There’s an evening of Brahms – with a difference – coming up in Llanelli.
Llanelli District Music and Drama Club are staging Oysters at Llangennech Community Hall (7.30pm) on Friday, June 7.
Oysters is an unusual mixture of a play and concert music.
Anne-Marie Marks, secretary of the music and drama club, describes Oysters as “a dark comedy shining a powerful spotlight on composer Johannes Brahms – at the party celebrating the first performance of his Violin Concerto.”
The piece will be performed by the distinguished actors Neil Salvage, National Theatre, and Nicholas Collett, Royal Shakespeare Company.
It will uniquely integrate professional musicians, whose playing will underpin and occasionally comment on the action.
Act 1 is the play itself. Act 2 is a performance of the music that inspired the play, enabling the audience to experience Brahms’ genius through the fusion of music and drama.
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the ‘Three Bs’ of music.
Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends).
Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished.
Tickets for Oysters are £10. Students £5. They can be purchased from Barrie Lewis, Market Precinct, or by ringing 01554-772594.
Llangennech will play host to another big event the same weekend.
A Cymanfa Ganu is being held by the union of churches, Eglwysi Undebol Llangennech, at Salem Chapel, Llangennech, on Sunday, June 9.
The guest conductor for this year’s Gymanfa is Trystan Lewis and the organists are Ian Lewis and Allan Fewster.
The afternoon service will be at 2.30 and the evening will be at 6.00.
Latest news from Llandybie Male Voice Choir is that the choristers will be holding their Annual Concert on Friday, June 21, at 7pm in Llandybie Memorial Hall, with the help of Cor Meibion Dinefwr and artists Gareth James (Baritone) and a young local girl Cerys Tommason-James.
Admission will £10 by programme and can be obtained from choristers or at the door.
There’s a big concert coming up at The Lyric in Carmarthen next month.
A Choired Taste will be marking their fifth anniversary with a concert featuring guest stars Only Men Aloud.
It is at The Lyric at 7.30pm on Friday, June 28. Tickets are going fast.
Burry Port Town Band will stage an evening of ‘Music from the Stage and Shows!’ at the Memorial Hall on Saturday, July 20, 7pm.
The concert will feature the Senior Band, the ever-growing Junior Band and a very special guest artist, Samuel Wyn-Morris.
The Gwyl Cerdd Dant Cymru this year is being held in Llanelli.
Fundraising is gathering speed to ensure its success. Recent weeks saw a three-night series of Noson Lawen events at Llanelli Leisure Centre.
The chair of the Gwyl Cerdd Dant Llanelli a’r Cylch is Catrin Hughes, who is also a music advisor and trustee of the Loud Applause Rising Stars (LARS) charity.
In support of their fundraising, LARS is organising a big Gala Concert at Llanelli’s Greenfield Baptist Church on Friday, July 12.
The evening offers a feast of choral music and there will be four choirs –
Côr Lleisiau’r Cwm and Harmoni, both under the baton of Catrin Hughes, Côr Meibion Llanelli and Côr Ysgol Dewi Sant.
The concert will feature some excellent young soloists, including award-winning tenor Osian Bowen from Burry Port, now studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff.
Also on stage will be five singers from LARS – mezzo soprano Nikkila Thomas, who is at the RWCMD in Cardiff, and Ysgol Y Strade pupils Lauren Fisher, James Oakley, Daisy Owens and Jack Owens. They will be accompanied by Catrin Hughes and Andrew Pike.
The organiser are anticipating a big demand for tickets, which are available from choir members, Cadno Music in John Street, Llanelli, or by contacting tickets@loudapplauserisingstars.co.uk or Cerith Owens 07854 303918.
In other news, Bridget Radford’s two choirs, Lleisiau Hardd and Lleisiau Hardd Bach, will be staging their annual concert at St Mary’s Church, Burry Port, on Friday, July 12, 7.30pm. Tickets are £10 and available from choristers.
The choristers from Llandyfaelog-based Côr Meibion Dyffryn Tywi are getting ready for their annual concert.
It will be at the Princess Gwenllian Centre in Kidwelly on Saturday, October 12, 7pm.
The choir will be joined by Gwendraeth Valley’s Côr Meibion Mynydd Mawr.
The evening will also feature special guests Pantel and Trio.
Trio are a male vocal group from Snowdonia – formed by renowned pianist/accompanist Annette Bryn Parri in 2012. The group gave its first public performance at Galeru Caernarfon in June 2013. The standing ovation at Galeri led, not only to a number of concerts in 2013 and 2014, but also to the release of the group’s first CD in August 2014.
Their songs are often heard on Radio Cymru programmes.
They made their TV debut at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Denbigh (2013).
The Noson Lawen (S4C) programme in which they appeared was dedicated to Hogia’r Wyddfa, one of Wales’ most popular groups, a group that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013.
Since then, Trio have appeared on Pnawn Da (S4C) and Heno (S4C). Trio are Emyr Wyn Gibson, Bedwyr Gwyn Parri and Steffan LLoyd Owen.
- If you have news about the choral or concert scene in Llanelli, email robert.lloyd01@walesonline.co.uk or rlloydpr@btinternet.com
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