The Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition is being launched at the North Wales International Music Festival that’s being held at St Asaph Cathedral between September 12 to 21.
It’s being funded by the festival’s headline sponsors, the Pendine Park care organisation via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust which supports community and arts activities.
The performances during the final will be broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru and the winner will receive a cash prize of £2,000 and the Pendine Trophy, as well as being invited back to perform at next year’s festival.
The contest is being masterminded by the event’s new Artistic Director, royal composer Paul Mealor, who is following in the footsteps of his mentor and fellow royal composer, William Mathias, who founded the festival.
Entries are being accepted via the festival’s website, www.nwimf.com and the deadline has been extended until 5pm on Friday, September 6.
The Grand Final will be at St Asaph Cathedral on Wednesday, September 18, at 7pm.
Professor Mealor speaking about the competition said:
“I am very excited about my first festival. I grew up here in St Asaph and I sang in the cathedral choir and my first experience of high quality classical music was here at the festival.
“I can remember turning pages for William Mathias when he was playing here back in the 1980s so it’s lovely to come back for this exciting new chapter and from September 12 to 21 St Asaph is once again going to be the cultural capital of Wales.
“The idea of the festival is that there has got to be something for everyone, so you’ve got big stuff like the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and The King’s Singers.
“Then you’ve got the world’s number one brass band, Foden’s Band, and the new community opera commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Disaster
“Another exciting development is the inaugural Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition which is open to anyone who is born, living here or studying here to come and perform at the Cathedral which has one of the best acoustics in Wales.
“The competition will be judged by four of the top musicians around the world – we have Alun Jones, singer and the former principal of Chetham’s School of Music; Alis Huws, the former harpist to the Prince of Wales; world renowned concert pianist, Cyrill Ibrahim while the chair is Lisa Tregale, the Director of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales.
“This can be a launching pad for a fledgling career because you’re performing to top class people.
“We’ve already had a lot of interest from some incredibly talented young musicians and we’re extending the deadline for a week until Friday, September 6, to ensure we give as many of them as possible the chance to enter.
“There’s a prize of £2,000 and the beautiful Pendine Trophy, an engraved silver salver which has been gifted to us by Mario and Gill Kreft.
“Mario and Gill are genuinely passionate about the arts and it’s important to Wales to have people like them. They have done a huge amount for the festival before I came and we hope they will carry on.”
Mario Kreft MBE added:
“We’re delighted to be able to support the festival again this year and we’re particularly pleased to be able to help launch the exciting new competition for Wales’s finest young musicians.
“The Pendine Young Musician of Wales is Paul’s brainchild and it’s a wonderful concept. We hope it will grow into a really important, pre-eminent competition and help talented young people with their first steps into a career in music.”
Tickets and further details about the festival programme and the Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition are available online at www.nwimf.com.
[Lead image: Mandy Jones]
