CARDIFF MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2012 LINE-UP

After its inaugural season in 2011, the Cardiff Music Festival is back with an impressive line-up of events that showcases the very best music venues in the city with world-class performers in a variety of musical genres.

Several members of Classical Brit Award winning choir Only Men Aloud established this new music festival last year to promote young artists and give them a platform alongside some of the biggest names in the musical world, raising considerable amounts of money for charity. David Mahoney, Artistic Director of the festival, continues to lead a team of volunteers from Britain’s favourite choir, this year joining forces with Orchard Media and Events Group in organising the Cardiff Music Festival, which promises to be one of the most exciting events in Cardiff’s music calendar.

‘My hope is that one day, this festival will be able to compete with some of the major European music festivals as a celebration of high quality music making by the enormous wealth of talent that this city has to offer, and the 2012 festival is a big step in the right direction with a fantastic line-up of performers and venues’ – David Mahoney.

The Cardiff Music Festival is committed to achieving three fundamental objectives: to bring musical excellence and performances of the highest quality to Wales’ capital city; to promote young artists and composers at the beginning of their careers; and to raise money for charitable causes through musical performance. This year, the festival is honoured to be supporting the Noah’s Ark Appeal, Head to Heart and Amser Justin Time. The festival also aims to bring music to new audiences, making classical music and musical theatre accessible to those who may not have been exposed to it before.

After a substantial planning period, the 2012 festival will be opened with the final of ‘The Stage’ competition, finding the next big singer-songwriting talent led by X Factor and West End star Lucie Jones. A classical evening follows with internationally renowned soprano and festival patron Elin Manahan Thomas joined by Jeff Howard (piano) and the Cardiff Sinfonietta under the direction of Jonathan Mann with a concert of Schubert and Mozart. The incredibly talented Welsh Diva Shan Cothi brings a bit of jazz to proceedings when she is joined by the Rhys Taylor Big Band in a celebration of all things ‘Swing’ at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, before a spectacular ‘Night at the Musicals’ brings the festival to a stunning conclusion with an all-star line-up at the Wales Millennium Centre including Connie Fisher, Kerry Ellis, John Owen-Jones, Sophie Evans, Mark Evans, Lucie Jones, Lauren Samuels and soloists from Classical Brit Award-winning choir Only Men Aloud.

The festival also sees the continuation of the Young Welsh Artists Recital Series, which this year promotes Hannah Stone (current Royal Harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales), winner of S4C’s ‘Llais I Gymru / Voice for Wales’ Trystan Llyr Griffiths, and acclaimed young soprano Rhiannon Llewellyn. There will also be a series of informal performances at the Wales Millennium Centre.

Patrons of the festival are the internationally acclaimed opera singers Dennis O’Neill CBE and Rebecca Evans, who are joined this year by stars of the West End and Broadway Kerry Ellis and John Owen-Jones, with Welsh songstress Elin Manahan Thomas. Support has come from the festival Ambassador programme, the Wales Millennium Centre, Carrick Creative, and the Rotary Club of Cardiff Breakfast, among others.

The 2012 Cardiff Music Festival will see the involvement of over 100 performers, the majority of whom are young musicians hoping to build a career in the music industry. This is a unique opportunity for an emerging generation of Welsh performers, supported by the enormous generosity of the South Wales community.

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