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RWCMD Announces Significant New Funding from Arts Council of Wales

11 August 2016

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is delighted to announce a Strategic Alliance with the Arts Council of Wales (ACW).

This unique arrangement, with the additional investment of a £120,000 grant, recognises and builds on the national conservatoire’s vital contribution to Wales’ cultural industries through the development of exceptional young artists, and to the wider cultural life of Wales through its acclaimed public performance programme.

“We are enormously excited about this new development. Additional investment from the Arts Council of Wales recognises the Royal Welsh College’s success as a promoter and producer of high quality music & drama, as well as our distinctive role within the Welsh cultural infrastructure as Wales’ national conservatoire,” RWCMD Principal Hilary Boulding said.

“The Arts Council’s investment will help us to reach and benefit more people both in Cardiff and more widely across Wales through touring and collaborating with other arts organisations.”

 

LabequeSisters

Katia & Marielle Labeque will play in the Dora Stoutzker Hall this autumn

David Alston, Arts Director, Arts Council of Wales said: “The high performing Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is a creative flagship for Wales and a key feeder of talent for our creative industries.

Our alliance with the College is aimed at enhancing student and audience experiences, offering opportunities for early creative career development, and fostering creative collaborations.”

The International Artists Season, launching this autumn with ACW funding in the Royal Welsh College’s Dora Stoutzker Hall, will feature some of the world’s greatest classical music artists, including French keyboard aficionados Katia & Marielle Labeque, renowned German soprano Anne Schwanewilms, acclaimed counter-tenor Iestyn Davies and leading baroque violinist Rachel Podger.

Rachel Podger accepts her fellowship

Rachel Podger accepting her RWCMD fellowship

The Royal Welsh College’s ground-breaking annual NEW festival will continue to develop and showcase new writing, with ACW funding supporting the commissioning of four new plays by some of the UK’s most exciting young playwrights, to be staged in the College’s Richard Burton Theatre and at The Gate Theatre in London in Spring 2017.

The tentacled Cthulhu mask created by student designer Isa Shaw-Abulafia for RWCMD's production of Pomona, was also used in The Orange Tree's acclaimed production

The tentacled Cthulhu mask created by student designer Isa Shaw-Abulafia for RWCMD’s production of Pomona, was also used in The Orange Tree’s acclaimed production

The College will continue its commitment to deliver jazz throughout Wales with ongoing AmserJazzTime tours and the AmserJazzTime Weekender in Cardiff.

Amser JazzTime free events in the RWCMD foyer

Amser JazzTime free events in the RWCMD foyer

The award will also support the Conservatoire to develop projects in partnership with the Welsh arts sector including a coproduction in February 2017 with Mid Wales Opera of Handel’s exquisite baroque opera, Semele, which will premier in Cardiff before touring across Wales.

Mid-Wales Opera's previous collaboration with RWCMD was the critically acclaimed 'Acis & Galatea'

Mid-Wales Opera’s previous collaboration with RWCMD was the critically acclaimed ‘Acis & Galatea’

The creation of Pathfinder Awards will support exceptionally talented graduates of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama as they embark on the first steps of their professional career to contribute to the Welsh arts industry.

One of the first recipients will be Emyr Wyn Jones, (featured photo) a Bass Baritone from Aberdare who completed postgraduate Opera Perfomance studies in July 2016, during which he won the College’s most prestigious music competition, the Ian Stoutzker Prize, and the highly respected Bruce Millar Gulliver Prize.

Emyr Wyn Jones

Emyr Wyn Jones

 

Editors Notes
RWCMD International Artists Series 2016/17:

29 September Pieter Wispelwey (cello) plays Bach
20 October Iestyn Davies (counter-tenor) sings Dowland
26 October Labeque Sisters (piano) play Bernstein
9 November Anne Schwanewilms (soprano) sings Strauss
26 January 2017 Miah Persson (soprano) programme tbc
15 February 2017 John Mark Ainsley (tenor) sings Lieder
17 March 2017 Rachel Podger (violin) plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

RWCMD Amser Jazz Tour – Autumn 2016:
The Royal Welsh College Big Band plays 100 years of jazz in 100 minutes!
23 November, Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead
24 November, The Hafren, Newtown
25 November, RWCMD Dora Stoutzker Hall, Cardiff
26 November, Taliesin Arts Centre , Swansea

RWCMD/Mid Wales Opera Semele 2017 tour:

8 -11 February, RWCMD Richard Burton Theatre, Cardiff
18 February, The Hafren, Newtown
23 February, Theatr y Ffwrnes, Llanelli
27 February, Theatr Colwyn
4 March, Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon