Tickets for Sir Bryn Terfel’s First Performance at Pontio Bangor to Go On Sale Next Tuesday 10th October at 10am

6 Oct 2017

Tickets for Sir Bryn Terfel’s eagerly-awaited first performance in Theatr Bryn Terfel, Pontio will go on sale from 10am on Tuesday 10/10/2017 online, over the phone and in person from Pontio Box Office.

The world-famous bass-baritone will be performing with harpist Hannah Stone and past students from Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias, finalists in the Urdd Bryn Terfel Scholarship, as part of the launch the Wales International Harp Festival IV (April 1-7 2018) on the day that Festival President, Dr Osian Ellis CBE, celebrates his 90th birthday Thursday, February 8th 2018 at 7.30pm.

Sir Bryn and harpist Hannah Stone will give the first performance of Osian Ellis’ Cycle of Welsh Folk Songs. Glain Dafydd (Harp) Gwyn Owen (Trumpet), Gwen Elin, (Soprano) and Jâms Coleman (Piano) will be the supporting artists.

Hannah Stone - Wales International Harp Festival - Concert at Theatr Bryn Terfel, Pontio, Bangor

Hannah Stone

Festival Director Elinor Bennett said, “I cannot imagine a more exciting way of launching the fourth Wales International Harp Festival than by welcoming Sir Bryn Terfel, Hannah Stone and four young emerging Welsh artists to perform at Theatr Bryn Terfel.

“There is a strong element of serendipity attached to the occasion as this is the exact day that the Festival President, the incomparable Osian Ellis CBE, will be 90!  Osian Ellis dedicated his “Cycle of Welsh Folk Songs” to Bryn and Hannah, and this will be the highlight of a prestigious and unique occasion.

“I hope that the concert will inspire new audiences for the harp and encourage many people to come to the Festival which will be held in Galeri, Caernarfon on April 1st – 7th.

Sir Bryn Terfel added, “How exciting, I am so pleased that we have finally found a date for this incredible concert at Pontio. I am very much looking forward to singing in the theatre for the very first time, in the concert to celebrate harpist Osian Ellis, one of Wales’s most iconic musicians.”

Mario Kreft MBE proprietor of Pendine Park, sponsors of the event said, “We are delighted to be sponsoring this wonderful concert, particularly as music and the arts generally are an important part of our enrichment programme to enrich lives across the generations for our residents and staff at Bryn Seiont Newydd in Caernarfon and our care homes in Wrexham.

“I am sure it is going to be a magical evening, which will provide the perfect platform to launch the Wales International Harp Festival. We are looking forward to working with the organisers of the festival.

“We consider ourselves lucky to have the opportunity to listen to a world superstar on his home ground in a theatre that will help provide a fitting legacy for his stellar talent.

Elen ap Robert, artistic director at Pontio added, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the International Harp Festival to stage a concert which will see Bryn Terfel performing with us here in Pontio for the very first time, a historic occasion.”

Tickets for the concert will cost £40 each and will be available from 10am 10/10/17 from Pontio Box Office and online from www.pontio.co.uk. Individuals will be able to purchase a maximum of 4 tickets per person.

The Fifth Wales International Harp Festival, which will be held in Galeri Caernarfon from 5th – 11th April 2023, will be a golden opportunity for people to come together to be inspired by the music of the harp from many cultures. I look forward enormously to hearing performances in concerts, recitals and competitions and sharing the traditions of the harp around the world along with harpists from Wales, other Celtic countries, Colombia and Gambia.

Music can transcend geographical borders and military conflicts and can strengthen friendships with people in other lands. There will be a warm welcome awaiting all visitors to Caernarfon next Easter when the thrilling sounds of dozens of harps will resonate through the spaces of Galeri Arts Centre, after the silence and nervousness of the Covid pandemic.

As this will be my last Festival as Artistic Director, I have chosen music that has given me great pleasure in the past and reflects the path of my career from the folk music of my early days to the classics of the harp repertoire and new works.

Elinor Bennett.
Artistic Director, November 2022

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Competitions

Chief Musician

Open to harpists born on or after September 1st, 1987

Youth

Open to harpists born on or after September 1st, 2003

Junior

Open to harpists born on or after September 1st, 2009

World Music

Any Age

Concerts

Opening Concert

5 April 2023, 7:30pm

Elinor Bennett & Meinir Heulyn (Harps), Côr Telyn Gogledd Cymru (conductor Tudur Eames), Côr Godre’r Aran (conductor Eirian Owen).
Premier of “Llechi” by Math Roberts & Ifor ap Glyn performed by  Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias alumni.

Elinor Bennett  (Harp)
Menna Elfyn (Poet)
Glesni Rhys Jones (Soprano) 
Elain Rhys Jones (Harp)

6 April 2023, 2:00pm

Programme will include ” Hymn for a Welshman – in Memoriam R S Thomas” by Menna Elfyn and Pwyll ap Sion
Welsh folk songs arranged by Grace Williams for voice and harp.

JAZZ – Deborah Henson-Conant (USA)

6 April 2023, 7:30pm

Recital – Isabelle Moretti (France)

7 April 2023, 7:30pm

Harp Classics from France

Concert- Catrin Finch (Cymru) & Edmar Castaneda (Colombia)

8 April 2023, 7:30pm

Recital – Sioned Williams

9 April 2023, 5:00pm

World Music Concert

Pedair (Cymru)
Veronika Lemishenko (Ukraine)
The Griot Brothers

10 April 2023, 7:30pm

Chief Musician Concert

11 April 2023, 7:30pm

The final round of the Chief Musician Competition, where three young harpists shall perform solo works and Saint-Saëns duet for violin and harp.

All Events

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