A world-renowned violinist is returning to North Wales to help bring the music of an \u201cunjustly neglected\u201d\u00a0Welsh\u00a0composer back to life.<\/p>\n
Madeleine Mitchell, who has performed in more than 50 countries, will take centre stage with Wrexham Symphony Orchestra at 2.30pm on Sunday, November 9, in a powerful Remembrance Concert at the William Aston Hall.<\/p>\n
The London-based musician will join conductor\u00a0Bedwyn\u00a0Lloyd Phillips to celebrate the legacy of Grace Williams \u2013 widely regarded as Wales\u2019s most significant female composer but whose music has been long overlooked.<\/p>\n
The concert will shine a spotlight on Williams\u2019s haunting and lyrical works, including her rarely heard Violin Concerto.<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u00a0says she is thrilled to return to Wrexham – a city she remembers fondly from earlier tours as soloist in Mozart with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve performed all over the world, but there\u2019s something truly special about coming back to Wales,\u201d she said.\u201c A lot has changed in Wrexham since my last visit, and I can\u2019t wait to see it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Madeleine, she\u2019s\u00a0passionate about Welsh music, particularly the work of\u00a0Grace Williams\u00a0who\u00a0was born into a musical family in Barry, near Cardiff, where her father ran the local choir, and she often acted as the choir’s accompanist.<\/p>\n
After winning a scholarship to study at Cardiff University in 1923, she was accepted to study at the Royal College of Music in London three years later.<\/p>\n
A gifted violinist and pianist, she studied under Ralph Vaughan Williams and was a close friend of Benjamin Britten.<\/p>\n
At the time of her death in 1977 few of her pieces had been published or recorded.<\/p>\n
Madeleine said: \u201cHaving worked a lot with the BBC Radio 3 producer Gwyn L Williams, after\u00a0he retired from the BBC I went to see him in his last post as Director of Ty Cerdd, partly to look at scores of music by Welsh composers for violin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat caught my eye was a copy of the manuscript of the Grace Williams Violin Sonata.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the cover she\u2019d written\u00a0\u201csecond movement worth performing, first and third not good enough\u201d but I thought it did all look worth performing so I got a copy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI performed it at the first international conference of Women\u2019s Work in Music in Bangor, organised by Rhiannon Mathias. It was a great success and everybody thought I should record it.<\/p>\n
“I then researched what other music there was. A lot of Grace Williams\u2019s chamber music which I discovered through the National Library of Wales, was unpublished and unrecorded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith my London Chamber Ensemble I\u00a0produced an album of Grace Williams Chamber Music for Naxos in association with the British Music Society which was a fantastic success, and rose to number two in the Classical Charts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on Radio Four Woman\u2019s Hour and the then Director of the BBC National of Wales Meurig Bowen heard me play live and invited me to perform the Grace Williams Violin Concerto with BBC National Orchestra of Wales.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m delighted to be bringing this concerto to North Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madeleine was later honoured to receive the Stuart Burrows\u00a0Award from the Welsh Guild of Music in 2024 for her\u00a0\u2018significant contribution to Welsh music\u2019.<\/p>\n
Bedwyn, a\u00a0conductor\u00a0who is\u00a0quickly\u00a0gaining\u00a0a reputation for fresh, energised, passionate, and enjoyable performances, first discovered the works of Grace Williams whilst studying at university.<\/p>\n
He chose to pair her Suite for Nine Instruments with Stravinsky\u2019s Octet after hearing Madeleine\u2019s recording of this work.<\/p>\n
From here, his love and commitment to her music grew, and he tries to programme her music whenever possible.<\/p>\n
He is currently the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Welsh Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Shropshire Chamber Orchestra, and now a regular face at the William Aston Hall as a regular Guest Conductor of Wrexham Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n
Bedwyn said::\u00a0\u201cBringing the music of Grace Williams to the people of Wales is an important mission for me, particularly in having Welsh orchestras own the music written by one of the finest composers of the 20th Century, who comes from this nation which is so full of music.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn pairing the works of Grace Williams alongside what is generally regarded as the finest symphony to have been composed by a British composer, the First Symphony of Sir Edward Elgar, I am looking forward to audiences hearing that the music of an unjustly neglected composer stands its ground with one of the great symphonies by one of the most famous composers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so excited to work with Madeleine and WSO to bring this concerto to\u00a0the William\u00a0Aston Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrexham Symphony Orchestra is a leading non\u2011professional community orchestra based in Wrexham with a core membership of around 60\u201370 players.<\/p>\n
Matthew Ellis, Chair, said: \u201cWe are truly honoured to be able to work with a musician with Madeleine’s standing and especially with such an important work for Welsh music. It really shows how far WSO has come to be able to work with Madeleine and showcase our talented musicians, and we look forward to this exciting first concert in what promises to be our greatest season yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concert\u2019s first half will be dedicated to the music of Grace Williams, spotlighting two of her resonant works: Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes, which holds an important historic role in encouraging Welsh resilience during the darkest days of the Second World War, and her Violin Concerto. This is followed by Elgar Symphony No. 1.<\/p>\n
For tickets and more information about the concert at the William Aston Hall in Wrexham go to: <\/strong>https:\/\/williamastonwrexham.com\/event\/wso-remembrance<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n