Tag Archives: music

The Question asks; “Are You a ProActive and Optimistic Senior” Hmmm… #MondayBlogs

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oapschat

Well, I thought about this… a lot! Yes, I think, mostly, I’m optimistic. And sometimes, I’m even proactive. It was the ‘senior ‘ that I needed to think long and hard about. What constitutes a’senior’ You see, for years I’ve always thought some people were quite senior; at least to me. Until I realised I’d caught up with them. I was fifty-nine for quite some time. Then I moved up to sixty-two.  I’ve been sixty-two for a bit as well.

 So I thought I would investigate this group. And, oh, had I underestimated my peers. The members of  www.OAPSchat.co.uk are, as founder of the site Janice Rosser says: “… looking at the website from far and wide.” Ever courteous  she welcomes visitors to  the site  from countries as far away and diverse as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, Canada, India, Venezuela, Irish Republic, Spain, France, China, Japan, Greece, Mexico, The Bahamas, Indonesia and Switzerland and cheerfully says, ” a BIG hello from the UK to you all and thank you for visiting. I hope you are enjoying the huge and varied content that is here.”

 I bet they are, as well. This is a place where the over 55s can share  news from all over the UK: local and holiday news (there’s a lovely piece written by Juliet Greenwood:  on visiting:  Portmeirion  in North Wales ), and I was recently chuffed to see a piece of my own from last year again on, Ciovo, Croatia . There are topical issues ( Top 5 UK Airports To Fly From), financial and health advice. On a personal level members can promote their talents, chat and share their interests and hobbies, giving encouragement to others to join in with their hobbies.  I was particularly interested in Chris Lovell’s piece about launching  her small boat, the Blue Nun, from Neyland in Pembrokeshire  as that’s local news for me, as well as learning about a hobby. And then there’s Tracy Burton talking about how it’s Never Too Old To Backpack! ; quite a consoling thought as I struggle along the narrow rugged Pembrokeshire  coastal path sometimes!

Portmeirion1smallCroatia JB

Portmerion                                                                     Ciovo

As you can see I’ve picked out the items that are of particular interest to me  but there are similar and constantly changing  items from all over the UK and abroad that will be of interest to many. The OAPSchat  net is spread far and wide. 

Members also give an insight to their lifestyles, share memoirs and occasions. I loved the story  written by Georgia Hill, In Remembrance – and a Mystery

Most importantly for me, when I first came across OAPSchat were the books I saw to buy there. And there is often a wealth of talent to be found. For instance, in the present issue,  Jane Lovering is being interviewed with her book: Can’t Buy Me Love  Margaret James discusses her new book; Girl in Red Velvet and Sheryl Brown, one of my favourite authors,is talking about her latest book, Learning to Love

Then there is the scope for authors to promote their own work! When I first explored the site; after I’d looked at all the different topics, read articles, noted places I’d liked to visit (one day) I saw Advertise with OAPSchat … yes I do know I’m a bit slow sometimes!! I realised that all the books on the left hand side bar of the site were advertisements/promotions of books placed by the authors. Would Janice take mine? Of course! Rates are so reasonable. More importantly the readers are there; ready and waiting; people who have so many interests must have so many preferences for genres. Some one might like mine. And they did! I had great sales.

So, for me, OAPSchat  has given me so much: new friends, new interests, new ideas, new readers. Do I mind being a ‘senior’?  Well no… as long as I’m also mostly “optimistic”. And sometimes, even “proactive”. I can cope with being sixty-two… for a few more years!

For more information on OAPSchat  check out About Us

janice

Of course I couldn’t finish without giving Janice a little space (well, she is the founder) The floor is yours, Janice.

Thanks Judith.

OAPSchat was born in April 2013 as a Facebook page. It was in November 2013 that I decided I had enough material and confidence to launch the website.

Since that day, I have been writing articles on all kinds of topics, ranging from hobbies, holidays, food and drink, memories, families, finance and much much more. I now have over one hundred and thirty seven wonderful contributors to date and articles on all different subjects are posted on a daily basis. Over 1400 articles can be read now! Members can comment via disqus, FB and Twitter.

Raffles are held monthly, sometimes more often. A newsletter goes out once a month with my plans for the coming weeks. I am an Independent Happy List Winner 2014 for founding the website.

janice cheers

   Janice celebrating at the ceremomies

Loneliness is a big scourge on our society worldwide and the website helps combat this awful isolation by coming together and sharing our thoughts and ideas. OAPSchat is well and truly born now and I hope it will continue to thrive. With your support, I’m confident it will!

OAPSchat FaceBook Link: http://bit.ly/2vnZYGh

omline hit oapschatoapschatposter

 

 

The Tenby Book Fair is moving and Being Renamed…The Narberth Book Fair. Ta dah!!

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Welcome to the first post of the Narberth Book Fair.

Just to let you know that we have decided we have outgrown the Church House in Tenby.  Having searched around for a suitable place we have found the perfect venue. So the Tenby Book Fair will no longer be held in Tenby. In fact it will no longer be the Tenby Book Fair but the Narberth Book Fair. We are quite excited  to be having a new challenge and I’m sure we will be bigger and better… just in a different hall. In a different town.

From now on the Book Fair will be held at the Queens Hall there. Check out their website    https://www.thequeenshall.org.uk/. As you can see it’s a vibrant and busy venue in a bustling little town full of interesting shops, antique places, cafes and restaurants. And there is a large nearby car park. But, sorry… no beach.

The date will be Saturday, the 23rd September. 10.00am to 4.oopm.

I’ve been to a few craft fairs at the Queens Hall with my books and always there is plenty of footfall.

A little information on Narberth; the former capital of Pembrokeshire boasts one of the best high-streets in the county. It’s a gorgeous little market town in the east of Pembrokeshire. Multi coloured Edwardian and Georgian buildings line the high street which has developed quite a reputation as a shopper’s heaven. many of the cafes, pubs and restaurants are award winners..

Transport:  Narberth has a railway station about a mile outside of town. And there are quite a few taxi firms based around and in Narberth. And, I’m sure, one or two of the authors who would be willing to pop there to meet stranded fellow authors 

Accommodation: Check out this website: http://bit.ly/2grbFXY. But I’m sure there are more dotted around

The History of Narberth:

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The town has grown around the walls of its stone castle, but the name is older than the castle. Narberth is derived from ‘Arberth’, the pre-Norman name for the district (or commote). This Celtic heritage is also represented in the myth and legend of the Mabinogion – ancient Welsh folk tales that were written down in the 14th century, originating from an earlier tradition of oral storytelling. Two branches of the Mabinogi in particular are centred on ‘Arberth’, which was reputedly the court of Pwyll, Prince of Dfydd.

So.. we have already had many of our usual authors wanting to take part in our inaugural book fair in Narberth. But we’re always thrilled to welcome new authors. Those interested in taking part please contact me: judithbarrow77@gmail.com 

narberth-logo-100

Funerals are Strange Occasions… Well, I Think So.

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mum

                                            My Mum

It’s four years since Mum died. My sister arranged the funeral for eleven o’clock today. This is a post I wrote shortly afterwards. The relationship between Mum and me, and the one between her and my sister, proved so very different. There’s nothing wrong in that, but at no time was it more obvious than on that day…

I wrote… 

I haven’t been online much over the last few months; my mother had been on end of life care for over a year and she passed away peacefully three weeks ago. It’s been  a difficult time, both for her and for all the family. There have been many occasions when I’ve wished her at peace. Now she is.

I didn’t intend to write anything publicly about this. But something happened after she died that made me think and to remember a piece I wrote some years ago on motherhood, for an anthology.

I gave it the title I Am Three Mothers because, after much thought on what to write, I realised that although generally the same (and hopefully fair) in all the practical things and the everyday stuff of sharing attention, giving time, listening to each,  I was actually a different mum to each of my three children when they were young. My approach to each child differed  because they were all such diverse personalities.

With our eldest daughter I was more careful how I said things, knew I needed to give her time to tell me anything she was worried about (even though my instinct was to jump right in there…hmm…still is) She tended to try to sort things out for herself and would only come to me as a last resort. She was strong-willed, disliked authority and was loyal to both us as a family and her friends. This last, at times, tended to land her into trouble in school. She had (still has, a wonderful sense of humour – one, I like to believe, is inherited from my mother)

With our son I had a more laid-back relationship.  He loved sport and, as long as we got him to his football practice and games on time, didn’t complain much. More open about anything that worried him, nevertheless there were still times we needed to sit with him and wait for him to talk.

With our youngest daughter, his twin, it was a different matter. She put herself under so much pressure in everything she did, striving all the time for perfection that, sometimes, we had to say, ‘stop…enough… relax’. An anxious child, she needed a lot of reassurance and was very shy. She too loved sport and, for someone so quiet, was very competitive.At school she absorbed education like a sponge and loved to write stories. The family sense of humour, sometimes a little dark, burned brightly in her.

I’m glad to say that, whatever mistakes I made as a mother, they all three turned into great adults. We’re very proud of them. And it’s such fun watching them deal with parenthood!

Bear with me; I’m rambling on, I know. But this is leading somewhere…

Last week I was at my mother’s funeral. I say at because I felt it was a funeral I was a spectator to, not part of.

During the service I realised something strange. Being the eldest, and living nearer to Mum than me,  my sister had insisted on organising the whole thing. It was a Humanist service which was fine; my mother had no beliefs.

But what was odd, was that what my sister had written about Mum was totally unlike the mum I knew.

And I wonder if that is something all siblings share; a different view of the characters of their parents.

The mother my sister saw was a woman who liked poetry. So there were three poems in the service. I’ve never once seen my mother read poetry although she did like to misquote two lines from ‘ What is this life if, full of care…’

The mum I knew read and enjoyed what she herself called ‘trashy books.’ They weren’t, but she did love a romance and the odd ‘Northern-themed’ novels. (I’m always glad she was able to enjoy the first book of my trilogy – dementia had claimed her by the time the next two were published. She still managed a smiling grumble, though,telling me it had  taken me ‘long enough to get a book out there’) And she loved reading anything about the history of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Oh, and recipe books… she had dozens of recipe books and could pour over them for hours. I often challenged her to make something from them. She never did… it was a shared joke.

Mum had a beautiful singing voice in her younger days.  She and my father would sing duets together. Anybody remember Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson?  My parents knew all their songs. And so did my sister and I… I thought. The songs and singers chosen were not ones I remembered. And Mum loved brass bands! She’d have loved to have gone out to a rousing piece from a brass band. preferably the local band. She loved everything about the area and the house she’d live in for almost sixty years

Which brings me to the main gist of the service. No mention of Mum’s love of nature, of gardening, of walking.Nothing about Mum’s sense of humour; often rude, always hilarious. Telling a tale she had no compunction about swearing if it fitted the story. And her ability to mimic, together with her timing, was impeccable. She was smart, walking as upright in her later years as she had when in the ATS as a young woman, during the Second World War. She worked hard all her life;  as a winder in a cotton mill, later as a carer, sometimes as a cleaner. Throughout the talk there was no inkling of the proud Northern woman willing to turn her hand to any job as long as it paid. No mention of her as a loyal wife, even in difficult times.

Thinking about it on the way home I realised that my sister had seen none of what I’d known and I knew nothing of what she’d seen in Mum. And then I thought, perhaps as we were such dissimilar daughters to her, Mum became a different mother to each of us? Hence the completely opposite funeral to the one I would have arranged for her.

Is that the answer? A funeral is a public service. Are they all edited, eased into the acceptable, the correct way to be presented for public consumption? Because it reflects on those left behind? I don’t know.

Perhaps, unless we’ve had the foresight to set out the plan for our own funerals, this will  always be the case.

So I’d like it on record that, at my funeral,  I’d like Unforgettable by Nat King Cole (modest as always!), a reading of Jenny Joseph’s When I Am Old (yes, I do know it’s been performed to death but won’t that be appropriate?). I’d like anybody who wants to say anything…yes anything…about me to be able to…as long as it’s true, of course! And then I’d like the curtains closed on me to Swan Lake’s Dance of the Little Swans. (Because this was the first record bought for me by my favourite aunt when I was ten. And because, although as a child I dreamt of being a ballet dancer, the actual size and shape of me has since prevented it.)

Thank you for reading this. I do hope I haven’t offended (or, even worse, bored) anyone. I was tempted to put this under the category ‘Fantasy’ but thought better of it!

Chat again sometime.

https://judithbarrowblog.com/

https://twitter.com/judithbarrow77

https://www.facebook.com/judith.barrow.3h

ttps://www.honno.co.uk/authors/b/judith-barrow/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judith-Barrow/e/B0043RZJV6

Tenby Arts Festival – Day Eight – 26th September 2015

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Children’s Art WorkshopScreen Shot 2015-06-17 at 17.48.38

Children’s Arts and Crafts Workshop
Tenby Library Hall

All age groups are welcome, so come along and get messy with paint, glue and other exciting materials. Create your very own collage of Tenby.

Booking is advisable as numbers are limited to 25. Phone 01437 775151.

2pm

FREE

Gregynog 2015 Winners

Gregynog Young Musician 2015
Prize Winners’ Concert

Skeku Kanneh-Mason – cello
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason – piano

duo Kanneh-Masons photo

In recent years winners of the prestigious Gregynog Young Musician Competition have delighted our audiences. Last year Sheku,

as string section prize winner, joined two other winners of the competition to give us a memorable afternoon’s music of the highest quality.

At Gregynog this year, Sheku was judged overall winner having won the adjudicators’ admiration for playing of great maturity and style.

Sheku has recently performed cello concertos  by Haydn, Elgar and Shostakovich. In 2016 he will perform the Schumann concerto.

Sheku’s younger sister, Jeneba, was both winner of the piano section of the Gregynog competition and winner of the competition’s

accompanists prize. Jeneba has performed Mozart’s Triple Piano Concerto with two of her sisters and has recently given two solo recitals

in Paris. The two young musicians are giving a sparkling recital including music  by Schubert, Faure, Shostakovich and J.S. Bach

as well as Rachmnaninov, Liszt and Haydn.

St. Mary’s Church
3pm

Tickets £5.00

The Railway Children Lady

E.-Nesbit

railway-children

Forever remembered as the author of ‘The Railway Children’ and a host of other children’s books, Edith Nesbit was testimony to the maxim that

you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Prolific novelist and poet, and co-founder of the Fabian Society with her husband Hubert Bland, Edith Nesbit was to the world at large a figure

of conventional if progressive tastes.

The people in Edith’s life read like a who’s who of Victorian and Edwardian society. Eleanor Marx, Annie Besant, Emmeline Pankhurst, H. G. Wells,

Sydney and Beatrice Webb, Annie Besant, and Noel Coward were just a few of the notable personalities she numbered among her friends.

In the relative privacy of her home she was the Bohemian duchess, obsessive searcher of occult mysteries, chain-smoking mother to five children,

two of whom were actually those of her philandering husband’s mistress, Alice Hoatson, who came to live with them. Edith herself was lover of

George Bernard Shaw – and later an ever-younger string of adoring young men.

This mesmerising contrast between the public figure – author of lyrical poetry and children’s stories – and the private, often outlandish individual,

makes the story of Edith Nesbit fascinating drama.

‘The Railway Children Lady’ is written by Derek Webb whose play about Dusty Springfield ‘Call Me Dusty’ played to packed houses across South Wales

in 2013. It is brought to the stage by Tenby-based actress Eloise Williams who has dozens of TV and stage appearances to her credit, including

playing Dylan Thomas’ wife Caitlin, Natasha in ‘Three Sisters’ and Gertrude in ‘Hamlet’.

Eloise Williams, who plays Edith Nesbit in The Railway Children Lady

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Eloise trained at the Royal Welsh College of music and Drama (BA hons Drama) and Guildford School of Acting (Postgraduate Acting). She has

appeared in hundred of productions across the Uk in roles as diverse as the Duenna in Cyrano de Bergerac to part of a wooden fence at the Minack Theatre,

and Caitlin Thomas at The Boathouse to a Sherpa at the Wales Millennium Centre.

Since moving to Pembrokeshire to marry artist Guy Manning she has taken up writing for young people and her first Children’s book ‘Elen’s Island’ was

released by Firefly Press this year.

Church House

7.30pm

Tickets £10.00

Links:

http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/

http://www.judithbarrow.co.uk/tenby-book-fair-19th-september-2015-st-marys-church-house-11-00am-2-30pm/

Tenby Arts Festival – Day Seven – Friday 25th September 2015

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Laurie Dale

Laurie Dale in full swing in front of the microphone.
Laurie Dale in full swing in front of the microphone.

Well known to all Tenby Festival fans, Laurie will entertain his audience with his very own particular style of songs, jokes and stories.

Tea is included

Church House
3.00pm

Tickets £6.00 (includes tea)

 TUXEDO JAZZ ORCHESTRA

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Tony Jacobs and his band,  The Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra. present a wonderful evening of exciting music,

There may even be some dancing!

It is always a swell party with Tony Jacobs and company. You can enjoy the music of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong to name but a few. Listen again to those favourite songs such as Georgia on my Mind, Tiger Rag, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Chattanooga Choo Choo and many others. If your toes keep on tapping there will be room to get up and trip the light fantastic, dancing the night away.

The Grand Raffle will be drawn during the evening.


De Valence Centre

7.30pm

Tickets £18.00

Links: 

http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/

http://www.judithbarrow.co.uk/tenby-book-fair-19th-september-2015-st-marys-church-house-11-00am-2-30pm/

Enquiries to: tenbyartsfestival@yahoo.co.uk

TENBY BOOK FAIR – 19th SEPTEMBER 2015 St MARY’S CHURCH HOUSE 11.00am – 2.30pm

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Poster-online (2)

On the first day of the Tenby Arts Festival;  the 19th September 2015, between 11.00am and 2,30pm, we’re having a Book Fair. We would love for you to join us to  meet and chat to our lovely authors.

authors

There’s a chance to relax and listen to music while having a cup of coffee and a cake. There’ll also be a chance to win and choose one of the authors’ books as a raffle prize  Stay for a short poetry reading at 1.00 pm and then to discover which of the children won the competition we previously set on the subject, ‘ The Book I Enjoyed This Year’. The prizes of great books have been kindly donated by Firefly Press and will be presented by Editor and Founder Member, Janet Thomas.

These  are some of the authors who will be there:

JUDITH BARROW:jbarrow_1438471747_11

Publisher’s website:http://www.honno.co.uk/

PHIL CARRADICE:

http://www.gomer.co.uk/index.php/authors/philcarradice.html  

JULIET GREENWOOD:

http://www.julietgreenwood.co.uk/ <http://www.julietgreenwood.co.uk/>
http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/ <http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/>
https://www.facebook.com/juliet.greenwood <https://www.facebook.com/juliet.greenwood>
https://twitter.com/julietgreenwood <https://twitter.com/julietgreenwood>

Publisher’s website: http://www.honno.co.uk/

JO HAMMOND:

http://jmhammondbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

CARLY HOLMES:Carly Holmes cover photo

www.carlyholmes.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Scrapbook-Writer/320756794747757?ref=hl

Publisher’s website:  www.parthianbooks.com

ANTHONY LAVISHER:

http://alavisher.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/alavisher
https://plus.google.com/102712490566399197548/posts

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anthony-Lavisher-Author/118025884963443

STEVEN LOCKLEY:Steve Lockley

ALEX MARTIN:Alex Martin

http://alexxx8586.blogspot.fr/

https://www.facebook.com/TheKatherineWheel

https://twitter.com/alexxx8586

JULIE McGOWAN:

www.juliemcgowan.com

Publisher’s website: www.sunpenny.com
 

GARTH MEANEY:Garth Meaney

https://www.facebook.com/garth.meaney
http://www.garthmeaneyauthor.com
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VKRTWWE
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VKRTWWE

THORNE MOORE:Thorne Moore

www.thornemoore.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/thornemoorenovelist?ref=br_rs

Publisher’s website: http://www.honno.co.uk/

COLIN R PARSONS:Colin R. Parsons

www.colinrparsons.com

http://goo.gl/2p6Aq4

www.twitter.com/colinrparsons

www.facebook.com/colin.r.parsons

Publishers:www.pegasuspublishers.com

www.theroi.org

www.inearentertainment.com

www.livingaudio.co.uk

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HILARY SHEPARD

http://www.amazon.com/Hilary-Shepard/e/B00CTS96MY

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hilary-Shepherd/e/B008BI70C4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

SALLY SPEDDING:Sally Spedding

www.sallyspedding.com

www.facebook.com/sally.spedding

https://twitter.com/sallyspedding

Publisher:  www.sparklingbooks.com

Twitter; @sparklingbooks.com

SHARON TREGENZA:Sharon Tregenza

http:// www.sharontregenza.com

sharontregenzabooks

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharon-Tregenza/310700525773548

https://twitter.com/SharonTregenza

Publisher:http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/

Mark Williams-8

MARK H WILLIAMS
@markhwilliams

Links:

http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/

http://www.judithbarrow.co.uk/wednesdays-interview-with-honno-today-with-janet-thomas-freelance-editor-for-honno-editor-for-firefly-press/

For enquiries: judithbarrow77@gmail.com

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graham hadlow pic

Watercolour Techniques

Graham Hadlow, well known and popular local artist will give a talk on watercolour techniques with some practical demonstration.

Graham is also donating one of his paintings “Rising Tide” to be raffled to raise money for the festival. See Additional Events for further details.

Risiing Tide, Tenby Harbour

Church House
2pm

Tickets £5.00

The Divine Sarah

Sarah_Bernhardt_by_Félix_Nadar_2Sarah Bernhardt was one of the finest actresses that has ever  lived. She was a contemporary of Adelina Patti and a friend of Adelina’s first husband the Marquis de Caux. She was perhaps the first modern superstar. She shocked polite society with her unconventional life style but she was an innovator in her art as she was the first actress to strive for realism in her performances.

This fascinating talk by Josephine Hammond followed  by tea will take place at the

Fourcroft Hotel
3pm

Tickets £5.00 (includes tea)

The Solva Duo

Catherine Hare – flute

Isabel Harries – harp

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An evening of beautiful music from this most haunting of instruments which developed from the simple reed pipes of our ancient ancestors.Catherine Hare is from Saundersfoot but studied at the Royal College of Music in London where she now performs in concerts and teaches flute. She has a wide ranging repertoire.

Catherine Hare (flute) and Isabel Harries (harp) are musicians from Pembrokeshire, who met when they both won places at one of the world’s most prestigious specialist music schools, Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. When Catherine and Isabel both decided to continue their education at the Royal College of Music in London, they formed the Solva Flute and Harp Duo, named after one of their favourite places in their home county. Despite forming only recently, Catherine and Isabel quickly became a strong partnership and have enjoyed their blossoming performance calendar.

Catherine Hare began her early musical education at Saundersfoot C.P. School and quickly progressed as a flute player, joining the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain at the age of 13. At just 15 years old, Catherine was the principal flute of both the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, where she was also recipient of the Haydn Davies Prize for Most Promising Player Still at School, and more recently, the Welsh Livery Guild Award. During her three years as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, she was given the opportunity to play in many prestigious concert halls, including the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. She has performed under the baton of some of the greatest conductors in the world, most notably Vasily Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Roger Norrington and Bernard Haitink. Catherine has also performed concerts throughout Europe, including Luxembourg, Sweden, Croatia, and on a tour of Germany with the renowned conductor, Grant Llewellyn, also from Saundersfoot. At the age of 14, Catherine began studying flute with Laura Jellicoe at Chetham’s School of Music. During her time there she won various prizes, including the Larsson Wind Prize and the Chetham’s Early Music Prize. She played principal flute in numerous Chetham’s ensembles and went on to become Head Girl of the school. Catherine is currently a scholar of the Royal College of Music, where she is supported by a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Award, and is taught by Daniel Pailthorpe and Sue Thomas. She also has tuition on Baroque Flute from internationally acclaimed Rachel Brown and receives private lessons with renowned teacher Gitte Marcusson.
Recently Catherine has begun work as a freelance musician on both modern and baroque flutes, and has worked with the early music ensemble Ex Cathedra as well as being a regular dep flute player for the Wicked UK Musical Tour.

Isabel Harries is currently in her third year of studies at the Royal College of Music studying with Professor Ieuan Jones. Prior to this, Isabel studied with Gabriella Dall’Olio at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester from 2009 to 2011. At the age of 14 Isabel joined the junior programme at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff for weekly lessons with Meinir Heulyn. Isabel’s first harp teacher was Buddug Stevens of Cardigan where she had weekly lessons until she left for Chetham’s.
Alongside her studies, Isabel teaches several private harp and piano students and also leads music workshops in primary schools across West London. In her spare time, Isabel frequently plays background music at luxury hotels such as The Royal Horseguards Hotel, The Landmark, The Grosvenor and The Dorchester Hotel.
Besides the Harp, she also enjoys singing with local Pembrokeshire Choir the Landsker Singers and has enjoyed playing the harp in their Christmas concerts as well as their World Premiere of ‘The Nativity’ in 2012.
Isabel has played the harp in numerous competitions including local and regional Eisteddfods and was successful in 2011 winning the under 26 instrumental solo competition at Wales YFC Eisteddfod at Rhyl Pavilion. She was invited back in 2012 to be the official harpist of Wales YFC Eisteddfod.

At RCM Isabel has enjoyed playing in various performances with their Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra, Film Orchestra, and the RCM Harp Ensemble. Isabel has been fortunate enough to play in masterclasses with some of the world’s leading harpists as well as performing at top venues across the UK including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Winchester Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral.

The duo will be playing Naïdes by William Alwyn, In Ireland by Hamilton Harty and Sonata Concertante by Louis Spohr (originally written for violin and harp). They  will also be playing a mixture of ther own and other peoples arrangements of classic pieces such Clair de Lune & Arabesque No. 2 – Debussy, Sicilienne (from Pelléas and Mélisande) – Fauré, Meditation – Massenet and some Welsh folk tunes. St. John’s Church

7pm

Tickets £8.00

Tenby Male Choir

An evening of traditional singing from Tenby’s very own male choir.

Founded in 1975, Tenby Male Choir has, over the past 40 years, grown from strength to strength not just in chorister numbers but also in it’s musical reputation under the guiding light of Music Director Ian Williams [affectionately know as “Wilbur”] and  accompanist Jill Williams [no relation].
Today, at over 40 choristers strong, the choir prides itself on the professional reputation that it has grown “From the Heart of Pembrokeshire”.
Read more and buy their latest CD online at www.tenbymalechoir.orggroup3

St. Mary’s Church
8pm

Tickets £10.00

Links:

http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/

Enquiries to: tenbyartsfestival@yahoo.co.uk

Tenby Arts Festival – Day Two -Sunday 20th

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We’re having a Book Fair on the first day of the Tenby Arts Festival – Saturday 19th September 2015. Please join us – meet our lovely authors, relax and listen to music while having a cup of coffee and a cake. Stay for a short poetry reading and to discover who won the children’s competition: prizes of great books kindly donated by Firefly Press.

And here’s a flavour of the second day

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Sunday 20th

Sandcastle Competition

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A perennial favourite within the festival and a great way for parents and children to take part together. Your entry does not even have to be a castle, see Captain Jack Sparrow above. So get your creative juices working and come and have fun with bucket and spade. Who knows, you might even win a prize.

Castle Beach
11am – 2pm

Free

Jazz Brunch

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The Fourcroft Hotel jazz brunches are famed for the excellence of both the food and the music. This year will be no exception. The music will be supplied by the Sarah Smith Quartet. Sarah Smith on violin, Tim Smith on Rhythm Guitar, Oli Smith on Bass Guitar and Andy Mackenzie on Lead Guitar will play gypsy jazz music with fire and passion.
Good food with good music and spectacular views over Tenby Harbour – an excellent way to          spend Sunday afternoon.

Fourcroft Hotel

12 – 3pm

Tickets £15.00 in advance only from Fourcroft Hotel

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A free event to which all are welcome. An informal presentation of poetry readings and discussions. You are invited to bring along your favourite poem or one you have written yourself.

Caffè Vista
4 -6pm

Free

Rachmaninoff – Variations in a Life

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Costas Fotopoulos at the piano with

Alberto Bona as Chopin

St. Mary’s Church
7.30pm

Tickets £12.00

Links:

http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/

Tenby Arts Festival – Day one – 19th September

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We’re having a Book Fair on the first day of the Tenby Arts Festival. Please join us – meet our lovely authors, relax and listen to music while having a cup of coffee and a cake. Stay for a short poetry reading and to discover who won the children’s competition: prizes of great books kindly donated by Firefly Press.

And here’s a flavour of the rest of the first day

Tenby-Arts-Festival-logo (1)

Saturday 19th September

Brass Band.

Tudor Square or outside the gates at the entrance to Church House. To announce the opening of the festival with a swing a brass band will perform a medley of popular musical numbers.

11am

Free

Book Fair

Now in its third year this event has proved very popular as the start of our festival and continues to grow each year. We will open the doors on an exciting line-up of fourteen authors from Wales who will talk about their work, their inspiration and why it is that we all love a good story.  A short reading of poetry for your entertainment will precede the prize-giving of a children’s writing competition with entries from nine schools in the area. The judge for the competition is Janet Thomas, editor of children’s publisher, Firefly Press, who has kindly donated prizes of their own books. There will be books old and new to buy and coffee and cakes for sale too.
Talks, books, relaxing music, coffee and cakes with plenty of friendly chatter and discussion – a great morning.

Church House
11am – 2pm

Free

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Street Theatre – See Saw Productionsimagesimages-1

Join us for a light-hearted historical stroll through the town’s winding streets, and meet some of the colourful characters who passed this way in years gone by. Our talented band of players aim to entertain you, and even educate you, as they bring to life the illustrious, the infamous and the occasionally inebriated  visitors who, like you, came to stay in Tenby.  Meet outside the Fourcroft Hotel at 4pm for 4.15 start, and finish at Cafe Vista. The walk takes approximately 1hour and includes some steps.

Fourcroft Hotel
4pm

Free

Cantemus

Fauré’s Requiem

The Gloria by Vivaldi

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Under the baton of Welsh National Opera conductor, Alexander Martin, singers from all over Pembrokeshire and beyond, choir members or not will rehearse and perform Fauré’s Requiem and the Gloria by Vivaldi in the beautiful surroundings of St Mary’s Church.

Born in London, Alexander Martin studied Music at St John’s College, Cambridge, and the piano at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1992 he was appointed répétiteur at the Opéra National de Lyon in France under Kent Nagano. From 1995 to 1998 Alexander spent four seasons in Germany as répétiteur at the Opera, and répétiteur and conductor at the Hesse State Opera in Wiesbaden, before returning to live in France to pursue a freelance career. He has worked as guest conductor, assistant and coach for Lyon, Marseille, Avignon, le Capitole Toulouse, l’Opéra National du Rhin (Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia), La Monnaie, le Grand Théâtre Geneva, as well as for Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne, and Montepulciano Festivals. Alexander also worked closely with Philippe Jordan Britten’s Peter Grimes and The Turn of the Screw (Graz), and collaborated with René Jacobs in Rome for Tancredi. Following three seasons as Chorus Master in Bern (where he also conducted Cendrillon and Dave Maric’s Ghosts), Alexander worked as Chorus Master at the Opéra National de Bordeaux from 2010-2014. During this time he also worked in Bayreuth with Philippe Jordan on Parsifal (2012). He became Chorus Master at WNO at the start of this season.

The choir will be accompanied by Jeff Howard, organist.

Jeffrey Howard was born in Cardiff and studied at the University of Wales College, Cardiff, and the Royal Academy of Music, specializing in organ performance and church music. Since graduating, he has pursued a freelance career as organist, pianist, singer, coach and conductor. He has accompanied leading international singers including Bryn Terfel, Sir Willard White, and, Rebecca Evans.

Jeff has performed throughout the United Kingdom and Europe including the Wigmore Hall, The Goethe Institute, Brussels, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, and has worked with orchestras such as The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Royal Philharmonic. He made his Royal Albert Hall debut in 2002 as soloist in Shostakovitch’s second piano concerto. Recent performance include performed Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto and Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto at St. David’s Hall, Cardiff with the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra and a recital with Bryn Terfel at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Jeff frequently provides arrangements for the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, S4C and various solo artists. He is accompanist, singer and arranger for Only Men Aloud!, winners of the BBC competition ‘Last Choir Standing’ who recently won a Classical Brit Award for their second album on the Universal label. Jeff is also involved in cabaret and music theatre having worked with names such as Michael Ball, David Owen Jones, Peter Karrie, and more informally, Dame Shirley Bassey!

For the past 18 years, Jeffrey has held a post as vocal coach at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and at Welsh National Opera and Welsh National Youth Opera.

For those wishing to join the choir there will be rehearsals held through the month of August in St Martin’s Hall, Haverfordwest from 7 – 9pm on the following dates: 7th August, 14th August, 21st August, 28th August and one final opportunity to rehearse before the day on the 4th September. There will be a charge of £10 for those taking part and in addition a refundable deposit for copies of the music/text.

St. Mary’s Church

Rehearsals will be at 12pm – 2pm and 4 – 6pm
Performance 7pm

Tickets £8

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Solo Guitar

You most likely have heard independent pop rock artist Anthony Snape on your TV or radio. His brand of rock pop or acoustic tunes have also been blasting on the speakers at your favourite clothing store or supermarket throughout Europe, USA and Australia.

His bio reads like a who’s who of the music industry. He’s performed, recorded or written with some of Australia’s and the worlds greatest artists (Tommy Emmanuel, Rick Price, Marcia Hines, Ian Moss, Human Nature, Vanessa Amorosi, Mark Williams, John Williamson, James Morrison, Phil Emmanuel, Graeme Conners, John Paul Young and more). His music has been used on television networks all over the world, including ABC, Seven, Nine and Ten Networks in Australia and ABC, NBC and PBS in the United States and a plethora of stations across Europe.

Based in the USA, Anthony has performed at a variety of venues from theatres (The Birchmere VA, The National, The Majestic) and clubs (The House of Blues LA New Orleans, BB Kings NYC, Park West Chicago) to performing arts centres (in Virginia, Nashville, Texas, Kansas, Boston and Wisconsin), colleges and festivals (SXSW and The Bondi Beach Festival).

His latest release “RESONATE” Produced by Grammy winner ANDY HUNT (Good Charlotte, Smash Mouth, Jars of Clay, Olivia Newton-John, Drew Holcomb the Neighbors), was crowd-funded and raised a whopping $26000 in 30 days. The RESONATE album explores Anthony’s pop rock influences (One Republic, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls) and reveals his raw acoustic side with uplifting emotive performances of creative and inspiring original songs. Anthony’s also been known to release new songs directly to YouTube. “Pictures” beautifully captures this emotive spontaneity. Anthony, (inspired by Instagram), wrote, recorded, shot, edited and released the “Pictures” recording and music clip in just two weeks. Find it here – youtube.com/epansa

Anthony’s an authentic independent artist. You’ve heard the word independent used before in music marketing campaigns by record labels trying to make their bands sound cool. But these bands usually have a huge marketing team and a lot of capital invested in their careers and are not independent artists. Anthony is part of a new generation of artists that are real. Real in the way that you can feel the hairs rising on your arms when you hear them play. So real that they may come to your house and play for you in person and make you laugh, cry, smile and dance. Anthony loves to create real connections and emotional exchange through his music. As a result, Anthony’s fans (known as SNAPESTARS) are some of the most passionate, strong and independent people on the planet. So passionate that they have taken it on themselves to market and promote Anthony’s music to the world.

Born in a small town in northwest NSW, Australia, Anthony spent his teenage years involved in school music events, rock bands and singing in local theatre productions. After graduating from the Talent Development Program (supported by board members Alan Jones, John Forman, Mary Lopez with many other Australian artists such as Human Nature) at the Sydney Entertainment Centre; Anthony worked solidly and uncredited as a backing vocalist for many well known Australian artists. He also worked as a session singer for Australia’s major radio network 2UE and started his own pop rock band playing all along the east coast. This culminated in Anthony co-writing and recording the Sydney 2000 Olympic games theme song for the Radio 2UE and winning the first John Laws Rising Star competition with his song, Idiosyncrasy.

De Valence

8.30pm

Tickets £12.00

Links:

 http://www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk/

http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/