A pair of young Welsh musicians have announced plans to hold the first ever Cowbridge Music Festival.
Taking place from 15 – 22 October, the classical music festival is being organised by Sam Edwards, 26, and Mary Elliott, 25, both originally from Cowbridge.
The weeklong festival will include three evening events, in addition to daytime music workshops and free performances to local primary schools and care homes in the area.
Ms Edwards, a music graduate from Kings College in London, and Ms Elliott, a successful cellist who has performed all over the world, have returned to the Vale of Glamorgan to establish the first of what they hope will be an annual event for their home town.
The evening events will begin on the 16th with a UK first performance from 18-year-old Georgian born pianist Sophiko Simsive at the Holy Cross Church, in the heart of Cowbridge. Other events in the festival include a Spanish and South American music evening in the Cowbridge Gallery and performances from Welsh tenor Wynne Evans, BBC Young Musician of the Year Finalist trumpeter Huw Morgan and festival organiser Mary Elliott herself.
Ms Edwards said: “We have always felt that Cowbridge would be the perfect location to host a music festival. It is an area of fantastic natural beauty with a fascinating story to tell. We wanted to organise an event which would be beneficial to the town as a whole and would offer a rounded experience that encourages learning and interaction with the music, through pre-concert programme notes, online playlists and further listening guides”.
Part funded by Creative Rural Communities, the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Rural Regeneration initiative, the festival will attract music lovers from both the local area, as well as from outside of the Vale of Glamorgan, in a bid to put Cowbridge on the map in the UK arts scene.
Continued Ms Edwards: “The funding that we have received from Creative Rural Communities will enable us to host the festival that Cowbridge truly deserves. We have benefited from the financial aid and practical advice that Creative Rural Communities has offered and we are confident that we can utilise the funding to benefit the Vale of Glamorgan both as a home to local people and as a wonderfully dynamic place for tourists to visit.”
Having previously hosted a music concert in Cowbridge in 2009 in aid of Save the Children, the pair hopes that the Cowbridge Music Festival 2010 will achieve similar success, on a much larger scale. This time, the organisers have teamed up with local restaurant and accommodation providers to give concert goers the complete ‘Cowbridge experience’.
Rebecca Haves, Senior Rural Regeneration Officer at Creative Rural Communities, said: “The funding administered by Creative Rural Communities seeks to support creativity and enterprise throughout the rural Vale of Glamorgan. Moreover it allows individuals and groups to reach wider audiences through creative flexibility, marketing and practical support.
“We are thrilled to be able to help fund the first Cowbridge Music Festival. This is an event which seeks to maximise the benefits to the local economy; precisely the kind of project that Creative Rural Communities seeks to support.”
Made available through the Axis 4 of the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the funding administered by Creative Rural Communities will be used to launch a number of events and initiatives like the Cowbridge Music Festival. With the aim of developing innovative projects and ideas that will benefit the long term social and economic wellbeing of the area, the Creative Rural Communities funding is administered throughout the breadth of the rural vale.
For further information and tickets visit www.cowbridgemusicfestival.com
