Our next concert is Fibonacci Quartet Friday May 8th 7:30pm 2026 at St. Michael & All Angels, Cwmdu, NP8 1RW. Tickets.
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WNO-String Quartet
Tuesday 21st April, 7:30PM start. Llangynidr Village Hall, Cwmcrawnon Road, Llangynidr, NP8 1LS.
Music to include: Haydn, Mendelssohn, Ravel.
Tickets £ 12 from: Walnut Tree Stores, llangynidrvillagehall@gmail.com, cash or card at the door.
Brecon Choir Festival, major new commission
Brecon Choir Festival have announced a major new commission for this years event, World Premiere: Prayer by Owain Park". Link to their newsletter.
Hay Music-The New London Chamber Ensemble
Friday, 24 April 7:30pm–9:45pm, Hay Castle
NLCE is one of Britain’s leading wind quintets and they return to Hay Music at Hay Castle on Friday, 24 April at 7.30pm to play pieces by Debussy, Barber, Hindemith, Holst, Moondog, Coleman and a world premiere by Julian Philips introduced by the composer.
Programme
Moondog: Bird of Paradise
Claude Debussy arr. Gordon Davies: Petite Suite
Samual Barber: Summer Music
Paul Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik Op. 24 No.2
Julian Philips: Different Times - world premiere
Gustav Holst: Wind Quintet in A Flat, Op. 14 - revised version by Raymond Head
Valerie Coleman: Umoja
The New London Chamber Ensemble.
Fibonacci Quartet
Friday May 8th 7:30pm 2026 at St. Michael & All Angels, Cwmdu, NP8 1RW.
Fibonacci Quartet
Kryštof Kohout - Violin, Luna de Mol - Violin, Findlay Spence - Cello, Elliot Kempton - Viola.
Image: Fibonacci Quartet-credit Kaupo Kikkas.
As the only ensemble ever to win both the First and Audience Prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in 2024, the Fibonacci Quartet are one of Europe’s leading young string quartets.
During the 2025/26 season the quartet will perform extensively across Europe, with highlights including performances at Vienna Musikverein, Berlin Philharmonie, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Wigmore Hall, Munich Prinzregententheater and Philharmonie de Paris, as well as festival appearances at Edinburgh International Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Heidelberger Frühling Festival and Bad Tölz Winners Summit.
Alongside their busy performing schedule, the quartet teach as Quartet in Residence at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in their position as Nina Drucker Fellows.
Winners at the 2024 Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International auditions, they were also recently appointed as Grand Résident ensemble at ProQuartet in Paris for seasons 2025–2027.
Programme
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 64 No. 5 in D Major ‘The Lark’
Janacek: String Quartet No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’
Interval
Schumann: String Quartet No. 3 in A Major
Our first concert of 2026 — Emma Rawicz Trio
This first concert with Emma Rawicz (saxophones & vocals), Niklas Lukassen (bass) and Jonny Mansfield (percussion & vibraphone) proved a very engaging and entertaining evening to a packed audience.
Emma Rawicz, Jonny Mansfield & Niklas Lukassen.
Quite superb. Almost telepathic music making. Very happy audience. Apart from her obvious musical gifts [Emma] was one of the most eloquent and inspiring speakers for promoting the arts. Top drawer.
Very successful night; different audience, three exceptionally gifted musicians.
Each piece they performed had an accompanying contextual introduction by Emma; a transcendently beautiful example just before the interval (when we had warming punch!) being inspired by a Japanese word komorebi—dappled sunlight seen through trees.
Brecon Jazz-Transatlantic Hot Club
Transatlantic Hot Club.
Quartet, Muse Arts (Brecon Jazz Club), Brecon.
Tuesday 21st April 2026, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
Our previous Autumn Concert: Gwent Chamber Orchestra
Gwent Chamber Orchestra.
The annual September concert given by the Gwent Chamber Orchestra was much enjoyed by a capacity audience. The opening Handel Concerto Grosso in D minor featured some fine solo playing from the oboes and bassoon and the whole orchestra played with much clarity, highlighting the wonderful acoustics of Cwmdu Church.
We then heard some interesting anecdotes from the GCO conductor Stephen Broom about the composer Dag Wirén, before the performance of his charming Serenade for Strings. It had some very memorable melodies and was played with great energy and gusto. The first half ended on a high with the Vivaldi Concerto in A minor for two Violins performed by Julia Watkins (the leader of GCO) and Lesley Gwyther (principal 2nd violin). They always play so wonderfully together and it was thrilling to hear them play so fast and rhythmically in the outer movements, but also their lyrical interplay in the beautiful slow movement.
After a busy interval with everyone catching up after the Summer and enjoying a glass of wine, we were treated to the ever popular Symphony no. 40 in G minor by Mozart. Foot tappingly good, it was a fitting and thrilling end to both a fabulous programme and another great year of concerts here in Cwmdu. Please do join us for the four very varied concerts coming up in 2026!
Gwent Chamber Orchestra, rehearsing for our concert.
Our previous summer concert
Will Barnes Quartet.
Our summer concert given by Will Barnes Quartet was a fantastic evening. We heard tracks from their recently released album ‘Source of the Severn’ (which many of us purchased at the end) and some brand new material. They each played with such virtuosity and ease and just seemed so natural with each other, in gentle mood lighting. It was fascinating to watch their interplay and to feel their groove. Each of them had several solo moments which seamlessly transitioned between them. We had some chilled and mellow tracks interspersed with others where they really upped the energy and pulse with such complex rhythmic intricacy.
Our Artist-in-residence Maikki Ranger of Hey!remade had a fabulous display of handmade and unique recycled glassware.
May 2025 Rhossili Duo concert
We had a very engaging concert from the Rhossili Duo, who opened with Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzola’s Histoire du Tango and closed with First Milonga, Last Tango by Welsh composer Stephen Goss—written as an elegy to the former and a piece using fragments of material from his work. Then Welsh folk songs including Suo gan arranged by Goss and Bartok’s Romanian Dances based on his extensive folk music studies. The Bartok works are often heard in their original piano or orchestral renderings, and this interpretation brought a great zest to them.
The duo then had an opportunity to play solo pieces by Agustín Barrios (guitar) and Eugène Bozza (flute). Then Sonatina by leading composer for the guitar, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco—exiled from Italy to the US prior to WWII.
The performances received enthusiastic applause from our audience; and were a brilliant reminder of how lucky we are to have alumni and students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama at our annual concert series.
Rhossili Duo can be seen in June at the Budleigh Music Festival.
Artist-in-residence Francesca Kay displayed a selection of her letterpress, calligraphy and paper designs—website.
Our March 2025 Nantwen Ensemble concert
We were treated to an inspiring and varied programme by the wonderful Nantwen Ensemble (website) on the 8th March.
Nantwen Ensemble preparing for their concert.
Firstly the imaginative sound world created with some unusual string techniques by composer Caroline Shaw in Plan & Elevation, her musical drawing of Dumbarton Oaks, and then the beautiful and hypnotic Verses by Ólafur Arnalds. Then Nantwen’s own commission, Songs without Words composed to complement the Schubert string quintet, from Welsh composer John Metcalf. This set the scene perfectly for the concert’s second half with its closing hymn-like prayer.
In his introduction, Daniel said that each time he prepares the Schubert Quintet with different colleagues, they each bring something new to the work with their ideas and interpretations. Schubert’s mastery of writing for all the instruments and the sheer beauty and scale of the work meant that time almost stood still for us. It’s a work that never seems to date or lose its popularity.
Our Artist-in-residence, Helen of InSpired Pottery—“Beautifully handcrafted wares for everyday use” had a stunning display of her work. (Website).
Display with the artist, Helen.