ORGANISERS of the Cowbridge Music Festival say they welcome new talent, as the event celebrates its 14th year. 

It  begins 7pm, Friday, September 13, at Holy Cross Parish Church, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan.

The festival celebrates Welsh cultural heritage through typically classical music performances, in both Welsh and English and features artists with Welsh roots.

It has established itself as one of the most exciting music festivals in Wales, bringing world-class musicians to the community and wants to make classical music more approachable.

The festival also boasts an extensive community programme, which over the years has engaged over 11,000 local pupils and care homes. 

Dr Joseph Fort, a conductor, musicologist and Lecturer in Music at King’s College London, said: “It was started as a family affair by Mary Elliot who had grown up in Cowbridge. It has grown every year but has retained its family-friendly feeling. 

“The audience are as much part of the festival as the performers are. They are such an important part.” 

This year’s festival is set to have some exciting acts like bilingual artist Eädyth Crawford, pianist Llŷr Williams, folk group Pedair, Cantemus Chamber Choir, and a Choral Evensong featuring Welsh hymns.

There is also the Young Ensembles’ Programme, providing opportunities for emerging Welsh chamber musicians as part of a community programme - which is one of the festival’s key missions. 

The festival wants to bring international artistic excellence to the community of Cowbridge, inspire, educate, and challenge the next generation of musicians and create opportunities for young talented musicians. 

It also wants to promote Welsh culture and heritage, which Dr Fort said is “incredibly important”. One of the ways the festival does this is through its use of the language in music. 

He said: “There’s a concert by Gustav Holst on his 150th birthday (September 21) and he wrote 12 Welsh folk songs and adapted them so choirs could sing them.

“When he did so, he wrote them in the original Welsh but with an English translation. Choirs typically sing it in English, but we’ve done a new edition of the Welsh translations with phonetic pronunciations so all choirs can sing it in the original Welsh.”

Organisers said the festival is always open to audiences, new sponsors and of course, new talent.

You can find out more by visiting the Cowbridge Music Festival website or emailing [email protected]