What's on and when: Conwy Classical Music Festival 2023

The Conwy Classical Music Festival will run from July 23 until July 29 at the walled town's St Mary’s Church.

The event will feature internationally artists and up and coming classical music stars. 

Included is the line up is Ryan Vaughan Davies, who, having recently completed his postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music’s Opera School, will be taking up residence as a 2023-25 Jette Parker Artist at The Royal Opera House.

Ryan Vaughan Davies (Image: Submitted)

Contemporaries Erin Gwyn Rossington, Erin Fflur, and John Ieuan Jones will present ‘A Night at the Opera’, whilst Elen Wyn, Lleucu Brookes, and Dafydd Allen, who are fresh from recent graduations from The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, The Royal Northern College of Music, and The Royal Academy of Music in London, will peform an afternoon concert. 

Erin Gwyn Rossington (Image: Submitted)

One of the highlights of the week is set to be a concert by the Festival Orchestra. 

The orchestra, with members drawn from some of the North West’s leading orchestras, will perform works by Elgar, Honnegar, and Mendelssohn, and what promises to be a festival highlight; a performance of one of the nation’s all-time favourites, Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’.

Sioned Willaims (Image: Submitted)

There is no charge for the event / no tickets.

The festival relies on the generosity of concertgoers who contribute to a collection at the end of each concert, and on sponsorship by businesses and individuals.

Chris Roberts, festival director, said: "I am thrilled with the way the programme for the 2023 festival has come together.

"There really is something in it for everyone, so please come along and enjoy the feast of music on offer; I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed."

Below are a handful of the concerts on offer. See the full concert list at www.conwyclassicalmusic.co.uk/event

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Sioned Williams

Sunday July 23, 7.30 pm

Sioned Williams presents ‘A celebratory 70th birthday spiral of discovery and adventure’, performing music from her childhood to the present day, combined with audiovisual illustrations, spoken word, and an exhibition of photos and memorabilia. Sioned, whose famous grandfather, Huw T Edwards, hailed from Rowen in the Conwy Valley, grew up in Mold, Flintshire.

The programme is Sioned’s story of the ups (and downs!) of an incredible life-journey from her Welsh roots to the international concert-platform. At once celebratory and witty, this story is also reflective, and poignant.

The Festival Orchestra

Monday July 24, 7.30pm

Brandwood-Spencer, this wholly professional ensemble of top-class players from some of the country’s leading orchestras, will present a diverse programme of sparkling festival works calculated to banish the blues. Opening with Elgar’s ever popular Serenade for Strings in E minor, Opus 20, we shall then hear Arthur Honegger’s short symphonic poem ‘Pastorale d’été.

This atmospheric and placid work, evoking a peaceful early morning in the Swiss Alps, will lead naturally to what promises to be a festival highlight, a performance of one of the nation’s alltime favourites, Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’, in which the soloist will be Zoë Beyers, Leader of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. The evening will culminate in a performance of one of Mendelssohn’s most spirited and wide-ranging works, his Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, commonly known as the Scottish Symphony.

A Night at the Opera

Tuesday, July 25, 7.30 pm

Erin Gwyn Rossington – Soprano
Erin Fflur – Mezzo Soprano
Ryan Vaughan Davies – Tenor
John Ieuan Jones – Bass Baritone
Catherine Barnett – Piano

Four of Wales’s most promising young professional singers, who are rapidly making a name for themselves on concert platforms and on the opera stage, invite you to join them for an evening of operatic highlights. With music from Verdi, Mozart and Puccini to Rodgers and Hammerstein, and to the accompaniment of experienced and talented pianist, Catherine Barnett, this promises to be a night to remember.

The Choir of King’s College, London

Wednesday, July 26, 7.30 pm

Joseph Fort – Director

‘From Darkness to Light’

Prepare to be mesmerised by an evening of stunning and atmospheric choral music sung by the acclaimed choir of King’s College, London, under the direction of Joseph Fort. The programme will include works by John Tavener including ‘The Hymn of the Unwaning Light’, ‘As One who has slept’, and ‘The Eternal Son’. The performance will culminate in a candle-lit performance of Rachmaninov’s great choral work ‘All Night Vigil’, usually known as Rachmaninov’s Vespers. The choir recently released a commercial recording of this work to great acclaim.