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World class music at this year’s Fishguard Festival of Music

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FESTIVAL audiences enjoying world class music at this year’s Fishguard Festival of Music. Jazz, folk and world music to feature in final concerts

The annual Fishguard Festival of Music continues its programme of world-class classical music following the Bank Holiday weekend at venues across Pembrokeshire.

The National Youth Choir of Wales conducted by Tim Rhys Evans will start the second week of the festival’s concerts in the magnificent setting of St Davids Cathedral on Monday August 28th at 7.30pm. The following night, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama students will be paying tribute to two great Welsh composers of the 20th century in this year of significant anniversaries for both: David Vaughan Thomas (150 years) and David Harries (90 years). The concert will include works originally commissioned by the Fishguard Festival in 1986 and 1993. David Vaughan Thomas was the father of broadcaster and long term Fishguard resident, Wynford Vaughan Thomas.

Life, love and loss are explored and celebrated through a special friendship and some of the greatest songs ever written in a concert curated by pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen on Wednesday. Singers Nicky Spence and Claire Booth will perform songs by LGBTQ+ composers and poets, including Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, and Aaron Copland. Robert Schumann’s iconic song cycle on a woman’s life and love, Frauenliebe und leben, will be interwoven with Nathan James Dearden’s specially commissioned responses of a beloved friend. Since she whom I loved takes place at Neuadd y Dderwen, Rhosygilwen on Wednesday 30 August.

Monteverdi and his contemporaries will feature in the programme of The Gonzaga Band (soprano, cornett and harpsichord) at Bethel Chapel Fishguard on Thursday ,led by Welsh musician Dr Jamie Savan, Professor of Performance-led Research in Music at Birmingham City University.

Outdoor performances will be given by Kosmos Ensemble: Meg Hamilton, Harriet Mackenzie (violins) and Milos Milivojevic (accordion) on Fishguard Quay and at Oriel y Parc St Davids. A special concert will take place the evening before these community concerts at Theatr Gwaun on Friday 1st September.

Pedair – four female singers and instrumentalists: Sian James, Gwyneth Glyn, Meinir Gwilym and Gwenan Gibbard return following the great success of their sell-out performance last year and perform at Theatr Gwaun on Saturday 2 September. Their debut album, ‘Mae na olau’ has just won ‘Welsh language Album of the Year’.

Jazz music will end the festival when Amanda Whiting (harpist) will appear with her jazz trio in the closing evening concert at Theatr Gwaun on Sunday.

Gillian Green MBE, Artistic Director of the Fishguard Festival of Music, said: “The Fishguard Festival of Music is once again delighting audiences with a showcase of world-class music in West Wales at a variety of atmospheric venues. The final week will see the return of some familiar faces to Pembrokeshire in some exciting concerts and audiences will get the opportunity to hear magical music by leading international soloists. Tickets are selling quickly this year.”

Further information and tickets are available via the festival website at www.fishguardmusicfestival.com

 

Entertainment

One Night in Dublin returns to the Torch with a brand-new show

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ONE NIGHT IN DUBLIN is heading back to the stage at the Torch Theatre with a lively new production fronted by renowned Irish singer Danny Muldoon.

Tickets are already selling fast for the feel-good celebration of Irish music, which promises two hours of songs, stories and plenty of craic.

Backed by an award-winning five-piece band, Muldoon leads audiences through a packed set of sing-along favourites including Galway Girl, Tell Me Ma, The Irish Rover, Dirty Old Town, Whiskey in the Jar, The Wild Rover and The Galway Shawl, along with many more well-loved classics.

The show recreates the atmosphere of a bustling Dublin pub, complete with fiddle, whistle, guitars, banjo, bodhrán, accordion and driving drums, transporting the audience straight into “Murphy’s Tavern” for an unforgettable night of live entertainment.

Fans can also expect hits from Irish legends including The Pogues, The Saw Doctors, The Dubliners, The Fureys, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys.

One Night in Dublin comes to the Torch Theatre on Thursday, March 26 at 7:30pm.

Tickets cost £26.50. Visit the theatre website or call the Box Office on (01646) 695267 to book.

 

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Entertainment

New appeal in search for missing Manic Street Preachers musician

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Family and charity issue fresh appeal for information about guitarist 31 years on

THIRTY-ONE years after the disappearance of Richey Edwards, a new public appeal has been issued urging anyone with information to come forward.

Edwards, guitarist and lyricist with Manic Street Preachers, vanished on January 31, 1995, in a case that has become one of the most enduring mysteries in British music history.

Missing for over 30 years: Richey Edwards

The then 27-year-old was last seen at the Embassy Hotel Bayswater in west London, where he had been staying ahead of a promotional trip to the United States. He checked out of room 561 but never reached his destination.

Despite numerous reported sightings over the years, none have ever been confirmed. Edwards was officially declared presumed dead in 2008, though his family continue to mark the anniversary of his disappearance and keep hope alive that answers may still emerge.

Anniversary appeal

The charity Missing People has released a statement in collaboration with Edwards’ sister Rachel, asking the public to remember the case.

In a social media post, the organisation said: “It is 31 years since Richard went missing, please keep his family in your thoughts.”

They also repeated key identifying details from the time he vanished. Edwards was described as white, around 5ft 7in tall, slim, with brown eyes and a shaved head. He had several distinctive tattoos, including a rose with the words ‘Useless Generation’, the phrase ‘I’ll surf this beach’, and a scar on his lower left arm where he had scratched the words ‘4 REAL’.

Unanswered questions

His car was later found near the Severn Bridge services, close to the Welsh border, prompting widespread searches but yielding no firm clues about what happened next.

At the time of his disappearance, the band were on the brink of international success. Edwards’ intense, literate songwriting and striking image had already made him a defining figure in Welsh rock music. More than three decades later, fans still hold vigils, create murals and share tributes across Wales and beyond.

Police say the case remains open.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Service on 101 or use their online reporting service, quoting reference CONNECT REF 01/764429/24. Missing People also operates a free, confidential helpline on 116 000.

 

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Entertainment

Turner and Constable brought to life on the big screen at the Torch Theatre

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ART lovers in Pembrokeshire will have the chance to experience the lives and rivalries of two of Britain’s greatest painters when a new documentary, EOS: Turner & Constable, arrives at the Torch Theatre this March.

Celebrating the 250th anniversary of their births, the film explores the intertwined stories and enduring legacies of J.M.W. Turner and John Constable alongside Tate Britain’s major new exhibition. Exhibition on Screen has been granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access, bringing their extraordinary art and personal histories vividly to the cinema screen.

Born just a year apart, Turner and Constable helped redefine landscape painting in Britain – and were fierce competitors. Both captured a nation in transition, yet their styles could not have been more different. Turner’s dramatic skies, blazing sunsets and atmospheric scenes from his travels contrasted sharply with Constable’s gentle, nostalgic portrayals of the English countryside and familiar rural life.

Their opposing visions divided critics and audiences alike, famously described at the time as a clash of “fire and water”.

The documentary offers rare, intimate access to sketchbooks, letters and personal artefacts, alongside insights from leading curators and art historians. It also ties in with Tate Britain’s landmark exhibition, running in London from November 2025 to April 2026, which reunites the two masters’ works side-by-side.

This cinematic event gives audiences the chance to see their masterpieces in stunning detail and discover unexpected sides to two artists whose rivalry shaped British art history.

Turner and Constable will be screened at the Torch Theatre on Sunday, March 15 at 4:30pm.

Tickets are £13. For bookings, visit www.torchtheatre.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01646 695267.

 

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