02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
St Davids Cathedral Music Festival's 2025 programme
The annual St Davids Cathedral Music Festival, now in its 44th year, will take place during the May half-term from May 23 to 29.
The festival will begin with a launch concert featuring 120 schoolchildren from across the county, led by conductor Suzzie Vango.
A highlight of the festival programme is the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performing on Saturday, May 24.
This year, the orchestra will be conducted by Kristian Sallinen from Finland.
Their 2025 programme will include Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 'From the New World', Grace Williams' Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes, and Edward Elgar's Sea Pictures, sung by BBC Cardiff Singer of the World finalist Claire Barnett-Jones.
Pembrokeshire-born pianist and conductor Jocelyn Freeman will be the Artist in Residence, performing in three concerts.
On Sunday evening, she will join the Alkyona String Quartet for a performance of Schubert's 'Trout' Quintet and Ravel's String Quartet.
On Bank Holiday Monday, she will join Vox Angelica and the Vicars Choral as a guest soloist for an evening of choral music and madrigals.
The same day, tuba player Aled Meredith-Barrett will perform with his brass quintet Connaught Brass, in a programme featuring music from West Side Story and the UK premiere of a new work by American composer Carlos Simon.
On Tuesday, Jocelyn Freeman will perform with tenor James Gilchrist and his students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in a concert entitled 'A Poet's Love'.
The concert will celebrate the work of Dylan Thomas with settings of his poetry by William Mathias, Rhian Samuel, and Meirion Williams.
To close the festival, vocal sextet the Queen's Six will present their programme 'Mapping the Stars', featuring music by Monteverdi and Taverner, alongside arrangements of contemporary hits such as Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida' and Starship's 'We Built This City on Rock and Roll.'
Tickets for the 2025 festival are on sale now. For more information, visit the cathedral website.
