Our new logo is proof positive, if any were needed, that a crack team of designers will come up with ideas that the rest of us wouldn’t. We asked YogiCreative, who offered to sponsor the brand development process, for a logo which would demonstrate a bold approach, full of energy and purpose, but which still resonated with the artistic reasons for the orchestra’s existence.
What they have created is a representational “S”, a logo based on a relationship between visual art and music first articulated by the Russian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, 1866-1944.
Kandinsky had synaesthesia, a harmless condition which allows a person to appreciate sounds, colours or words with two or more senses simultaneously. It is an involuntary ability to hear colour, see music or even taste words which results from an accidental cross-wiring in the brain. It is not that uncommon; one in 2000 people have the condition, and it occurs in many more women than men. The authors Charles Beaudelaire and Vladimir Nabokov, the composer Olivier Messaien and the artist David Hockney probably all had synaesthesia to some degree.
“Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key then another to cause vibration in the soul.”
Kandinsky
Young Kandinsky played the cello and the piano, and even though he is best known as a painter, music was always a significant inspiration behind his work. As his artistic career progressed, he developed his own ‘Colour Theory’, which he published as “Concerning the Spiritual in Art,” completed in 1910. According to this theory, every colour has its own character, represented by the effect of specific instruments in the orchestra.
Thus yellow, for instance, he felt to be ‘warm, cheeky and exciting’ or ‘disturbing’, and it relates to loud sharp trumpets, or high fanfares. Blue, his own favourite colour, is deep, inner, supernatural, and peaceful, a ‘typical heavenly colour’. Light blue relates to flutes, darker blues to the cello, and the darkest blue of all to the organ.
In the Welsh Sinfonia colour palette we have blue, orange, red, purple, violet, green and yellow, giving us a range of emotions from peaceful (blue) to restless energy (red) and radiance (orange), from exciting (yellow) to stillness and hidden strength (green), and from sad (violet) to powerful (purple).
And that just about says everything, not just about how we see ourselves, but about the range of feeling and emotion conjured by the music we play.
The Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, attended the re-launch of the 20-year old Welsh Sinfonia today at St David’s Hall Cardiff, and offered his congratulations on reaching the notable milestone and launching their first concert series of chamber orchestral music.
The orchestra was joined by guests from the arts, government and business to hear the Minister offer his congratulations, and wish them well for the landmark forthcoming season. He said that the chamber orchestra, which has ambitions to establish itself on the international stage, continues to thrive and enjoys a reputation as a versatile, innovative and exciting ensemble.
He also praised the orchestra’s educational work, saying:
“Music can be a powerful way of working with young people to develop social and communication skills, self-advocacy and empowerment. I am particularly impressed with the Welsh Sinfonia’s programme of education and outreach projects, engaging young people with an enthusiasm for instrumental music and presenting chamber orchestral music, of an international standard, in areas of Wales where opportunities to hear such productions are rare.”
Chairman Carl Grainger gave a resumé of the orchestra’s background, the formulation of the ambition and the decisions that had been taken to launch the Welsh Sinfonia on its new path, thanking both Arts Council Wales and the sponsors who had already shown their belief in the ambition by giving support. Principal Conductor and Artistic Director Mark Eager then talked about the series, the programming choices, and the determination shared by everyone involved that the achievement of excellence in playing and presentation would be the driving force behind everything the orchestra now did.
And to offer a ‘taster’ of the programme from the first concert on Sunday October 11th, The Welsh Sinfonia played the Royal March from Stravinsky’s ‘A Soldier’s Tale Suite’, a complex and jaunty piece that provided a suitably stirring climax to the event, carried off with panache and considerable skill.
Tickets for the first concert, at Cardiff University Concert Hall in Corbett Road, are on sale now from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line on 03700 101051. (Calls cost the same as 01/02 numbers). Full price tickets are £12; students, children and those on benefits free (these may be subject to availability.) Family tickets (two adults and at least one child) are £18.
Each concert in the series will be preceded by an Information Free for All at 3.15pm when ticket holders can join the Conductor, Mark Eager, and some of the players to chat about the programme over tea and cake.
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Contact: Anne Curtis on 01380 831454 or anne@welshsinfonia.co.uk
September 23rd, 2009.
PRESS RELEASE
The Welsh Sinfonia celebrates its 20th birthday this year with a new focus on the repertoire of music for chamber orchestra from the baroque era to the present day.
Artistic Director and Conductor Mark Eager, formerly principal trombone with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, was appointed Conductor to The Welsh Sinfonia two years ago. He explains: “Wales is rich in musical talent, and rich in orchestras, both professional and amateur. But chamber orchestral music is under-performed in Wales, particularly at a professional level. We felt this was a situation we could and should address to provide Wales with a chamber orchestra that aspires to international standards and can, over the next few years, become a ‘national’ ensemble that Wales can be proud of.”
Chairman of Trustees Carl Grainger adds, “We’re on a mission. The additional rehearsal time made possible by new financial support from public and private sector sources gives our Conductor and our talented group of professional players the opportunity to make a huge step towards more ambitious programming and higher performance standards. Our aim is not only to become an ensemble comparable with the great national and city-based chamber orchestras of the UK and Europe but also to build an audience in Wales for this exciting style of music making. The chamber orchestra is also very well suited to the smaller regional venues which we intend to visit throughout Wales in the coming years.”
Key to the re-launch is the establishing of The Welsh Sinfonia’s 2009-2010 concert series, at an event on September 23rd to be attended by the Welsh Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones AM. This will be the first series of professional chamber orchestral concerts to be given in South Wales for many years. Helped by an award from Arts Council Wales, and support from local business sponsors and charitable foundations, The Welsh Sinfonia is presenting the Sunday Concert Series of four concerts at the University Concert Hall, Cardiff University, between October 2009 and April 2010.
The programmes explore ‘The Spirit of the Dance’ in the chamber orchestral repertoire – and the first concert, on Sunday October 11th, features dancers from Cardiff-based Debbie Chapman’s School of Dance, performing original choreography to Aaron Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’, first composed for a 13-piece chamber ensemble. The final concert in the series includes the first performance of a new Percussion Symphony commissioned by The Welsh Sinfonia from Eilir Owen Griffiths.
Says Mark Eager, “There is so much wonderful music in the chamber orchestral repertoire, and dance and dance rhythms are at the heart of it, so it seemed entirely appropriate to begin our journey by exploring that special relationship.”
All concerts begin at 4.30pm, and will be preceded by an Information Free For All, where ticket holders can enjoy free tea and cake and a chance to talk to Mark Eager and players about the programmes and chamber orchestral music.
Tickets and information on programmes and generous concessions can be obtained from the BBC NOW Audience Line, on 03700 101051, or through The Welsh Sinfonia’s website, www.welshsinfonia.co.uk . 037 numbers are called ‘UK Wide’ and cost no more than calls to 01/02 geographic numbers.
T: 01380 831454, or E: acurtis@welshsinfonia.co.uk
July 13th 2009.
Mrs Anne Curtis
The Welsh Sinfonia
The Butts
Bratton
Westbury
Wilts BA13 4SW
T: 01380 831454, or E: anne@welshsinfonia.co.uk
WELSH SINFONIA OFFERS ‘SURROUND SOUND’ IN SUNDAY’S CONCERT
“Surround Sound” is on offer for the first item on the programme for The Welsh Sinfonia’s all-string concert at 4.30pm on Sunday November 22nd in the Cardiff University Concert Hall, when the 15 players will be divided into two orchestras placed facing each other and within the body of the audience for Purcell’s “Suite from Abdelazar.”
Conductor Mark Eager says, “Henry Purcell composed this as incidental music to the revival of a play by Aphra Benn called ‘Abdelazar, or The Moor’s Revenge’ which was staged in 1695. At least one movement of the Suite, the Rondeau, has become very well-known – it was used by Benjamin Britten as the theme for his set of variations ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’, and has featured in films and on television including The First Churchills and the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice.
“As Abdelazar is so well-known, even if not by its title, and has its origins in the theatre, we thought we would add our own theatricality to give our audience a different way of hearing it. Placing our orchestra in this way will produce a kind of stereophonic effect to highlight different elements and lines in the music. We hope it will offer new insights.”
The rest of the programme, the second in the orchestra’s series of chamber orchestral concerts “The Spirit of the Dance”, includes Janacek’s ‘Suite for Strings’, John Metcalf’s ‘Dances from Forgotten Places’, and Grieg’s ‘Holberg Suite’.
Tickets are £12, and a family ticket is £18, available online from www.welshsinfonia.co.uk and from the BBC NOW Audience Line, 03700 101051, or on the door. Children, students, people on benefits and carers come free. An Information Free for All begins at 3.15pm, a chance to talk over tea and cake to Mark Eager and some of the players about the forthcoming programme; free to ticket holders.
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Contact: Anne Curtis on 01380 831454 or email: anne@welshsinfonia.co.uk
November 16th, 2009.
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