestral workshops in Cardiff and Vale primaries, encouraging children to join the county ensembles.

STRICTLY STRINGS 2O11! CARDIFF PROJECT HUGE SUCCESS

On 23rd May over 200 Cardiff primary string players from 14 schools came together to perform in the 2011 "Strictly Strings!" concert at City Hall Cardiff in front of a packed audience.

The concert was the successful culmination of the ensemble work the pupils had been doing with their tutors in their weekly peripatetic lesson in school and followed on from the "Strictly Strings Vale" concert in the summer of 2010. They were joined by CCVG Youth String Orchestra, which hopefully inspired some the primary pupils to keep on practising and aim to join them! They performed "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

The Cardiff Primary String Orchestra's first piece was "Rumba" and what a great sound they made:



A Youth Orchestra String Quartet then played Pachabel's "Canon" followed by the galop from the "William Tell" Overture played by the Primary String Orchestra.



We were then treated to a violin solo performed by the amazing Charlie Lovell-Jones who is only 12 years old and passed his Grade 8 exam 3 years ago!

The final item involved all the ensembles in a performance of "Migildi Magildi"



Our thanks to our Cardiff primary string team - Richard Barlow, Gareth Davies, Jenny El-Malali,James Grindle, Alison Howells, Rhianwen Lewis, Liz Pugh, Heulwen Thomas and Glynis Williams - but especially to Wendy Owen for working so hard to make the project such a great success.


MAJOR AWARD FOR COUNTY INSTRUMENTALIST MAY 2011

The annual CCVG Music Service recitals for the Richard Fice Memorial Award took place on 4th May 2010 at the Friary Centre in memory of Richard Fice, a Royal Marine bandsmen from Cardiff who was killed in the Deal I.R.A. bomb tragedy in September 1989. The award was initiated, by public subscription, as a memorial to Richard, to help young brass instrumentalists fulfil their potential and is open to members of Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan music ensembles up to age 19.

This year’s award of £2000 went to Peter McDonough, a 14 year-old euphonium pupil at Stanwell Comprehensive School who would like to use some of the money to have lessons with world-famous euphonium player David Childs.


Peter McDonough

Peter has been playing the euphonium since he was 7 and has progressed so rapidly he has already passed his Grade 7 examination and is a member of the Music Service’s Youth Brass Band and Youth Wind Band. He was very well prepared for the recital and gave an excellent performance in what was a very strong field again this year. Peter has a very bright future in music ahead of him.

Head of CCVG Music Service Jeff Davies said: “The standard of performing by all players was very high again this year. I am proud that they are members of our ensembles at the Friary Centre”.


The Richard Fice recitalists, from left:
Owen Davies, Meirion Davies, Peter McDonough, Simon Morris, James Perons, Joshua Pennar
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BRASS BANDS PGL WEEK APRIL 2011

During the second week of the Easter holidays, eighteen children from the junior schools’ brass bands and percussion groups spent five days at the PGL adventure centre at Tregoyd House near Hay-on-Wye, accompanied by Mr. C. Sharp (trip organiser and brass bands’ administrator), Miss S. Howman (conductor), Mrs Sarah Dawe and Mrs. Susan Clement.


Tregoyd House

The trip is an annual or bi-annual event which provides the children with a range of exciting activities – mostly out-doors. These activities are designed to encourage children to face challenges, overcome their fears, and to work as a team to help each other through those challenges.





The children are accommodated in dormitories, and delight in staying up until the early hours of the morning on the first night, and getting up at about 5.00am.

This doesn’t last long though! By the second night they are usually much keener to see their sleeping bags. Three cooked meals are provided each day, as well as supper, and the tuck-shop. We would have to say that the food this year was exceptionally good and plentiful. (Miss Howman said her scales mysteriously wouldn’t be working for at least a couple of weeks after they returned from the trip!)

The stay at Tregoyd house is action-packed from the moment the children arrive until the moment they leave. The instructors for all of the activities are of a very high standard, with safety of the children always uppermost.







When not actively engaged in a sport and adventure, the children are supervised round the clock by PGL and brass band staff. Their group leader, Kieran, was the best ‘groupie’ ever ,with boundless energy, keeping the children in a cyclone of activity from dawn till dusk.
This year the week’s activities included a 4 mile canoe trip down the river Wye, Jacob’s ladder, zip-wire, wall climbing / abseiling, raft building, archery, quads, orienteering, fencing and challenge course, (nice and muddy that one – really not worth trying to wash those clothes though because the mud is permanent!







Each evening there was a short band practice after which there were ‘evening ents’ and hot chocolate and marshmallows (big thanks there to Ollie’s Mum!) The great egg race of previous years was replaced by ‘Splash’, which involved completing a series of tasks to win items of protection for their water-filled balloons before they finally had to drop them over the balcony. Don’t let them try this at home – hilarious - but a bit messy!

This year was a bitter-sweet occasion as Mr. C# who has been organising the trip for many years, is retiring. However, with our last evening falling on the eve of the Royal Wedding, the PGL staff pulled out all the stops and prepared a right royal street party for us.



It was a beautiful sunny, warm evening, and the al fresco party (complete with bunting) was followed by an outdoor concert. The band were joined by groupie Kieran (the best groupie ever), making his debut performance.



The guest of honour was Rosemary Hoye, who was PGL co-ordinator for Wales for several years. Although now retired from PGL she travelled all the way from Hereford, for Mr. Sharp’s farewell concert.



Following the concert awards were made for best kept bunks, and also for someone who exemplified the spirit of PGL. The tidiest dorm award (bit of a joke that one) was with-held – no need to ask why! After the outdoor party there was a campfire and an impromptu corridor party.



The trip was a huge success – the photos speak for themselves.

For more information about the brass bands’ activities, please contact the CCVGMS office, or speak directly to the administrator, Mr. C. Sharp, on 029 2064 0951 on Monday and Wednesday evenings (6.00 – 8.30) and Saturday mornings (10.00 – 12.00).

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YOUTH WIND BAND AWARDED PLATINUM AT NCBF - Glasgow 3rd April 2011

The Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Youth Wind Band returned triumphantly to Scotland on the weekend of April 1-3, when they took part in the Finals of the National concert Band Festival, held at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama in Glasgow and came away with the Platinum Award for their performance of "Fanfare for St Cecilia" by Philip Sparke and the epic work, "Legends of the Bear" by Welsh composer, Gareth Wood.

The Wind band had represented Wales in Glasgow once before in 1990 at the Boosey & Hawkes European Wind Band Festival when still run and known as the South Glamorgan Youth Band and this was a very happy return to Musical Director, Sean O'Neill's homeland.

The two adjudicators, International percussion virtuoso and Head of percussion at the RNCM, SImone Rebello and Bryan Allen, Head of the Wind & Brass department at the RSAMD were both unanimous in their praise for the young Cardiff players tackling such an epic work as "Legends of the Bear" which had been commissioned for the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales in 2004 and performing it with such precision, stamina and musical ability, the technical challenges being met with consummate expertise and the musical integrity of the work being performed with assurety and maturity.

The players performed to a full and expectant audience in the main concert hall of the RSAMD and there was great rejoicing at the announcement of their Platinum Award, the highest award that can be gained in a very strict criteria of adjudication.

For the Band this success follows on from their highly successful trip to New York in Spring 2010, performing in Carnegie Hall and Syossett, Long Island and a welcome return to the NCBF where they had last taken part in 2009. Then the YWB completed a hat-trick of Gold award winning performances when the Finals were held at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. This new higher level of Platinum has been introduced in the interim and Musical Director, Sean O'Neill was extremely pleased that the the band's hard work, dedication and development with new players had paid off with such an outstanding performance.

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LORD MAYOR'S CHARITY SPRING SHOWCASE - ST.DAVID'S HALL 15TH MARCH 2011 - report

Over 550 children in nine different ensembles performed to an audience of over a thousand at the Lord Mayor's Charity Spring Showcase at St David's Hall. The standard of playing and singing was excellent.

The concert began with the Transitional Brass Band, conducted by Mark Cheeke, who performed "March 1914", "Crocodile Rock", "Celtic Dances - Battaglia" and "New York, New York

They were ably followed by the Intermediate Percussion, conducted by Celi Johnston, who performed "Mission Impossible Theme" and "Clocks".



The Junior Schools' Cluster Choir featured over 200 pupils from the schools which feed into Llanishen High School - Cefn Onn, Coed Glas, Llysfaen, Thornhil and Ton-Yr-Ywen, conducted by Deb Young, Alison Barker, Claire Rodgers and Claire Holcombe.

The Choir gave lively, polished performances of "Deffra!",



"I wanna sing scat",







"As One"



and the Abba classic "Thank you for the Music"



The Transitional Wind Band was conducted by Rob Johnston and have really improved their standard of playing ovet the last few years. They performed "Superheroes R Us", "The Simpsons" and "Creed"







In the interval the audience were serenaded by Oakfield Primary School Steel Pans, led by Wada:



The second half of the concert began with a performance by the High Schools' Brass Band, conducted by Charles Maynard, of "March Pelude", "Hijack!", "So deep is the Night" and "Theme from Cagney & Lacey"



and continued with the Youth Choir, conducted by Jeff Davies and Liz Roberts who sang "Say a Little Prayer", "Golden Slumbers" and "Wrth Fynd Efo Deio I Dywyn"





Next was the Youth Wind Band, conducted by Sean O'Neil. This They played "Legend of the Bear", the piece they will perform at the National Concert Band Festival at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama, Glasgow in April.



Our final ensemble was the Transitional Orchestra, conducted by Wendy Owen who performed "Guantanamera",



"El Condor Pasa",



"Mexican Hat Dance",



"Salut D'Amour" and "Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld"

The final item involved over 400 children playing and singing together "We're off to see the Wizard"

The concert was a great success thanks to the talent of the players, singers and the hard work and dedication of the ensemble conductors and tutors.

A retiring collection was made for the Lord Mayor's nominated charity -LATCH

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JUNIOR SCHOOLS' MUSIC FESTIVAL - ST.DAVID'S HALL 14TH MARCH 2011 - report

Over 350 children in seven different ensembles performed to almost 1,000 people at our annual Junior Schools' Music Festival at St David's Hall. The standard was consistently high throughout the evening and each ensemble did themeselves and their Counties proud.

Before the concert the Junior Guitar Ensemble entertained on Level 3, conducted by Michelle Preece:



The concert began with the Beginners' Percussion, conducted by Celi Johnston, who played "Lollipop" and The Theme from James Bond



followed by the Junior Schools' Harp Ensemble, conducted by Sian Wynn, who performed "Y Deryn Pur", "Myfanwy" and "Draw Dros yr Enfys"



Herbert Thompson Primary School Music Project performed next, led by Emma Coulthard and the Music Development team. They performed Pachabel's Canon, "Find your Talents" and "Think Big"





Next up was the Junior Schools' Choir with guest Choir - Romilly Junior School, conducted by Jen Griffin and Jenny Roderick. They sang "Welcome to the Show", a medley of songs from T.V. and film.





Tom Griffin and Shirley Howman conducted a massed Brass Band, an amalgamation of the Beginners', Foundation and Training Brass Bands. They performed "The Prince of Denmark's March", "Friary Fanfare", "Grounded" and "Themes from Indiana Jones".





Last but by no means least were the huge forces of the Junior Schools' Orchestra, with all the music arranged and conducted by Gary Beauchamp.



Their first piece was from "Les Sauvages" by Rameau





The finale was a a performance of "Any Dream will do" by the Junior Schools' Orchestra, Choir and Brass Band:



Huge thanks to the performers, conductors and tutors who all worked so hard to make this such an enjoyable evening.


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TRANSITIONAL ORCHESTRA CONCERT - CITY HALL 17TH JANUARY - PICTURES


Transitional Orchestra


Violin solo: Gem Pipps


Piano Solo: Tammy Liang


Brass & Cello sections


Vocal Solo: Guy Roberts


Viola Solo: Hannah Roberts


1st Violins


Cello Solo: Jenny Fu


Flute Trio: Lucy Martin, Callum Wilcox, Rachel Bamford


Woodwind & Strings


Piano Solo: Laura Crispie


Violin Solo: Holly Pedlar (Leader)



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WS GWYNN WILLIAMS AWARD FOR YOUTH WIND BAND

The CCVG Youth Wind Band have recently awarded £500 in this years W S Gwynn Williams Award in recognition of their promotion of Welsh Music on the International Stage at the Annual General Meeting of Ty Cerdd - Music Centre Wales held in Oswestry.

The Youth Wind Band were commended for the inclusion of works by Welsh composers Gareth Glyn, Dolbadarn". "Sospan Fach" by Gareth Wood, "Euphonium Concerto" by Karl Jenkins with International Euphonium Virtuoso, David Childs, premiering its Wind Orchestra version and world premiere of "Jurassic Coast" by Derek Bourgeois commissioned by the CCVG YWB and additional Funding from Ty Cerdd, all performed in their programme at the Gala Concert of the New York Wind Band Festival, held in Carnegie Hall, New York in March this year.
Avril Harding, Chair of the Ty Cerdd Executive Committee said in she also recognised the hard work made by the young players over the previous two years not only to raise funds to attend this prestigious Festival but also to gain the necessary musical standards to undertake such a demanding and challenging programme. The critical acclaim that the Youth Wind Band received for their performance in Carnegie Hall was tantamount to the magnificent achievement they had made.

The W S Gwynn Williams award will help secure new music for the band to challenge and further develop members’ musicianship over the next year. They are now aiming to compete in the regional festival of the National Concert Band Festival in Monmouth in November and if selected, will go on to represent Wales at the finals to be held in Glasgow next April.


Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “Congratulations to all the young members of the Youth Wind Band, and of course their tutors, whose tireless work and commitment has contributed to this recognition. It’s absolutely fantastic that young musicians from Cardiff and the Vale performed at Carnegie Hall earlier this year - what an experience for them all.

“The talent and skill of these young people is tremendous and it is clear from their invitation to perform at such a prestigious event that the youth wind band are very highly regarded.”
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PRIMARY BRASS PUPILS ARE "BRASSED ON" IN WEST CARDIFF - JUNE 2010

Over 170 primary pupils from 27 schools in the west of Cardiff have lessons with Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Music Service. As part of the "Brassed On!" project the pupils had been learning ensemble pieces since January as part of their brass peripatetic lessons in school.

On 22nd June many of these pupils came together to form a West Cardiff Massed Brass Band at a concert at Western Leisure Centre.



The West Cardiff Massed Brass Band's first piece was a stirring performance of "Sospan Fach", conducted by Brass Peripatetic teacher Shirley Howman:



Also performing at the concert were CCVG Youth Brass Band, conducted by Keith Griffin and Symphonic Brass, conducted by Matthew Thistlewood, who showed the youngsters what they can aspire to with a bit more practice!



The West Cardiff Massed Brass Band's second piece was "Nightcap" featuring the bottom brass:



The finale - "Friesland Fiesta" featured all three groups playing together - over 180 players!


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Our thanks to our Vale Brass tutor team - Mark Cheeke, Charles Maynard, Sian Davis, Greg Morgan, Rob Johnston and Dewi Griffiths - but especially to Shirley Howman for working so hard to make the whole project a huge success.



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