The
Beulah Music FestivalThe
Beulah Music Festival
The Beulah Music Festival was started by two local musicians, Hilary and Ivor Cox with the generous encouragement and support of their neighbours, Penelope Bourdillon and Hilary and John Spurling. From its inception the Festival has been grateful for the help and generosity of local people, especially those associated with Eglwys Oen Duw and Beulah Chapel.
The Festival aims to be a lively celebration of local music-making with a special emphasis on realising and enjoying the talent of young people. It distinguishes itself from many other festivals in being definitely non-competitive and by being inclusive, calling as it does on the many gifts of those who live in and around Beulah and their friends. It has been built upon a growing number of memorable achievements in the past but is most concerned to foster new musical ideas and talents. To this end there will be one dedicated weekend of concerts every year and a programme of events to keep the flame of the festival alight in the months between.
From small beginnings the Festival has become more and more varied as well as ambitious. Last year’s programme (2009), for example, included a guest performance by South Powys Youth Music's String Machine, new music composed by David White at the sung Eucharist, a lieder recital by Richard Hillier (who is head of the Menuhin School from 2010) and Hilary Cox and a performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante by Laura Reineke and Ivor Cox.
The Festival has encouraged and will continue to encourage performances which combine the efforts of professional, semi-professional and amateur performers. The organising committee is especially eager to encourage the participation of young musicians and has inaugurated the Beulah Music Festival Gift to this purpose. The first recipient, Owen Jordan, played violin in a performance of Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ quartets in June 2010 at Beulah Chapel.
The concerts take place in several locations in and around the village.