Philomusica to perform at Aberystwyth Arts Centre

01 December 2021

Aberystwyth’s symphony orchestra Philomusica and the University Singers will take to the stage at Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s Great Hall on Saturday 4 December 2021.

The orchestra and choir will be conducted for the first time by Aberystwyth University’s new Director of Music, Iwan Teifion Davies.

The evening’s programme will include a world premiere of Welsh composer David Roche’s powerful Vale, as well as Mozart’s Requiem and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.

Renowned for exhilarating performances and imaginative programming, the seventy-strong Philomusica orchestra, comprised of students and amateur and professional musicians, is one of the largest and most successful groups of its kind in Wales.  The orchestra will be joined on stage by the large mixed choir, the University Singers.

Conductor Iwan Teifion Davies said:  “It will be a pleasure to conduct Philomusica and the University Singers for the first time.  The pandemic has curtailed musical performance in recent times, and it will be wonderful for these talented musicians and vocalists to be able to perform once again.

“As for the programme for the concert, I chose Mozart’s Requiem as a testament to the pain that we have all felt since March 2020; David Roche’s Vale offers a vision of hope and a record of survival, and Shostakovich’s monumental Fifth Symphony, composed as it was in impossible political circumstances, demonstrates that art will always overcome.”

The Philomusica and University Singers concert takes place at 8pm on Saturday 4 December in the Great Hall at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.  Tickets are available from Box Office, priced at £12 (£11 concessions) or just £3.50 for students – 01970 623232 / www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk. Ticketholders will need to show their full COVID-19 vaccination status or a negative Lateral Flow Device test result on arrival.

Iwan Teifion Davies joined the University in August as Director of Music. Working within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Arts Centre, he leads the University’s music provision, bringing together a unique range of University and community activity and engagement.