One of the world’s best pianists has revealed how he was inspired to become a professional musician by the founder of the North Wales International Music Festival.
Appropriately, virtuoso Llŷr Williams will be one of the star attractions at this year’s event at St Asaph Cathedral between September 20-27.
Llŷr, from Pentrebychan, near Wrexham, has played in many of the world’s best and most iconic venues, including Carnegie Hall.
But he says the cathedral has unique acoustic qualities which make playing there a joy.
St Asaph Cathedral was chosen as the venue for the Festival by William Mathias, the royal composer who wrote the anthem, Let the people praise Thee O God, for the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
According to the late Prof Matthias, who would have been 80 this year, one of his greatest achievements was the creation of the hugely popular music festival in 1972.
He visited every potential venue in North Wales before deciding that St Asaph Cathedral provided the very best acoustic setting for the event that’s supported by the Welsh Arts Council.
Llŷr, 37, a former Royal Academy of Music scholar, will be performing on the opening night of the festival, on Saturday, September 20.
He said; “I have been honoured to appear at the festival a number of times and I do like St Asaph cathedral.
“I will be performing Haydn’s Sonata in C major, Schubert’s Four Impromptus D899, a selection from Années de pèlerinage Book 1 by Liszt and Schumann’s Carnaval.
“It’s an extensive programme offering a little something for every lover of classical music. I’m sure it will be a concert that people will enjoy and take something from.”
Llŷr, who is demand as a concert pianist, spent a number of years living in London but a few years ago decided there was nowhere quite like home and returned to Pentrebychan, the village near Wrexham where he grew up.
He said: “I prefer it and like the peace and quiet. I’m close to Manchester airport and yet can enjoy the countryside. I like to take a break and go for a good walk especially after I have been practising.
“I practice every day usually for around six or seven hours. It depends what concerts I am doing at the time. I need to get it right and work at it really hard.
“I also play for my own pleasure as well as for my concert work. I can’t imagine life without music. But playing for an audience is different as you get that energy rush that comes with the adrenalin.
“I have just released a CD of previously unpublished music by Welsh composer Daniel Jones who died in 1993 aged 81. And in the autumn I will be publishing a double CD of music by German composer Wagner including several transcripts from operas.”
Llŷr, says he inherited a love of opera from his father, Gwynne, and was going to performances before the age of seven which is when he began piano lessons.
By the age of 11, when he was a pupil of Wrexham’s Ysgol Morgan Llwyd, he had passed Grades one to eight all with distinction and went on to read music at Queen’s College Oxford where he gained a First-Class Degree and as awarded the Gibbs Prize in Music for his outstanding performance in his final exams.
He then went onto study, at a postgraduate scholar, at the Royal College of Music receiving the Academy’s highest academic award, the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music.
North Wales International Music Festival’ Artistic Director Ann Atkinson is delighted to be welcoming Llŷr Williams back to St Asaph.
She said: “Llŷr is a wonderful pianist and musician. I know audiences really appreciate his performances and we are delighted he has once again agreed to join us.
“I know Llŷr’s Saturday evening concert will be one of the highlights of the Festival and will be eagerly awaited by our supporters and classical music lovers from across North Wales. I know it’s a concert I am really looking forward to.”
Other star attractions include with the young Chinese classical guitarist, Xuefei Yang.
The popular Tippett String Quartet will be returning to the festival together with pianist David Owen Norris, who will be playing a programme of newly discovered piano music from Jane Austen’s family collection.
Mid Wales Opera will be performing Acis and Galatea, an opera that tells an enchanting story from ancient mythology, while the Aspire Inspire Concert will provide a platform for a host of talented young musicians and singers and will include only the second performance of a work called Adar Rhiannon (Rhiannon’s Birds), composed by harpist Catrin Finch.
For tickets call the Box Office on 01745 850197 or visit the Scala Cinema and Arts Centre at 47 High Street, Prestatyn which is open Monday to Saturday between 10am and 9pm and on Sundays between 1.30m and 9pm. For more information about the North Wales International Music Festival at www.nwimf.com
