Youth orchestra winds up season on high note

Posted by Now Cardiff on Jul 19, 2011

Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Orchestra will end their season of concerts for 2010 -2011 on a high note at Llandaff Cathedral this week.

The young musicians will perform Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony on Thursday July 21 (7.30pm), featuring the new Nicholson organ which has been recently installed at the cathedral.

The organ will be played by the notable Welsh organist, Huw Tregelles Williams, former Head of Music at the BBC, who has given organ recitals at venues all over the world during his illustrious career.

The programme will also include Verdi’s “Force of Destiny” overture, Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Mussorgsky’s “Night on a Bare Mountain”. Tickets for the performance are available at the door, costing £10 and £6 for concessions.

Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “This is a terrific way for the youth orchestra to bring the year to a close in an inspiring venue and with such a distinguished performer in their midst. The youth orchestra concerts are always of an extremely high standard and I’m sure this week’s performance will be as enjoyable as usual.”

Cardiff school children get exclusive glimpse of Olympic torch

Posted by Now Cardiff on Jul 4, 2011

On Friday, Llanishen High School hosted a UK flag ship event as part of National School Sport Week and saw former Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener talk about his career as a British Sprint Athlete and gave children an exclusive glimpse of the Olympic torch.

He was joined by The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Prof Delme Bowen and Wenlock, the official London 2012 mascot.

National School Sport Week is a sporting celebration for primary and secondary schools and aims to generate interest in sport for pupils of all ages.

The nationwide campaign runs from June 27 to July 1 and attracts almost 14,000 schools and five million children from across the UK, encouraging them to take part and enjoy sporting activities.

This year Cardiff was chosen to host the closing ceremony which saw 400 children take part in Olympic and Paralympic sports as well as attempting to beat their personal best.

The event was delivered by Sport.Cardiff in partnership with Youth Sport Trust and Lloyds TSB

Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells said: “Cardiff did a fantastic job of hosting the closing ceremony for National School Sport Week today.

“The important initiative not only encourages schools to fill their objectives for sport and PE but also enables them to create excitement and alerts them to the values of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Cardiff will play an important role in the 2012 Games by hosting the very first event at the Millennium Stadium and having been selected by several teams as their Pre-Games training camps.

“It is therefore vital that the city continues to showcase sporting excellence as part of its legacy following the event, including improving club, competition and coaching infrastructure and the development of grassroots sport provision for children and young people.”

Youth Sport Trust ambassador, Jason Gardener, said:  “To see so many young people today motivated by the Olympic Torch to try and achieve a personal best in an Olympic or Paralympic sport was really inspiring and I hope that many of them go on to excel in their chosen sport as they continue to develop.  I tried various different sports at school before I found sprinting and I hope that, through events like these, Wales’ future sporting stars are discovered.”