Tenby Arts Festival 2019
Yes it is coming soon in Tenby at Church House, the De Valence Pavilion, the Harbour Brewery and St Julian's Chapel. All kinds of exciting events bringing laughter, pleasure and interest to our lives will be staged in these different places. There is also an Arts Trail to look forward to which will take place at galleries and museums throughout the town. The festival will begin with buskers around Tenby bringing music to its streets. And here is a synopsis of what you can expect to see during the week from Saturday 21st September to Saturday 28th September. So come and enjoy.
TENBY ARTS FESTIVAL
21ST – 28TH SEPTEMBER 2019
Calling all you music lovers. Here are the musical events being held as part of Tenby Arts Festival this year. They offer a rich and varied selection of great music. There is everything from pop music to jazz, classical and even opera so come and enjoy.
Booking for any of these events can be done by phone 01834 218408. The booking office in Church House opens on 16th September when the number to ring will be 07398 362390.
On the opening day of the festival there will be light refreshments available in Church House and there will be buskers to entertain you around the town.
Rising Stars Concert
Saturday 21st September
St Mary's Church
2pm Tickets £8
Ellis Thomas, Piano & Will Duerden, Double Bass
A musical highlight of Tenby Arts Festival, this concert showcases the winners of the Gregynog International Music competition. The standard of the participants is extremely high and has included Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cellist at last year's Royal Wedding, who performed in Tenby the year that he won the competition. This is an opportunity to see the outstanding musicians of the future.The Gregynog Young Musician Competition was founded in 2005 and has become one of the most prestigious events of its kind. The competition is held annually at the highly acclaimed Gregynog Hall, which has a long history of association with music and the arts.This year we are pleased to welcome Ellis Thomas, Piano and Will Duerden, Double Bass. The Gregynog competition attracts the most gifted of the UK’s young performers. It rivals the BBC Young Musician competition as a showcase for talented musicians who are set to rise to the top of the profession. This year the overall 2019 competition winner, was Ellis Thomas, piano, while Will Duerden, double bass, won the strings section of the Gregynog competition. When they are famous we will be able to say that we saw them here in Tenby first.
Terrific Opening Night
Absolute Adèle and Ultimate Robbie
Saturday 21st September
De Valence Pavilion
Tickets £16.00
Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/1157525004429795/
Doors open 7pm for 8pm
Finish approx. 10pm
This event is not included in the season ticket.
The king of pop meets the queen of the ballad in this dream double tribute concert, Dougie as Robbie Williams and Kathryn as Adèle have a combined 30 years entertaining all over Europe and recreate the sound and atmosphere most associated with two of the biggest British artists in history! The shows starts with a beautiful, dark trip through Adeles big ballads including the huge Bond song Skyfall.
The second half is Robbie time, all the biggest hits of the last 20 years including Rock DJ, Let Me Entertain you and Candy. With an amazing live band to accompany two of the best tribute acts in the business, this promises to be one incredible show! We've also been promised one or two very special duets along the way.
Whitland School Choir and Band
Sunday 22nd September
St Mary's Church
2pm Tickets £6
Dyffryn Taf School will showcase their highly talented musicians in this Sunday afternoon concert.Ysgol Dyffryn Taf Music Department are pleased to present a great variety of music featuring the School Orchestra, Choir, String Ensemble and Wind Band. There will also be performances by solo instrumentalists and vocalists.Dyffryn Taf School has a strong tradition of musical performance and in recent years has performed at the Houses of Parliament, the Millennium centre - Cardiff and for Royalty on a number of occasions. Our pupils are all very enthusiastic, hardworking musicians. As a school we are very proud to be taking part in the festival and are confident that you will enjoy the variety of music we perform.
Trinity Singers
Sunday 22nd September
St Mary’s Church
6.30pm
Tickets £14
For the third year running this talented group of musicians will be in Tenby to delight and thrill audiences. Having trained at Trinity College University of Wales they have gone on to enjoy varied careers in music. The quality of their singing is fantastic as they perform arias and duets from a variety of different operas. Their presentation is not only very professional but highly entertaining as well.They are
Chloë Angharad Morgan, Soprano
Frederick Jones, Tenor
Emyr Wyn Jones, Bass Baritone
Llyr Simon,pianist.
CHOW! Jazz Combo
Sunday 22nd September
Church House
9.00pm Tickets £10
CHOW! is a jazz combo - keyboards, sax, bass, drums - based in Oxford. Keyboard player, Siriol Jenkins, is a local musician who played at last year’s festival. This year she is playing with three other keen jazz musicians. The group is versatile and wide ranging in its music. There are standards by such jazz giants as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane. These are combined with original material drawing inspiration from groundbreaking contemporary jazzers but always reworked and reimagined through the interplay of the four instrumental voices. They are Felix Jackson – sax, Siriol Jenkins – keyboard, Hani Elias –bass, Edmund Adonis – drums. Their music is truly fresh, original and exciting. Don’t miss it.
Alexander Ullman
Piano Recital
Winner 2017 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
Tuesday 24th September
St Marys Church
7.30pm - 9.15pm Tickets £15
Praised for his subtle interpretations and extraordinary technical mastery, Alexander Ullman has impressed audiences and critics worldwide. Winner of the prestigious Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 2017, he has performed with many of the world's ;leading orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the St Petersburg Philharmonic. This season he is giving concerts with the Moscow State Orchestra, The Beijing NCPA Orchestra and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra as well as others. He is also partnering violinist Barnabas Keleman at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival. Earlier this year he released an album which includes Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, an item he will perform at his Tenby piano recital which will also include works by Haydn, Beethoven and Liszt.
Steffan Morris with Friends
Wednesday 25th September
St Marys Church
7.30pm - 9.15pm Tickets £15
Join Steffan with friends Ricky Gore, violin and Conal Bembridge-Sayers, piano, for an evening of outstanding music making. Steffan Morris is one of the finest cellists of his generation. He enjoys an international career as soloist, chamber and orchestral player and teacher – he is professor of cello at the Yehudi Menhuin School. Steffan was the youngest ever guest principal cellist with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and has also appeared as guest principal cellist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. He is a member of the Marine Quartet, as is Ricky Gore, this evening's violinist. The quartet has itself achieved distinction being winners of the prestigious Royal Overseas League Competition 2018, and has also been honoured with a Royla Philharmonic Society Award. Conal Bembridge-Sayers is one of Wales' rising piano stars. As well as a busy concert schedule, Conal works with the Royal College of Music and Dance, Welsh National Opera, and the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. Their programme includes Mendelssohn's celebrated D minor piano trio, of which Schumann wrote, "this is the master trio of our age".
Tenby Male Choir
Thursday 26th September
St Marys Church
8pm Tickets £10
Representing the great Welsh tradition of male choirs, Tenby's own choir is a permanent feature of the festival. Every year they delight their audience of local people as well as tourists with their wonderful music and beautiful voices.
Hot Strings Café
Friday 27th September
Harbwr Brewery, Sergeants Lane
7.30pm Tickets £15
A fantastic group of musicians who bring you jazz in the Brewery. Heulwen Thomas and friends present good-time foot tapping jazz and swing in traditional styles of the 20s and 30s with strong influences of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli in a friendly café bar atmosphere that will raise your spirits and banish the blues.
Festival Grand Finale
Goodwick Brass Band with Bella Voce In Concert
Saturday 28th September
De Valence
7.30pm Tickets £18
A winning combination of glamorous ladies, – just check out those shoes – with fabulous voices and some stirring music from instruments ranging from the mighty tuba to the French horn.
Here are some other events that may interest you.
Saturday 21st September
Adelina Patti – In Words and Music
A Centenary Talk by Josephine Hammond
A well known speaker to Tenby Arts Festival audiences, Josephine Hammond will talk about Adelina Patti in a celebration of her centenary. Josephine has written a book "Adelina Patti, Queen of Song" telling the life story of the beautiful soprano who in her day was the most famous singer of all. She is also the highest paid singer ever. Her life was one of danger, excitement and scandal. Josephine will reveal all. You will also be able to enjoy arias from some of her most popular rôles.
Church House
5pm Tickets £8
Monday 23rd September
Writers on Tenby
Readers - Robert Smith, June Howell, Andrew Davies, Sharon Thompson. “Tenby is quite simply the best-looking and most agreeable seaside town in Britain” wrote David Gentleman, “Coastline”. We’ll hear from, amongst others, Beatrix Potter, Daniel Defoe, George Eliot, Paul Theroux, John Betjeman and Augustus John. The occasion is not entirely serious - the purpose is to entertain and interest by creating a portrait of Tenby.
St Julian's Chapel, The Harbour
2pm Tickets £6
Miracle Brew
A talk about beer by PETE BROWN
Pete Brown is an award winning British author, journalist, broadcaster and consultant specialising in food and drink. He has been called the “beer drinker’s Bill Bryson”. Throughout the nine books he has written, his broad fresh approach takes in social history, cultural commentary, travel writing, personal discovery and natural history. His talks are always delivered with the warmth and wit you’d expect during a great night down at the pub. He writes for newspapers and magazines around the world and was named British Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012 and 2016, has won three Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, and has been shortlisted twice for the Andre Simon Awards. Pete is Chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers.PETE takes you on a globetrotting adventure through the nature of beer –the third most popular drink in the world – after tea and coffee.
HARBWR BREWERY, Sergeants Lane
4pm Tickets £10
Pint Sized Plays
Our ever popular showing of ten minute plays in various locations in Tenby. Succinct, sarcastic, hilarious and tragic, these plays may be short on time but they are long on emotion. They are part of a major competition which will be judged later in the year in Fishguard.
Today you can see them at the following locations:
7.30 The Crown
8.30 The Cove
9.30 The Hope & Anchor
FREE
Living in the Light
Written and performed by Alison Neil
Directed by David Collison
Alison Neil returns to tread the boards in Tenby in another of her one woman plays.This one is about Hildegard of Bingen a brilliant early example of women's abilities and achievements. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179), was a German Benedictine Abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary, and polymath. She is considered to be the founder of the science of natural history in Germany. She has been recognised as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. On 7 October 2012, Hildegard of Bingen has been called the “Leonardo da Vinci of the 12th Century”. Living in turbulent and dangerous times, she was a musician, healer, artist, visionary, theologian, biographer, playwright and poet. Beginning as a hermit in a monastery cell, she rose to an unheard-of position for a woman – preaching in cathedrals, giving advice to an Emperor and criticising the Pope. Her writing about sex was extraordinarily frank and remarkably detailed – especially as she was a nun! Hildegard’s entertaining and moving story of friendship, love, and struggle against authority is brought to life in this enthralling production.
De Valence
6.30pm Tickets £15
Tuesday 24th September
The Ancient Silk Road – East meets West
A talk by Susie Brooks
For more than two millennia merchants have travelled both west and east to trade their wares with those from far away lands, crossing some of the most challenging terrain in the world. Cultural exchanges inevitably followed as the trade routes expanded. Travel the route with Susie Brooks as she presents a colourful picture of life in those days drawn from her studies as a guide/lecturer in the National Museum of Singapore.
Church House
2pm Tickets £8
More Pint Sized Plays
Our ever popular showing of ten minute plays in various locations in Tenby.
Succinct, sarcastic, hilarious and tragic, these plays may be short on time but they are long on emotion. They are part of a major competition which will be judged later in the year in Fishguard.
Today you can see them at the following locations;
7.30 The Sailing Club
8.30 Tavern Bar & Kitchen
9.30 The Buccaneer
FREE
Wednesday 25th September
Fall of the Medieval World
What really happened in Tenby at the time of the Reformation.
A talk by Father Gildas
Father Gildas is a Cistercian monk at the Abbey on Caldey Island. He has been a monk there for 36 years. Prior to that he worked for many years in Retail, Fashion and the Hospitality trade.He studied Art at Private Art School and Bournemouth and Poole College of Art after which heworked as a freelance artist with one or two shows. He is very passionate about history and archeology. He has spent most of his life studying these subjects. So we will be in erudite hands for his talk on this fascinating topic.
St Julian's Chapel, The Harbour
2.30pm Tickets£6
Poetry Please
This annual open event offers an opportunity for lovers of poetry to read their favourite poems or to present poems
they have written. An exciting and simulating session for the intellect and for the emotions.
Open to all so do come and join us.
Refreshments will also be available.
Church House
4pm - 5.15pm
FREE
Phil Okwedy, Storyteller
Phil is fast becoming a regular visitor to Tenby Arts Festival. His brilliant story telling never fails to fascinate and entertain his audiences. This is his philosophy."I tell stories to anyone who is willing to listen. I tell stories that come from the richness of the world's oral tradition. I tell stories that speak to me in the belief that they will speak to you too.”
Tenby Golf Club
7.30pm Tickets £10
Thursday 26th September
Graham Hadlow
Water Colour Artist – a talk and demonstration
Graham Hadlow has lived and worked in Pembrokeshire since 1970 finding Wales a rich source of inspiration for his paintings. Graham also teaches at workshop classes and art society demonstrations. He will give a demonstration of the techniques of this subtle and difficult art. He is also donating one of his lovely paintings of a local scene for our Festival Raffle. Tickets are just £1. This year he has an exhibition at Tenby Museume from the 30th August to 6th October.
Church House
2pm Tickets £8
The Nude in Art
A talk by George Hancock
George has been a regular speaker at the festival for several years now and always seems to find very enticing subjects. I have a feeling that this one might prove to be even more popular than last year's talk on wine. He is an excellent speaker combining extensive knowledge of his subject with a great deal of humour. No doubt he will include this portrait, the Rokeby Venus, one of the most famous nudes of all time.
Church House
4pm Tickets £8
Friday 27th September
Syria-- an inside view
A talk by Diana Darke
Diana has written three books on Syria – My House in Damascus, The Merchant of Syria and The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo. All are written from on the ground, inside Syria. She knew the country extremely well even before the war, having travelled all round it extensively, as author of the Bradt guide to Syria. She was preparing its third edition when the war broke out. Diana is a Middle East cultural expert, Arabist, BBC broadcaster and journalist. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph and Al Araby.
Church House
2pm Tickets £8
Gillian Clark
National Poet of Wales 2008-2016
Born in Cardiff, Wales Gillian Clarke is a poet, playwright, editor and translator (from Welsh). She is also president and co-founder of Ty Newydd, winner of both the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and the Wilfred Owen Association Poetry Award, as well as a Tutor on M.Phil course in Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan. Her poetry is studied by GCSE and A Level students throughout Britain. Her poetry collections include, A Recipe for Water, Letter from a Far Country and Making the Beds.
Church House
7.30pm
Doors open 6.45pm
Finish approx 9pm
Tickets £8
