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Top line-up is set for park concert


A MIDSUMMER night’s dream line-up is in store for Singleton Park, Swansea on the longest day of the year, June 21, as international stars Alfie Boe, Collabro, Re- becca Ferguson and Sophie Evans take to the stage with local hero compere Mal Pope for Summer in Singleton on the day after Paolo Nutini thrills the Swansea audience. Headliner Alfie Boe is the biggest selling British tenor who led the cast of Les Mi- sérables and stole the show at the Queen’s Diamond Ju- bilee concert at Buckingham Palace. Alfie’s albums have gone Platinum, he’s played the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall, and starred in Mr. Selfridge on ITV 1. He will be on screen again


HEADLINER: Alie Boe


in Sunday Night at the Pal- ladium on Sunday. Alfie’s set will include the popular Neopolitan songs from his last album Serenata. He said: “It’s always a joy to perform in Wales, the audiences there


In The Spotlight By GERAINT DAVIES


Future musical delights that everyone will enjoy


IT IS always good to hear from you, the reader. Whether it be in agreement or disagreement mat- ters little. Recently I have had a plethora


of contacts from awhole range of choirs pointing out some up and coming concerts – so here goes. Unfortunately it is impossible


to give detail of them all but here are a few : l I have often written about,


and tried to reflect, the range of artistic activity (particularly mu- sical activity) that goes on in the area on a weekly basis. The “Forget Me Nots” is a group


that I encountered recently. It is a community choir current-


ly directed by members of the Welsh National Opera and made up of Alzheimer’s sufferers and their relatives and carers. They rehearse at the Lysaght In- stitute in Newport and perform a couple of times a year – the next concert being at 7.30pm on May 6 at Lysaght’s. This is a group that has thus far survived through public funding but has reached a crossroads that means that some form of spon- sorship is urgently needed if the


choir is to continue. There can surely be few better examples of the benefits of sing- ing in a choir than this. Anyone who thinks they may be able to help should contact Helen Teagle on 07508 010946. l One of the problems with receiving invitations to review certain concerts is that they can often fall on the same night. One popular date is May 16. One of the concerts on this


evening will be at Coleg Gwent’s Crosskeys Campus (7.00pm) when Paul Cook’s Coleg Gwent Chorale performwhat is thought by many to be Haydn’s ultimate masterpiece The Creation (Die Schopfung). Since its composition in 1798,


this has rightly taken its place at the centre of the repertoires of most choral societies, particu- larly in this country. With its obvious Handelian in- fluence it is unusual in its use of mainly secular words in an ora- torio as it tells of the creation of the world. As well as containing much memorable vocal writing for the three soloists and chorus it con-


tains some startlingly original instrumental writing such as the opening Representation of Chaos that looks forward to Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. l On the same night (at 7.30pm)


Guy Harbottle ’s Newport Phil- harmonic Choir sing their Spring Concert at St Julian’s Methodist Church. l If your tastes are on the light-


er side then there is a concert giv- en by TBC Gospel choir (who re- cently performed in the Schools’ Proms at the Royal Albert Hall) – with the new community gospel choir Soul’d as Seen. Both choirs are directed by Su-


sie Webb and have featured in this column. l A choir new to these pages is


the EbbwFach Choir. They perform at St Michaels Church in Abertillery on June 19, at 7.30pm. l Finally, a plug for Côr Aduni-


ad. This (quite) young Cwmbran- based choir will be joined by the choir of Henllys Primary School at St Julian’s School Hall on June 27, in a concert that is raising funds for St Michaels Church, in Llantarnam.


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are great and love good music with a passion. Looking for- ward to my return to Swan- sea.” Rebecca Ferguson was run-


ner-up in the seventh series of The X Factor. Her debut album Heaven, which she co- wrote, went to number three in the charts and achieved Platinum sales, with the fol- low-up Freedom going Gold. She has been nominated for


bothMOBOandMTVEurope Music awards and is break- ing into the US. Rebecca’s latest album of Billie Holiday covers, Lady Sings the Blues, went straight into the Top 10 earlier this month and re- ceived great critical acclaim. She will be across the media in the coming weeks, includ- ing an appearance on ITV 1’s Sunday Night at the Palladi- um on May 10. Collabro is the five-piece musical theatre boy band who brought the Britian’s Got Talent judges to their feet last year after only a month together, before winning the


eighth series of the ITV 1 show.


Their debut album, Stars,


on the Syco Music label, went straight to number one last summer with Double Gold sales, and they have just com- pleted a 30-date tour of the UK, selling more than 55,000 tickets including a sold out show at the London Palladi- um. Collabro’s second album, Act Two, is due for release on June 1, and they will make a number of TV appearances in the run up to Swansea. Wales’ own favourite Sophie Evans is a multi-talented singer, actress and performer, with West End experience as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, appearances in British feature films including The World’s End, and her own ITV special to her name. The event will be hosted by


the ever-popular Swansea- based composer, performer and presenter Mal Pope. Tickets on sale from or


chardentertainment.co.uk and seetickets.com


Classical opera live


5 Culture


CELEBRATION: Faust


SWANSEA City Opera cele- brates the company’s tenth an- niversary with a production of Faust at the Borough Theatre on Wednesday 6 May. Gounod’s magical master- piece is based on one of the great works of European litera- ture, Goethe’s story of Faust, who sells his soul to the Devil. The opera has many well-


known musical highlights in- cluding The Jewel Song and The Soldiers’ Chorus. This pro- duction, sung in English, is set in the Victorian Gothic era and accompanied by the Swansea City Opera Orchestra. Tickets, which cost £20 (conc


£18) are available from the box office 01873 850805 or .bor oughtheatreabergavenny.co.uk.


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