The premiere of a new work by the internationally acclaimed composer Karl Jenkins will take place in North Wales.
The coup was revealed at a special event to unveil the line up at this year’s North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph Cathedral from September 22 to September 29.
The work was commissioned by the festival to celebrate their 40th anniversary and the granting of city status to St Asaph by the Queen to mark her Diamond Jubilee year.
It will be played by royal harpist Hannah Stone who was the star attraction at the launch event held in the aristocratic surroundings of Eaton Park, near Chester, by kind permission of the Duke of Westminster.
Karl Jenkins, a native of Penclawdd on the Gower Peninsula, is believed to be the world’s most played living composer.
Global success came during the 1990s with Adiemus which won him 15 platinum awards which led in turn to the landmark composition, Armed Man, which will also be performed in St Asaph.
The concert on the evening of Sunday, September 23, is being sponsored by the Pendine Park care organisation.
Other highlights this year will include superstar cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the King’s Singers who will be performing a special tribute to the Queen with a programme of music from the reigns of some of Her Majesty’s colourful forebears, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Victoria.
The royal connections will continue with the return of Paul Mealor, the St Asaph born composer who was propelled to stellar fame thanks to the wedding anthem he wrote for Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Since the Royal Wedding he has enjoyed more success as the man who wrote the music for the two hit singles of the chart topping Military Wives’ choir.
Meanwhile, Swansea-born Hannah, 25, can’t wait to make her first visit to the North Wales International Music Festival.
But first she has another big date in the offing – in July she’s getting married to her boyfriend, the talented Welsh National Opera baritone, Gary Griffiths.
Speaking at the launch event, she recalled the excitement and the secrecy when she heard she was being appointed official harpist to the Prince of Wales last summer.
Hannah said: “I had to keep it secret for about six weeks so that was really difficult. When it came out I was really excited about the opportunity I’d been given.
“I’ve played in Highgrove, Clarence House and St James’s Palace. The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall are lovely. They’ve been very friendly and you can relax a lot around them, they’ve been fab.
“I’m really looking forward to coming to St Asaph, it’s going to be very exciting to play the new work by Karl Jenkins.”
The festival’s Artistic Director, Ann Atkinson, is thrilled at the prospect of the premiere at this year’s festival.
She said: “Karl Jenkins is an amazing musical talent of global renown and we are absolutely delighted that we will be unveiling this important new work at the festival.
“We have a fantastic variety of world class musical talent lined up for festival goers this year and the Karl Jenkins concert is the icing on our cultural cake as we celebrate our 40th anniversary.”
Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, the music-loving proprietors of the award-winning Pendine Park care organisation, were delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor the evening.
He said: “The concert promises to be a truly magical evening combining two major Welsh talents.
“Karl Jenkins is rightly feted one of the world’s most popular composers and Hannah Stone has a royal talent to match her position as the official harpist of the Prince of Wales.”
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 Professor Mathias, 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.
Ann added: “We have so much to celebrate this year. The granting of city status to St Asaph was a fantastic, joyful surprise.
“As we have so many royal connections, it was fantastic that it happened as we celebrate this important landmark in the history of the festival which is going from strength to strength.”
To book tickets for the North Wales International Music Festival, from September 22-29, contact the Brown Paper Tickets Box Office Number on 0800 411 8881. For more information go to www.nwimf.com or ring the Festival office on 01745 584508
