NWIMF, the North Wales International Music Festival celebrates its 50th year in 2021 and is regarded as a cultural highlight of North Wales.
Founded in 1972 by celebrated Welsh and Royal composer William Mathias, NWIMF is held annually in September/October in St Asaph Cathedral.
Mainly a festival of classical music, NWIMF also features other genres, such as jazz & folk, and performances combining music with other art forms. Many events feature artists of international renown, others give opportunities to younger artists or are community based. The main venue is the cathedral (chosen for its very special renowned acoustic), but education and community projects reach further afield.
The festival’s aims are to foster the appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of classical music amongst as wide as possible a cross-section of the communities of North Wales. We provide people from all backgrounds and of all ages with the opportunity to experience live performances of different genres of classical music, given by performers of the highest quality, while further promoting the development of Welsh culture and music within the region.
Specifically, there are three main strands to the festival’s work:
- Outstanding concerts performed at St Asaph Cathedral, which demonstrate our exciting, creative ambition through the quality, calibre and international reputation of the artists we have performing.
- High quality community outreach work, offering access to enjoyable and interactive live music performances some wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to experience.
- Inspiring and inclusive cross-curricular education projects and musical workshops, for children of all ages throughout North Wales. We aim to make music more accessible for the youth in our community.
- Aquarelle, Magnificat Performance. Credit: John Liston
- Federico Colli
- Community Chorus. Credit: Ben Jones
- NWIMF. Credit: Ben Jones
Every year we centre the NWIMF around a common theme which links all strands of our work, from the main concerts to educational and community outreach work. This enables us to provide interesting and unusual perspectives, engagement with less familiar works, and offers an enriching musical experience for audience members, performing artists, and our project participants.
We regularly incorporate Welsh performers, always feature music by Welsh composers, and commission at least one new piece from a Welsh composer every year.
Above all, we always seek to innovate: in 2020, the entire festival took place online. A mixture of concerts from renowned artists, poetry events, podcasts and Zoom project workshops. We opened up exciting possibilities for the future.
To find out more about the NWIMF North Wales International Music Festival and catch up with our free virtual concerts please visit our website: nwimf.com
Feature image: Magnificat Performance. Credit: Kristina Banholzer
