Ceredigion Music Service

Photo of a band - Ceredigion Music Service

Welcome to the Ceredigion Music Service Website

In Ceredigion our lives are enriched by music. Taking part in music and other cultural activities can have a significant impact on young people’s development. As well as being valuable and enjoyable in its own right, participation in musical ensembles gives young people the opportunity to develop important life skills such as self discipline, confidence, effective communication and the ability to work within a team.

Ceredigion Music Service provides the opportunity for young musicians to participate in:

Weekly ensembles
Choirs
Performance
Achieving musical qualifications
Residential courses

Ceredigion Music Service aims to help Ceredigion children and young people to find their talent.

Documents

All Risk Policy (Welsh) 58kb
All Risk Policy (English) 58kb
Form - Health Certificate 152kb
Friends of Ceredigion - Young Musicians Association 106kb
Instrument Loan Scheme With Insurance 80kb

Top

News

Ceredigion Symphonic Wind Band, Senior String Orchestra, and Harp Ensemble

Thank you to everyone who participated in and supported the Ceredigion Symphonic Wind Band, Senior String Orchestra, and Harp Ensemble in their concert on Tuesday, 18 February 2014 in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre. A special thanks and all our best wishes go to the following pupils, for whom last night’s concert was their last with Ceredigion Music Service: Christopher Gillison, Grady Hassan, Gwenllian Spink, Marisa Oikawa, Meinir Williams, Phoebe Williams, Rhiannon James, Sophie Trotter, and Thomas Mathias. Good luck to you all!

The performance was recorded by Mr Den York. CDs of the performance are available for £7.50 each. An order form was enclosed with each programme, and are also available here on the website. Please return the forms to the Ceredigion Music Service Office with a cheque by Monday, 3rd March 2014. Please note that, due to the time constraints of a CD, the programme may require editing. It will, however, feature some content from each of the ensembles.

Please note that we currently have a very limited supply of CDs of the Ceredigion Schools Orchestra, Youth Choir, and Boys Choir performance, which took place in December 2013.

Please call 01970 633 670 or email rebecca.cameron@ceredigion.gov.uk for more information

In December, Erin Hassan, Nansi Dingle and Ifan Llywelyn took part in the National Children’s Orchestra’s annual concert in the Fersival Hall in London. This is an account of the event by the music reviewer Robert Hugill:

National Children’s Orchestra Concert, Festival Hall, December 2013

The National Children's Orchestras of Great Britain (NCO) celebrated its 35th birthday this year and the final event of their season was a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 8 December 2013 by the Main Orchestra, conducted by Peter Stark, and the Under 13 Orchestra conducted by Roger Clarkson, Principal Director of Music. The NCO offers talented children aged 7 to 13 opportunities for training and performance in a network of regional orchestras, with the two orchestra performing at the Festival Hall being the national showcases. In the Under 13 Orchestra all players were under 13 with the youngest being 11, in the Main Orchestra all players were aged 14. Both orchestras were huge, over 110 players each. Which means in both halves of the concert (the Under 13 Orchestra played the first half, the Main Orchestra the second), the platform was full to bursting with young musicians. They all wear a uniform, the boys in white shirts, black trousers and red tie, the girls in white shirt, long red skirt and hair held back with matching red ribbons. Truth be told, the skirt was rather unflattering, but the sea of bright red certainly indicated how many young women there were on the platform.

At the beginning of each half, as the young players walked onto the platform, the auditorium erupted in cheering and whistling. Both groups impressed with the confidence and seriousness of their demeanour on the concert platform, the confidence with which they undertook solos, and they way that the strings functioned smoothly as a single unit. You had to keep reminding yourself how young these players were.

The Under 13 Orchestra opened with a lively account of Kabalevsky's Overture to Colas Breugnon, followed by a nicely dramatic performance of Sibelius's Finlandia. Next came the Dance Bacchanale from Saint-Saens Samson et Dalilah, the first of three items in the evening with sexual overtones giving the concert a somewhat racy tone. The Saint-Saens included a lovely moment for solo oboe and the whole was full of some nicely exotic moments. We then heard the final two movements of Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherezade with the leader, Philip Edwards giving a stunning account of the solo violin part with fine solos from oboe and flute. Only the merest hint of sourness in the wind tuning at one point suggested that anything but the highly professional; if you had listened to the performance blind it would have been difficult to guess the age of the performers.

The members of the orchestra having just auditioned to see who will go up to the main orchestra, Vivienne Price, the orchestra's founder, presented a prize for the best audition to one of the trombonists, Ifan Llywelyn.

The Under 13 Orchestra's performance finished with Danzon No. 2 by Mexican composer Arturo Marquex (born 1950). A lively dance-based piece which the orchestra clearly enjoyed playing, with a great solo trumpet part, and the players even managed to bring in some co-ordinated movement! A real joy to listen to.

During the interval there was a reception at which Tony Hall, Director General of the BBC, spoke and his first word was 'Wow', which just about summed up the reaction of everyone in the room. Hall went on to congratulate everyone involved and talked of the sense of exhilaration which young people bring to performance.

The second half was played by the Main Orchestra, under guest conductor Peter Stark, with the players all aged 14. Before playing started Vivienne Price returned to present on of the orchestra with the Dame Ruth Railton memorial prize.

The orchestra opened with the Prelude to Act 1 of Wagner's Die Meistersinger, giving the piece a lovely sweep and creating a quite sophisticated sound. Next followed five movements from Prokofiev's Winter Bonfire Suite in a lovely confident performance full of fine control. From the opening horn whoops of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier Suite it was clear that the music held no terrors for the young players. Strauss gives us a whistle-stop tour of highlights of the opera and the orchestra gave us some wonderfully ecstatic moments and some finely subtle ones. The orchestral finished with the Berceuse and Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, in which we were treated to some ravishing playing and magical moments, including a very fine horn solo.

This is the last concert for the present players, they all going on to other things (the NCO is an important feeder organisation for the National Youth Orchestra), and a new intake will be performing next year.

The orchestra's support extends beyond just orchestral coaching. Earlier this year 20 of the most talented members were awarded Leverhulme scholarships at the Royal College of Music enabling them to have a masterclass from a tutor of their choice. The NCO also runs a bursary scheme to ensure that no talented child is ever denied a place for financial reasons.

Further information from the National Children's Orchestras website.

National Children’s Orchestra Audition 2013 – Ifan Llywelyn

On Sunday morning, 27 October, I went to the Arts Centre in Aberystwyth for the National Children’s Orchestras auditions, one on the violin and the other on the trombone. I have been a member of the orchestra since year 4, but everyone has to audition every year, so that new members have an equal chance. There are five orchestras (Training, Under 11, Under 12, Under 13 and the Main Orchestra), and this year I am auditioning for the Main. For the first three years I played the violin with them, but the last two years I’ve played the trombone.

In the past I’ve had to travel to Cardiff or Llandovery for auditions, and this year was the first time they came to Aberystwyth. You have to prepare two contrasting pieces, and they give you two sight readings – the first one you’re given 10 minutes on your own to prepare, and the second one is unprepared. I’m always a bit nervous before the auditions, but I know by now that the panel members are very kind. It feels a bit like an X-Factor audition!

If they offer me a place again I don’t mind on which instrument. The two are very different in the orchestra. With the violin you tend to play all the time, but there are several of you playing the same piece. With the trombone you may have a lot of rests in some pieces, but when you do play everyone can hear you and your part is very important. I will have to wait until the middle of December before I’ll know if I’ve got a place.

2013 News Archive

Top

Calendar

Urdd Gobaith Cymru

Top

Information

Manager:

Mr Geraint Evans

Strings:

Mr David Cooper
Mrs Helen Williams
Ms Isobelle McGuinness
Mrs Katherine Owen
Mrs Pauline Jones

Harp:

Mrs Buddug Stephens
Mrs Eleri Turner

Woodwind:

Mr Chris Lockley
Miss Elizabeth Livsey
Mr Roger Briant
Mrs Sally Jones
Mrs Victoria Harwood

Brass:

Mr Alan Phillips
Mr Aidan Hassan
Mr Geraint Evans

Percussion / Rock:

Mr David Parker
Mr Mark Wenden

Vocal:

Mrs Delyth Hopkins Evans
Ms Elinor Powell
Mr Islwyn Evans
Mrs Lona Brierley

Top

Friends

FRIENDS OF CEREDIGION YOUNG MUSICIANS ASSOCIATION
Registered Charity Number: 517499

The Friends of Ceredigion Young Musicians Association is a charitable organisation that aims to raise money to support the young musicians of Ceredigion. Monies raised through fundraising activities are entirely dedicated to the purchasing of musical instruments and equipment for the use of the young musicians of the county under the supervision of Ceredigion Music Service.

Friends often hold raffles at concerts performed by Young Musicians, organised by Ceredigion Music Service. Previous prizes include a Violin, a Trumpet, a Clarinet, many bottles of wine, boxes of chocolate, and bath soaps.

These efforts have afforded the association to, over the past two years, purchase: nine Cornets, four Flutes, three Clarinets, three Lap Harps, three Messina Violas, three Tenor Horns, two Clarinet cases, two French Horns, two Oboes, one Bass Clarinet, and one Multi-track Sound Desk for the use of Young Ceredigion Musicians

Members enjoy the benefit of a 5% discount at Cerdd Ystwyth, Aberystwyth.

The Friends of Ceredigion Young Musicians Association has been running for over 30 years, and we hope to see many more years to come where we will come together for the benefit of Ceredigion’s Young Musicians. If you would like to join us in this effort, please see below on how to become a member:

The annual subscription to become a member of the Friends of Ceredigion Young Musicians Association is £10. This can be submitted through completing the Bank Standing Order Form available on the website noted above, or by sending a cheque for £10 payable to: Friends of Ceredigion Young Musicians Association

Please send the membership form and cheque to the Treasurer: Mr Gwyn Jones, 2 Coed y Bryn, Panteg, ABERAERON, Ceredigion, SA46 0DW

Top

Musical Notes

Top

Audio

CD - Concert in the Aberystwyth Great Hall Featuring:

Cerddorfa Ceredigion Orchestra
Côr Bechgyn Ceredigion Boys’ Choir
Côr Ieuenctid Ceredigion Youth Choir

17th December 2012 - CD Recording - £7.50 (ORDER FORM) 18kb

Samples of our music can be listened to via SoundCould. http://soundcloud.com/ceredigionmusicservice

If you wish to purchase full CDs then please get in contact.