Cantata Memoria Concert

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan tragedy, composer Sir Karl Jenkins and poet and Aberystwyth University alumnus, Professor Mererid Hopwood, were commissioned by S4C to create a new commemorative choral work. This work - Cantata Memoria: For the Children/Er Mwyn y Plant premiered at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in October 2016. Eighteen months later, in one of the first performances in Wales since the BBC premiere, Cantata Memoria can be heard at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday 3 March. On stage will be the 90-strong University Singers, two top international soloists from Wales, Fflur Wyn and Paul Carey Jones, with professional orchestral support from Sinfonia Cambrensis. A central part will also be played by young singers from local schools, including the Penglais pupils of Elinor Powell’s ‘Sgarmangels’ and younger pupils from St Padarn’s. Director of Music, Dr David Russell Hulme, who conducts the performance, said: “This is a big work - complex and demanding. It made a huge impact at its Cardiff premiere and I’m sure it will do so here.”