UPROAR – Wales’ New Music Ensemble, to perform 3 new commissions and 2 Welsh premieres including Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto on tour this March.
UPROAR – Wales’ Ensemble of 16 Virtuoso soloists will continue to push the boundaries of new classical music when they tour Wales in March this year championing some of the most exciting composers in Welsh music today. The tour will feature brand new works by David John Roche, Litang Shao and Ashley John Long in a programme alongside the Welsh premieres by award-winning international composers Ligeti and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
The tour will begin at Aberystwyth Arts Centre (7 March) and continue to Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff (13 March), Hafren, Newtown (14 March), Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil (22 March) and Rhosygilwen, Cilgerran (23 March).
The three new commissions will take audiences on a journey reflecting contemporary life in Wales.
Composer David John Roche takes inspiration for his piece Harm Reduction from the rock and heavy metal scene in the Welsh Valleys where he grew up, Litang Shao, composer and music lecturer at Cardiff University, explores the sounds and emotions evoked by the energetic and unpredictable character of the sea in her piece Floating Theatre which also incorporates inspiration from elements of traditional Chinese music, and Ashley John Long captures the echoes and whispers of the rolling Welsh countryside in Imagin’d Games. Ashley John Long will also play double bass in the Uproar Ensemble on the tour and is a former participant of Uproar’s Composer Studio.
The Chamber Concerto by composer Ligeti, whose music is well known from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and HrÍm by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, a commanding evocation of elemental power created to accompany the Chamber concerto, will both receive their Welsh premieres on the tour.
The 90 minute programme for the concerts ties in with UPROAR’s commitment to investing in contemporary classical music, developing talent, and bringing opportunities for audiences across the whole of Wales to experience new music. Since its inception UPROAR has supported the creation of new works by Welsh composers and given opportunities for composers and instrumentalists at all stages of their careers to work with the ensemble.
Artistic Director and Conductor of Uproar, Michael Rafferty said, “We are delighted to be performing Ligeti’s and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s rarely performed music in Wales for the first time on this tour as well as showcasing the works of three talented composers born or living in Wales. I am sure audiences will enjoy this combination of curated works of contemporary music as much as we will enjoy performing it.”
Each performance features a pre-show discussion at each venue one hour prior to the performance. In addition there are Touch Tours available 90 minutes before each concert for 30 minutes for those living with sight loss enabling them to hear some of the sounds in advance and for the opportunity to talk to some of the ensemble. To arrange a Touch Tour, audience members can contact [email protected]
uproar.org.uk
March 2025 Performances:
Aberystwyth Arts Centre – 7 March
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff – 13 March
Hafren, Newtown 14 March
Theatr SOAR, Merthyr Tydfil – 22 March
Rhosygilwen, Cilgerran – 23 March