Llangollen Festival 2010 Announces Concert Line-ups.

First Minister salutes Llangollen Festival as a “Global Phenomenon”
Virtuoso Violinist and Villa fan returns!”

“2010 sees the return of Llangollen Festival as they announce their star line up including some of the biggest names in the music industry who are at the top of their game - including Karl Jenkins OBE, Only Men Aloud, Llŷr Williams, Bond and the one and only…Nigel Kennedy! So this Eisteddfod will celebrate the classical, the contemporary, the traditional, the sexy…and the unexpected!” Stifyn Parri, Local Entrepeneur/Concert Producer/PR.

“With this year’s line up the Llangollen 2010 programme is possibly stronger than ever”, says Festival Director Mervyn Cousins. “It’s fantastic to have Nigel Kennedy back in Llangollen of course and we’re also proud to be featuring Karl Jenkins, one of our most distinguished musical figures. The excitement our line up has engendered is truly amazing - our season ticket income is almost as high as it was in 2009 – and it’s only January!”

Amongst the fifty thousand people hoping to visit this year’s Festival will be Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones. “Not only is this one of Wales’s major festivals”, he says, “it’s also a truly global phenomenon and one that we can be justifiably proud of throughout the land of song.”

A full twelve years after his Llangollen debut, the inimitable Nigel Kennedy returns to the North Wales town this year for a spectacular concert featuring music from Bach to Duke Ellington and which promises to raise the roof and bring the 2010 Festival to a close on the final Sunday with a stunning climactic crescendo! Nigel first played at the Festival in 1998 and it clearly left a big impression on him: “Apart from Aston Villa winning the Premiership I really can’t think of many things that could give me as much pleasure as walking out on that huge Llangollen stage and being greeted by the unmistakable Welsh welcome! Last time I performed here was a blast and I thought to myself I must return as soon as possible, so here I am!”

And there will be a huge welcome for Only Men Aloud too as they make their Llangollen debut on the Friday. These proud Welshmen have wowed audiences throughout the land recently with their sell-out UK tour and their chart-topping albums, and now they’re about to see some of that famed Llangollen magic for themselves. Says Only Men Aloud Leader Tim Rhys-Evans: “We’ve been on such a roller-coaster ride recently following the success of our number 1 second album and the accompanying tour and, of course, it’s been such a fantastic experience to take to the stage throughout Britain and the world but to be invited to sing at Llangollen for the first time is a great honour. This is such a special event and Llangollen Eisteddfod is justifiably respected throughout the world as a centre for musical excellence. So to headline a concert there is thrilling”.

Karl Jenkins OBE is one of Wales’s most distinguished composers and musicians- his works and performances having encompassed classical, jazz and rock- and this year, in a special concert on the Tuesday night, he conducts his own Mass for Peace with a ‘Wales and the World’ choir. “Last year”, says Karl, “I was privileged to be a Day President at the festival and, this year, I am honoured to have been invited to perform at one of Llangollen’s legendary concerts! It’s particularly thrilling for me to be conducting the marvellous musicians of Sinfonia Cymru and, of course, to be also sharing the stage with the exceptionally gifted Llŷr Williams. I am also delighted to be conducting a performance of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace - 2010 is an important year for this piece since it is the 10th anniversary of the commission by the Royal Armouries and the work is approaching its 1000th performance globally”.

The name is Bond. Just Bond. Yes, the striking four-piece string band ( featuring Cardiff-born Eos Chater ) will be in Llangollen on the Thursday night to take the festival by storm in an unforgettable extravaganza called Shine! “Llangollen is celebrated the world over for a very good reason”, says Eos, “it's unique and has such an incredible atmosphere. The whole musical world gets together in this exquisite Welsh town and everyone always has an amazing time. We are so excited to be part of this year’s party and, for me, it's particularly exciting to share Wales with the other BOND girls - we can’t wait to get on that stage to strut our stuff!”

Llangollen’s magic never ceases to cast its spell on audiences and artists alike, as Llangollen’s president Terry Waite is well aware. “Wales is often thought of as the land of music as indeed it is”, he says. “Given this fact, the country has a unique role to play in working for international peace and harmony. The sheer potency of music is something that never ceases to amaze me - of all the art-forms it is often the most successful when it comes to breaking down barriers and in uniting people from widely disparate backgrounds and cultures. Music, I believe, is a fundamental force for good in the world and the spirit of this beneficial quality is exemplified every year in the Llangollen Festival - which is why, of course, I am so proud to be the festival’s President”.

Magical, exuberant and vibrant, in 2010 Llangollen goes from from strength to strength. First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones said: “Llangollen is well regarded throughout the world. For more than sixty years, musicians and dancers have flocked here from all four corners of the globe to compete and to create a superb atmosphere of peace and harmony”.

“It all promises to be a musical feast and there’s no excuse for you missing out on the festival vibe”, says Festival Director Mervyn Cousins. “This year, in addition to our popular Gold and Silver Season Ticket options we’re introducing the Platinum deal. This new ticket covers all the Eisteddfod concerts and competitions from Tuesday evening to Sunday evening in the same seat and represents a 25% saving on the full cost of these events; with no Booking Fee payable. And there is a free Festival Souvenir Programme too so it’s a winner all the way! Take this opportunity to join us for the whole week! It’s going to be the best Llangollen yet!”


www.llangollen2010.co.uk



Ticket Office 01978 862001 (or general number 862000).

‘Total Eclipse Of The Chart’

Singing sensations Only Men Aloud have hit the top note in the classical charts today reaching Number One with their new album ‘Band of Brothers’. Today’s chart announcement also sees Welsh rock legend Bonnie Tyler receive her first ever classical Number One, following her collaboration on an arrangement of her 80’s hit anthem ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ which features on the second album from the Nation’s favourite choir. The release of Only Men Aloud’s second album ‘Band of Brothers’ comes a year on from signing their multi-million pound record deal with Universal/Decca following their victory on BBC’s Last Choir Standing last summer. Tim Rhys-Evans, Musical Director of OMA, expressed his delight at the announcement of the album’s number one spot “This news makes me extremely proud, the boys have worked really hard and they deserve this success. When I was a child I used to wonder how ABBA felt being number one, but now I know how it feels!”. Tim added, “The public’s continued support has been truly outstanding, thank you – diolch”. In their new album Only Men Aloud go back to their Welsh roots, with traditional anthems such as ‘Land of Our Fathers’ and ‘Blaenwern’. The choir also present interpretations of modern classics such as ‘Somebody to Love’, performed with Kerry Ellis who hails from the Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’ and has performed as the lead in ‘Wicked’ in both the West End and Broadway. Demonstrating the choir’s eclectic background and tastes, from opera through to rock songs, they are all truly great tunes despite being from varied sources. Tim Rhys-Evans explained “From the beginning I wanted this album to represent our wide ranging repertoire. The arrangements have a filmic feel and Only Men Aloud are very proud of ‘Band of Brothers’.” Also proud of the album’s success is legendary Welsh rock icon Bonnie Tyler who, following a performance with the choir at their concert tour in Cardiff International Arena earlier in the year, stepped into the studio with OMA to re-record a new arrangement of her award-winning song ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. Bonnie Tyler said “I am absolutely delighted that the album is Number One in the classical charts, this is a first for me! It just goes to show the strength of Jim Steinman’s wonderful song, which can appeal across all genres of music”.

Only Men Aloud announce a UK-wide Christmas Tour 2009

After a critically acclaimed sell out tour in April and May 2009, Only Men Aloud are back with a very special Christmas themed tour. The show will be a selection of festive Christmas repertoire plus a mixture of songs from the first and second albums (the second being called ‘Band of Brothers’ and released on the 12th October) plus a few firm favourites. Only Men Aloud was formed in 2000 by Tim Rhys-Evans and in 2008, entered what was to be the UK’s biggest choir competition to date, with choirs battling to become voted the best choir in the UK on BBC One’s hit Saturday night show Last Choir Standing. After battling through the rounds, OMA gave some incredible performances and after an all Welsh Final, were crowned the winners and the nation’s favourite choir. After winning Last Choir Standing, Only Men Aloud signed a five album, multi-million pound record deal with Universal Classics and Jazz, and joined Merlin Elite's management roster. The choir's top-twenty debut album was recorded over five days at AIR studios in London, and achieved gold status within the first week of sales and went on to sell over a quarter million albums within the UK. Tim’s primary aim was to encourage younger men to get involved with one of Wales’ oldest and best loved traditions, male voice singing. The group are unafraid to tackle music not normally associated with male voice choirs; their repertoire ranges from the 17th Century to the present day, and has included several world premieres in this time. This tour follows on from the hugely successful sold out debut tour for which they received standing ovations at every single show. The varied collection of repertoire plus the unique choreography lends to what is an extremely enjoyable night of entertainment. The choir appears regularly on network radio and television. Notable broadcasts include the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, Radio Three Choir of the Year from The Royal Festival Hall, and a performance on HMS Belfast for the BBC One New Years Eve broadcast. This year has seen two successful trips to the United States completed and a private performance for Prince Charles, Camilla and their guests at Buckingham Palace. Tickets are £29.50 / £26.00 / £20.00 Regional and £35.00 / £27.50 / £22.50 London Tickets go on general sale Friday 4th September @ 10:00am Available at www.gigsandtours.com 24 hr cc hotline 0871 2200 260 TOUR DATES December 1, 2009 - Glasgow December 3, 2009 - Lladudno December 5, 2009 - Cardiff December 6, 2009 - Norwich December 7, 2009 - Ipswich December 8, 2009 - Birmingham December 9, 2009 - Liverpool December 11, 2009 - Brighton December 14, 2009 - Manchester December 16, 2009 - Portsmouth December 17, 2009 - Bristol December 18, 2009 - Nottingham December 20, 2009 - London

A Year On From Winning ‘Last Choir Standing’ Only Men Aloud Release Their Second Album ‘Band Of Brothers’

What a difference a year makes! Only Men Aloud, the Welsh choir who won last summer’s BBC1 TV show Last Choir Standing, return this autumn with their second album. Band of Brothers will be released a year after the win, which gained them the title of “The Nation’s Favourite Choir” and launched them into a new realm.   The choir, made up of 20 young men from South Wales, have experienced a rollercoaster ride since winning the BBC1 prime time Saturday night show. Within hours of winning and following a vicious bidding war between major record labels, Only Men Aloud signed a multi-million pound, five-album deal with Universal Music. The record deal, the largest ever for a choir by quite some margin, was signed at Wales’ iconic Millennium Stadium exactly a year to the week before their second album launch. Their first album achieved gold status within a week and went on to sell over a quarter of a million copies. In addition to their recording deal, Only Men Aloud signed to a world class management team who boast a roster including Denise Van Outen, Jodie Kidd, Jay Kay, Vanessa-Mae and Louise Redknapp. Their next step was to take on the US, and they were immediately snapped up by CAA (Creative Artists Agency), the agency behind David Beckham. They have now performed at several huge venues across the US on two separate tours and are scheduled to be back in the USA in early 2010 for a lengthy tour.  Back in Britain, the choir completed a critically acclaimed and sold out UK tour including their hometown Cardiff Arena, and also had a personal invitation from Prince Charles to perform for Camilla, Prince Charles and their guests at a private function in Buckingham Palace. The choir have attracted a number of high-profile and varied collaborations such as Josh Groban and Russell Watson plus home-grown Welsh talents Bonnie Tyler, Rhydian Roberts, Bryn Terfel, Aled Jones and Katherine Jenkins. OMA now return with their second album Band of Brothers, in which they present interpretations of modern classics such as ‘Somebody to Love’, performed with Kerry Ellis who hails from the Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’. The choir also go back to their Welsh roots, with traditional anthems such as ‘Land of Our Fathers’ and ‘Blaenwern’. Demonstrating the choir’s eclectic background and tastes, from opera through to rock songs, they are all truly great tunes despite being from varied sources. Tim Rhys-Evans, MD of OMA, said of the new album, “From the beginning I wanted this to represent the wide range of repertoire. The arrangements have a filmic feel. I wanted it to be the kind of album that, if you were driving through a huge, open landscape, you would play on your car stereo. It’s fab and dandy – go buy a copy”. Only Men Aloud Biography Only Men Aloud were formed in January 2000 by Choir Master and Music Director Tim Rhys-Evans to inject some new blood into the Male Welsh Choir tradition. The choir have had regular slots on BBC Radio 4 and also Songs of Praise and in 2003 won the male choir category in the inaugural year of S4Cs Côr Cymru. Following on from this, the choir were chosen to perform on three separate occasions during the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre. They performed in the Opening Ceremony, Royal Gala, and also sang in the pre opening banquet honouring various eminent Welsh figures including Bryn Terfel, Sian Phillips and Shirley Bassey. In 2008 Only Men Aloud entered what was to be the UK’s biggest choir competition to date, with UK choirs battling to become voted the best choir in the UK on BBC1’s hit Saturday night show ‘Last Choir Standing’. After battling through the rounds, OMA gave some incredible performances and after an all Welsh Final, were crowned the winners and the Nations favourite choir. The choir signed a multi-album record deal with Universal Music and their debut album was released in November 2008, which has sold over a quarter of a million records. OMA have had an extremely busy year with international releases of their debut album plus a full UK sell-out tour, including Cardiff International Arena. This year also sees the choir record and release their second album with Universal Music. Only Men Aloud have also just returned from their second trip to the USA. Earlier this year the choir were personally invited by the Welsh Assembly to perform as part of Wales Week USA. The choir were invited to perform in front of the First Minister of Wales and the British Ambassador at the British Embassy in Washington DC. The event promoted Wales as the featured Country in this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which has seen Only Men Aloud return to the States in June and July of this year. Their time in the States has also included performances in New York as well as several TV and Radio appearances, including major American television channel CBS. For more information visit www.onlymenaloud.com

Welsh Pancreatic Cancer Charity calls for match-funding from WAG

Wales’ pancreatic cancer charity, Amser Justin Time, today (Wednesday 15th July) made a ground-breaking announcement at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, having raised sufficient money in their first year of operation to fund a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse for one day a week. The charity, which is headed by Welsh opera, TV and radio star Shân Cothi, in memory of her husband, Tigertailz’ glam-rock star, Justin Smith, marked the announcement with a special performance from Only Men Aloud. The launch had a fantastic response as crowds of patients, medical staff and hospital visitors filled the Main Concourse of the University Hospital of Wales at lunchtime today to hear Shân Cothi make the announcement, followed by a heartrending rendition of ‘Angels’ from the nation’s favourite contemporary male choir Only Men Aloud. For those patients unable to attend, the launch was also broadcast live on Hospital Radio. The performance marked the ground-breaking announcement that in the 12 months since the charity was launched, Amser Justin Time has raised over £60,000 and will now use part of these funds to fund a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse for one day a week for two years. Following the launch Shân and Only Men Aloud visited some of the hospital’s wards including the C2 ward where Shân’s late-husband Justin had himself been a patient. The choir gave an impromptu performance on the ward, which sparked one patient to comment “I’m definitely going to get better now”. Specialist Pancreatic Nurse Nicki Jardine will be funded by the charity and will divide her time between the University Hospital of Wales and the Velindre Cancer Centre in Whitchurch, Cardiff. Nicki said “This is a remarkable achievement for the charity. I feel privileged to be the first nurse to be funded by Amser Justin Time, such an innovative charity that is so devoted to the cause. On a day to day basis I witness first-hand patients and their families dealing with pancreatic cancer and can honestly say that this charity is making a real difference, so a big thank you to Shân and the Amser Justin Time team”. The charity was founded by Welsh opera star and TV personality, Shân Cothi in memory of her husband, the talented TV director and editor and glam-rock star, Justin Smith (aka Tigertailz’ Pepsi Tate), who sadly lost his battle against pancreatic cancer in 2007. Shân said “When we launched Amser Justin Time last year with an epic horse-ride from North to South Wales, we met so many people along the way who gave us such a heartwarming welcome and so many kind donations, I bet they’re wondering “what happened to the money I donated to Amser Justin Time?” – Well, here’s the result...a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse!”. Shân expressed the importance of employing a Specialist Pancreatic Nurse “I’m so proud to be able to tell all the people that supported us that their money will allow us to provide essential care for patients and their families. It’s vital they have someone they can talk to who is specially trained, supportive and can ease the difficulty of dealing with this particularly aggressive from of cancer. We hope that with more donations we will be able to fund more nurses around Wales”. Given Shân’s celebrity status as a singer, actress and TV personality the charity’s fundraising events have had the support of some of Wales’ biggest celebrities including Bryn Terfel, who joined Shân to record the downloadable track ‘I Believe’. Shân continued to explain “It’s incredible that we’ve managed to raise this amount of money without having a full-time team in place or even an office. This is the first time for the charity to spend a single penny of the money raised, which is why it’s so important for us to mark this occasion”. Celebrating the announcement at the University Hospital of Wales were Only Men Aloud, stepping straight off the plane from performing in America, who gave an impromptu and heartrending rendition of ‘Angels’. Only Men Aloud's Music Director and Founder, Tim Rhys-Evans, said “We are immensely proud to be supporting Amser Justin Time as one of the choir’s chosen charities. Having worked and performed with Shân for many years it’s amazing to see how one special Welsh lady can inspire a whole nation and achieve such incredible results”. Mr Malcolm Puntis, a former Consultant Surgeon & Senior Lecturer for the Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust, and a Specialist in Pancreatic Surgery who treated Justin Smith, said “Justin was such an inspiration. It’s outstanding to see all the fund-raising being put to tangible use providing extra care for pancreatic cancer patients and their relatives. It is a rare and fortunate thing for a charity to have so little overheads to be able to action front-line funding such as this so soon. It would be greater still if the Welsh Assembly Government were to match the funding raised by Amser Justin Time”. Mr Puntis, who has lent his support and expertise freely to Amser Justin Time acting as Mentor for the charity, continued “We are also continuing to develop a comprehensive website to be used as an information resource about pancreatic cancer and to raise public awareness about this cruel disease. We hope the website will become a universal resource for all those affected by pancreatic cancer”. Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the UK with approximately 20 new patients diagnosed each day. The rate of pancreatic cancer is slightly higher in Wales at 14.2 per 100,000 people compared with 12.7 per 100,000 people for the UK as a whole. Nurse Director of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust Sue Gregory said “We are grateful to Amser Justin Time for their involvement. A specialist nurse will improve the care we provide to pancreatic cancer patients, as well as providing much needed support for their relatives”. For more information on the charity, please visit www.amserjustintime.org For donations, please visit www.justgiving.com/amser