Music Theatre Wales and Sinfonia Cymru are thrilled to announce a new partnership that aims to benefit audiences across Wales, enrich the communities we engage with, support the artists we work with, and advance the development of music and opera performance in Wales.
Launching with our newly commissioned production "Bwystfilod Aflan" at the 2024 National Eisteddfod on August 5th, we will work together to offer music and music theatre audiences in Wales a wide range of exciting and adventurous opportunities to discover new talent and explore innovative ideas.
MTW is committed to re-imagining opera as a contemporary art form, while Sinfonia Cymru brings a fresh and dynamic approach to classical music performance by working with outstanding young talent and innovative programming. By combining our strengths across a range of projects, we believe we can achieve more for our audiences and creatives. Over the coming years, we will collaborate on projects whenever it enhances the work we are creating. While not every MTW production will require classical musicians, those that do will feature Sinfonia Cymru.
Together, we are working to change perceptions of opera and music theatre, building on the rich history of both organisations and the traditions we come from, and collaborating with artists and performers who will lead us in new and exciting directions.
Sinfonia Cymru and MTW have already collaborated on MTW’s Focus Wales award-winning digital opera short “GRIEF” by Connor Allen and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, and the ensemble will also feature in one of MTW’s forthcoming Street Art Operas due to be shown in October 2024. Recently, we announced a joint Young Composers Scheme for Rhondda Cynon Taff, part of a broader residency in the area running through September 2025. We look forward to creating more groundbreaking work together in the future.
Caroline Tress, Chief Executive of Sinfonia Cymru, said:
“Music Theatre Wales have a long and award-winning history of scouting, nurturing and platforming the most extraordinary talent in new music creation and story-telling. Their ambition to challenge the norm and disregard artistic boundaries while championing new voices in opera is unparalleled in Wales and the UK. Sinfonia Cymru is excited to be embarking on this journey with MTW, to create new stories in music that inspire, represent, and matter to the communities we tour to in Wales.”
Michael McCarthy, Director of Music Theatre Wales, said:
“The energy, excitement, and quality of performance that Sinfonia Cymru bring to everything they present, and the creativity they encourage and support across their amazing players, is the perfect match for MTW’s restless exploration of opera as a form of expression for everyone and anyone. We are re-imagining opera as storytelling in music for now. I am delighted to be working with Sinfonia Cymru as we focus ever more strongly on working in Wales and with Welsh artists, and as we continue to bring fresh ideas and new ways of making opera with a rapidly expanding and inclusive community of artists.”
NB: Bwystfilod Aflan is a Welsh language music theatre and movement performance co-produced by Music Theatre Wales, Aberystwyth University and the National Eisteddfod, featuring music by Conor Mitchell, direction and dramaturgy by Jac Ifan Moore, and performances by Elgan Llŷr Thomas and Eddie Ladd with Sinfonia Cymru. This production premieres at the National Eisteddfod on 5th August and will tour to Cardiff, Cardigan, Aberystwyth, and Wrexham in October. For details, visit