Welcome to Beaumaris Festival 2024!

// 22nd May - 29th May //

For almost four decades, Beaumaris Festival has been a cherished celebration of music, talent, and community spirit. Nestled in the picturesque town of Beaumaris on the stunning Isle of Anglesey, North Wales...our festival has become a beacon of cultural vibrancy, drawing music enthusiasts and purveyors of the arts from far and near.

At Beaumaris Festival, we believe in the transformative power of music in all its forms. Whether you're a fan of opera, orchestra, jazz, classical melodies, or the infectious laughter brought by comedy, there's something here to captivate your senses and stir your soul. One of our proudest traditions is our commitment to nurturing young talent through our Young Artists Recitals series. We provide a platform for emerging musicians to showcase their skills, fostering a supportive environment where the next generation of stars can shine bright.

Year after year, Beaumaris Festival continues to enchant festival-goers with its diverse lineup and unwavering dedication to excellence. Join us as we celebrate the rich tapestry of musical expression and the joy it brings to our lives. Come experience the magic of Beaumaris Festival and be part of an ongoing tradition.

2024
PROGRAMME

Wednesday
22/05/2024

Jazz:
Ben Creighton-Griffiths

19:30, Bulkeley Hotel Ballroom
£15
A thrilling evening of Inspirational jazz on a harp in the evocative ballroom of the Bulkeley Hotel. Ben’s versatility and musical imagination using the sound colours of this angelic instrument are unparallelled. A perfect opener to the 2024 festival!
bjcg.co.uk

Thursday
23/05/2024

Festival Talk:

Remembering Will

10:30, Canolfan Beaumaris
£7.50
As the Beaumaris Festival celebrates the 90th anniversary of his birth, Rhiannon Mathias reflects on the impact her father, William Mathias, had on musical Wales.
In conversation with Geraint Lewis. All 3 were together at the first festival in 1986!

Art Exhibition:
Lyn Grant

**Opening at 12:00pm**
**Canolfan Beaumaris**
**Admission Free**
Lyn Grant is the 2024 Festival Artist.
elunedgrant.com

Mewn Cymeriad

13:30, Canolfan Beaumaris
£3 per child
A production in Welsh for children.
In this show Thomas Telford returns to Wales once again after hearing that his masterpiece – the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – has won a World Heritage Site award.

Seindorf
Beaumaris
Band

**19:30, Canolfan Beaumaris**
**£10**

The brilliant, highly regarded Welsh band conducted by Bari Gwilliam plays music from Glenn Miller to Johann Strauss, from Sosban Fach to Mood Indigo.
beaumarisband.org.uk

Friday
24/05/2024

Young Artists Recital 1:
Iyad Sughayer

**10:30, Canolfan Beaumaris**
**£10**
**(3 Young Artists Recitals £20)**
Nominated as a 2022 Rising Star Artist by Classic FM, Iyad Sughayer was a prize-winner at the YCAT International Auditions in 2021. His second recording for BIS with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Andrew Litton was released to critical acclaim in autumn 2022.
Mozart, *Adagio in* B minor, K. 540
Mozart, *Piano Sonata No. 18* in D major, K. 576
Mozart, *Piano Sonata No. 11* in A major, K. 331
iyadsughayer.com

Festival Talk:
Shakespeare On Love

15:30, Bulkeley Hotel Ballroom
£7.50
David Crystal and Ben Crystal present Everyday Shakespeare: Lines for Life....and there’s quite a bit of love in it!

Choral Concert

**19:30, Canolfan Beaumaris**
**£20**
MENDELSSOHN’S ELIJAH
One of Wales’ foremost choirs, Cantorion Menai, under the baton of Gwyn L. Williams sing one of the greatest of all oratorios joined by Steffan Lloyd Owen – Elijah, Meinir Wyn Roberts – soprano, Jenny Pearson – mezzo, Bryn Roberts – tenor, with Cerddorfa Menai Orchestra.

Saturday
25/05/2024

Young Artists Recital 2:
Tomos Boyles

10:30, Canolfan Beaumaris
£10
(3 Young Artists Recitals £20)
The highly talented Welsh pianist Tomos Boyles performs a richly Romantic programme of works by Chopin, Clara Schumann and Ravel
Clara Schumann, Three Romances Op. 21 Frédéric Chopin, Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58 Maurice Ravel, Miroirs

Young Artists Recital 3:
The Bute Wind Quintet

15:00, Canolfan Beaumaris
£10
(3 Young Artists Recitals £20)

The multi-award-winning ensemble from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama make their festival debut. The young virtuosos play music by Brahms, Puccini, Mathias, Nino Rota and Grieg.

Jazz Cabaret: The Will Barnes Quartet

19:30, Canolfan Beaumaris
£20
**A cornucopia of jazz standards displaying Will Barnes’ formidable guitar technique along with his own compositions.**
willbarnesmusic.co.uk

Sunday
26/05/2024

Evensong

**17:00, St. Mary’s & St. Nicholas’s Church**
Choral Evensong led by the Rev. Lesley Rendle. The Monteverdi Singers conducted by Graeme Cotterill sing Mozart, *Ave verum corpus* - Mathias, *Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis - 0p.53*, Tippett, *Spirituals from ‘A Child of our Time’*

Pre-performance Talk

18:30, Canolfan Beaumaris
Admission Free
**Composers Paul Frehner and Claire Victoria Roberts introduce this evening’s performances.**

Ensemble Paramirabo

**19:30, Canolfan Beaumaris**
**£20**
Threats to two languages and that of climate change are examined in these new chamber operas.

Madog

Horizon: Madog takes place in a distant future, when the world’s oceans have flooded coastal regions across the globe, and geomagnetic storms have decimated global communication systems, isolating the scant remaining survivors of societal collapse. Humanity is recovering but is still in a fragile state, and once-great nations are now fractured into island states.

The piece explores the musings of Madog, who believes he is a descendant of the legendary Welsh prince ‘Madog’ who purportedly reached North America centuries before Columbus. This tri-lingual (French, English and Welsh) Elder has been an instrumental founder of the fictional Île-Mont-qui-Tremble, a vibrant trilingual island community situated somewhere in what was ‘Quebec’. Madog and his now-deceased wife Élodie and their descendants are core founders of this ‘back-to-the-earth’ movement that have found a new Way, a mantra, for living in harmony with the environment.

At the core of their ethos, nothing is created from objects that contribute to further pollution; everything is reused and re-usable. But, Madog’s roughewn “radio” has been transmitting news in Welsh that somewhere east, societies are re-developing. He fears that with the use of build-build-build technology, they will commit the same environmentally destructive errors and desecrate an already fragile-but-healing world. Seeing himself as a Messianic figure, he is making his final preparations before embarking on a solo perilous ocean journey by sailboat to find what remains of his ancestral homeland, and to spread his knowledge of the Way to those he encounters.

Claire Victoria Roberts, Tynged yr Iaith ('The Fate of the Language’)
William Mathias, Sonatina, Op. 98
Claude Vivier, Paramirabo
Paul Frehner, Horizon: Madog (staged opera)