The Duomo in Perugia will be alive with the sound of South Wales when ninety members of the Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Orchestra will be travelling to Italy for a concert tour at the end of August. They will be based in Arezzo and giving three concerts including a performance at the prestigious Cathedral.
Under the steady hand of Conductor Eric Phillips, the orchestra will also be visiting Rome. They will be performing Barry born composer Grace Williams’ Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes, Mozart’s Serenade in Eb major for wind, and Rachmaninov’s 3rd Symphony.
Closer to home, local music lovers can get a taste of the trip when the Orchestra perform this Saturday, July 19th at Hoddinott Hall, Wales Millennium Centre, commencing at 7pm. Tickets are available at the door: £10 full price, £6 concessions or by emailing [email protected]
Commenting on the tour, Cabinet member for Education and Skills, Cllr Julia Magill said:
“The musical talent of our young people is something we have always known about and celebrated, but I am pleased that audiences in Italy will now get the chance to hear the Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Orchestra for themselves.
“This is an experience that I am sure the Orchestra members will remember for a long time and I wish them every success with their tour.”
Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Music Service is a non-profit making joint-Council organisation which currently teaches over 8,000 pupils in 166 schools in Cardiff and the Vale, with over 8,000 involved in Music Development projects plus approximately 1000 pupils in 23 weekly Ensembles.
Head of Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Music Service, Jeff Davies, said:
“The youth orchestra is the pinnacle of the four orchestras run by the CCVG Music service and we are very proud of the standards they attain, making them one of the best county youth orchestra in the UK.
“These orchestra tours have always been a great success and I am sure this one will reach the same levels of performance and is a great opportunity for the children of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.”
The responsibility for organising this major tour is that of Orchestra Administrator Julie Thorne, who is looking forward to the trip:
“It’s always quite stressful organising a tour of this scale but it always comes together in the end. I will be ensuring that everything is going smoothly and more importantly, making sure everyone is having a great time.
“These tours are always such a huge success and every member comes back having gained so much from it in one way or another. The concert venues are very prestigious and we are always welcomed by a large, warm & friendly Italian audience.”
