LLANDEILO FAWR FESTIVAL OF MUSIC
Charity Number 1138432
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT - Year ended 31 December 2023
1. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The Charity is administered by a Management Committee consisting of all the Festival Trustees and 5 additional members
OFFICERS Chairman/Artistic Director Mrs. Julia Jones Festival Secretary Mr.G.B.Jones Treasurer Mr.C.C.B. Plummer Solicitor . Mr. Edward Friend Assistant Secretary Mrs Elen Angharad Worthington
TRUSTEES
Mr. G.B. Jones Mrs. J. Jones Ms. Rita E. Morgan Mrs Elen Angharad Worthington
Additional Members Mr. Edward Friend Mr. Martin. Smith Mr.Colin Jenkins Mr.Desmond Davies (Technical Adviser) Mrs Veronika
1. OBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
To advance the education and appreciation of adults and school children in the subject of instrumental vocal and choral music by promoting concerts recitals and lectures by distinguished musicians and choirs particularly, but not exclusively within the context of, an annual summer Festival of Music in Llandeilo and its immediate environs
2. ACHIEVEMENTS, PERFORMANCE AND ANNUAL REVIEW
I don’t think anyone would disagree that last year’s Celebratory 20th Festival event was one of the finest we have ever staged in the history of Llandeilo Fawr. The calibre and stature of the artists, the sheer beauty of the music and the near-perfection of its interpretation, by some of the most respected and recognised figures in the world of music, are all things which will live in our minds for a very long time
3. PUBLIC BENEFIT
The Charity sets out to promote each year a series of professional, high calibre, musical events in a rural area of Wales where no such provision would otherwise exist. In so doing, as stated above, the trustees aim to advance the education of both adults and children in different kinds of music, thereby enhancing their appreciation of an art form which might otherwise be enjoyed by just a privileged few. The trustees believe that, to achieve such appreciation, it is crucial for people to be able to listen to, and attend, live performances by artists who can bridge the gap which sometimes exists between music and those who seek to understand and enjoy it. This would involve travelling long distances, and incurring substantial expense, thus ruling out all save the comparatively affluent and retired. The trustees feel confident that they have, in previous years, been able to provide a rich musical experience on the very doorstep of those whom the Festival seeks to benefit in this way and they are equally confident that they have, in the year just gone by, maintained the exacting standards which they constantly set themselves, both in the choice of programmes and in the selection of artists best suited to interpret those programmes. We would like to thank our sponsors, local businesses and Friends for their continued support
In passing, it is worth reflecting on the fact that, during the Festival’s 23 years of existence, not a single penny has been claimed in respect of expenses incurred on such things as petrol, phone calls and postage by any of the large number of volunteers who have consistently oiled the wheels of the organisation.
The trustees have every reason to be satisfied with the current financial position even if, objectively speaking, it can be regarded as a little disappointing.
FESTIVAL FINANCE
Opening Balance 1[st] January 2023 £23,837.12 Closing Balance 31 December 2023 £22,354.44
Deficit £1,482.68
As this is a rolling budget we hope with some fundraising and membership subscriptions to off-set this deficit and to start next year (2024) with a similar bank balance as this year.
Thing have not got back, as yet, to the pre-Covid pandemic.
I’ll now summarise each event.
LLANDEILO FAWR FESTIVAL OF MUSIC
8[th] - 15[th] July 2023
The 2023 Annual Festival, somewhat to our relief , can be counted a success, from both an artistic and financial standpoint. Its financial success was due in no small measure, to the generosity of our sponsors. indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that the very continuation of the Festival, over the past two decades, would not have been possible without hteir constant financial assistance, and it is something for which we will be ever grateful. .
Of course, as with other festivals, we were still contending with the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and also with a cost of living crisis. However, we had to cope with something which was very noticeable this year, i.e. the tendency to schedule other events the same time as the Festival itself.
If this wasn’t enough to contend with on the Monday to the Thursday, the Trunk Road Agency decided to erect traffic lights directly opposite the church. This meant that no one could park in front of the church for delivering the piano and other instruments or as a dropping off point for the elderly or incapacitated would-be audience members.
In spite of all this, however, we did quite well, from an attendance point of view, with no fewer than three sold-out events. We were however ,expecting a full-house for our opening Baroque evening , when the wonderful Armonico Consort performed the Pergolesi ‘Stabat Mater’ as well as Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, in a truly memorable semistaged version in which the cast of multi-talented performers had the audience truly enthralled. In fact, this was possibly one of the finest events in the Festival’s history. It was highly unfortunate therefore that the attendance figure was slightly less than we were expecting and I think we can blame the factors that I have already mentioned.
. After the Purcell opera Alis Huws gave a very fine (sold-out) harp-recital at Newton House. Her sincerity and charm had the audience hanging on her every note. We were also pleased to see some young would-be harpists at the performance.
Then, in ‘Tales from Vienna’ we saw one of the world’s finest clarinettists, Emma Johnson, take to the stage with a formidable array of fellow musicians, having devised a programme which gave us tantalising extracts from some of the finest chamber works in the repertoire before taking us, in our imagination , to Vienna’s Musikverein itself. The performance was enhanced by numerous illustrated shots from scenes of imperial Vienna.
The Festival’s traditional Jazz night at the Cawdor saw the return of the remarkable pianist, Geoff Eales, with his trio. This was an entirely different sort of jazz evening, devoted to Eales’s improvisation on songs by his fellow Cardiffian, Ivor Novello, and, judging by the final applause, it was obviously to the liking of the well-fed Cawdor audience.
Brilliant concert pianist, Lucy Parham, and Henry Goodman, one of Britain’s leading actors, are already established as firm favourites with the Llandeilo Festival audience. This time they performed the latest of Lucy’s unique and, in the words of BBC’s Music Magazine, ‘trailblazing fusion of music and words’ in ‘Élérgie’. This was a receptive study of Rachmaninoff’s years of exile in the United States. Described as, ‘the crowning glory of Parham’s Composer Portrait Series’ was notable for Goodman’s portrayal of the ever-melancholic Russian composer as well as for the scintillating
brilliance of Parham’s keyboard virtuosity was more than well received by the audience – a standing ovation no less! (one of many during the week.
The following evening saw the distinguished violinist, Simon Blendis, return to Llandeilo after his authoritative chamber-music plying in last year’s Festival. He did so in the role of light-music
Legend, Max Jaffa, whose music library had been bequeathed to him, and whose playing on a Pietro Guarnerius violin, accompanied by his wife ,Saoko Blendis, a pianist of great sensibility, he transported us into the very middle of the Grand Hotel’s ‘Palm Court’ in a delightful programme of Salon Music. This of course was very much an experimental kind of evening, certainly not one for the purists but one which the rather modest audience took to in no uncertain terms, demanding one encore after another.
Now comes perhaps the greatest triumph of the week although again , it was not exactly what one would call a Festival ‘staple fare’. For much of the Festival’s existence its Schools Outreach programme has been an unparalleled success, with local schoolchildren being given the invaluable opportunity to work with members of the BBC Now and the WNO, as well as with the outstanding tutors of Armonico Consort Academy, the inspirational arm of our highly valued friends at Armonico Consort. This latter relationship had already resulted in the Llandeilo Primary School children, singing, no less than on three occasions, at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of the annual Massed Children’s Choir Concert (the only choir from Wales to be invited to participate). Now it was to bring the Children on to the Festival stage itself, in a performance of “Africa - a singing nation” in conjunction with Africa Performing Arts. Anyone witnessing the unalloyed delight which was evident in every note, from start to the hugely triumphant ending in both performers and audience could not have been other than enthralled. It was even described by A C’s Director as a “ Rave in the Nave” Although this was an ‘ experimental’ evening, it will surely remain in the memory of the children and the capacity audience...
I need say little about the final night, other than it featured, once again, that doyen of choral directors, John S. Davies who, along with his singers, graced the festival once again. The audience who stood as one to acknowledge the masterly performance of Faure’s much loved Requiem had never been as big, the appreciation so genuine, and the affection for “John S”. so evident. His partnership with Llandeilo has become one of the most fruitful which could ever be imagined. Indeed, it would be true to say that there has been the sort of ‘consensus ad idem’ which is rare in the world of music.
FREE LUNCHTIME CONCERTS
Our Lunchtime events were, as usual, of a high standard: Wyn Turner and Dr William Reynolds (Organ), Llinos Haf Jones (Mezzo-Soprano), Eleri Jones and Llewellyn Jones (Harp), Devon Macadam Sutton (Soprano), Caradog Williams and Amy Reynolds (piano). (We even managed an unscheduled harp workshop/masterclass with Catrin Finch on the 10[th] June).
G. B. Jones Festival Secretary /Trustee
Llandeilo Fawr Festival of Music and flowers Receipts and payments Account For the year ended Balances as at 31112123 Recei Tickets 19,490.00 0.00 12,405.00 0.00 0.00 143.50 50.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 32.088.50 donationsl sponsors Programmes Wine sales Bank interest Subscription Misc Refund from printers CCC grant (Magnum sound) Raffle Pa ments Artists venue Hire Equipment HirelRemovals Printing AdvertisinglPromotion Catering, wine & Refreshments Flowers Translation Artist Accommodation insuran TYbVYS Membership fees Postage stationery Travel Ticket refunds Commttee expenses (licence) Office Hire Bank Charges VAT Misc (unassigned costs) 20.624.00 300.00 5,307.95 1,894.52 1,036.81 1,745.83 0.00 98.00 552.48 211.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 251.39 1,548.52 0.00 33,571.18 Surplusldeficit ior the period Represented by: enin balance as at 01101120 -1,482.68 correction 0.6pence HSBC Account (Current 71377256) HSBC Account (Deposit 81377841) HSBC Account (Friends 91377914) 2,964.99 5,696.24 15,175.89 23,837.12 a Add any outstanding cheques not cashed (none shown) Add: surplusldeficit for the period Subtract cheques outstanding from Closing balance = a+b+c: 0.00 c -1,482.68 b 0.00 d 22.354.44 Closin Balance as at 31112r23 HSBC Account (Current 71377256) HSBC Account (Deposit 81377841) HSBC Account (Friends 91377914) 4,529.92 14,658.63 3.165.89 22,354.44 Christopher Plummer Treasurer Llandeilo Music and Flower Fest"val 2023124
Ty Ni
Llanddarog Road
Capel Dewi
Carmarthen
SA32 8AJ
30 September 2023
Independent Examiner
Charity No 1138432
I have examined the published accounts of the above-named registered charity, together with the relevant invoices and other papers relating thereto, and I am satisfied that these are in order.
Helen Hopkins-Lewis