Sinfonia Cymru's ‘third-time lucky’ Trumpet Sensation tour

It’s not wise to wish a performer good luck. It’s much better to ‘break a leg’, since theatrical folklore says good means bad, and so pain might be preferable. Legs, luck, good, bad… members of Sinfonia Cymru are keeping everything crossed for their upcoming Trumpet Sensation tour. The phrase, ‘third-time lucky’, peppers our conversations.

‘We started speaking about this project in 2019,’ said general manager Tammy Daly. ‘It was planned for March 2021. But Wales went into another lockdown, so we cancelled. It was rescheduled for March this year and, again, we had more restrictions in Wales so we cancelled again so it really is fingers crossed this time.’

Hopes are high that this tour will be going ahead as planned since this is a rather special tour involving 23-year-old French trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary (pictured below), making her Sinfonia Cymru debut on her first visit to Wales. ‘We came across Lucienne and thought she would be an amazing artist to work with,’ said Daly, ‘and we didn’t want her to come along and just play a trumpet concerto as she does all this other repertoire.

Lucienne Renaudin Vary ©Simon Fowler

‘More and more, we find an artist we want to work with, and we talk about what they want to programme, what they want to do. They give us amazing ideas we may not have thought about. And Lucienne has such a lot to offer. Since starting to talk about this tour, she’s produced another two albums!’

There will be a concerto – Hummel’s evergreen Trumpet Concerto in E flat – as well as tango, jazz and orchestral arrangements by American arranger Bill Elliott, written especially for Vary. The programme ranges from Wagner by way of Hummel to Ravel, Milhaud, Lowry, Weill and Becket.

‘It’s nice to have many atmospheres in a concert because the audience is captivated. I chose this programme because it comes from my heart,’ said Vary. ‘The musicians never get bored. These small moments out of time make the whole thing so much fun.’

Vary is especially excited by the Elliott arrangements. ‘They are shaped for the trumpet with the orchestra,’ she noted. ‘Trumpet does not have a huge repertoire, so I like these arrangements. And every concert, even if it is the same programme, is different. It might be the acoustic, the hall, the mood of the people – it is fascinating.

‘It is also the first time I have directed the orchestra for a large part of the programme, so it is a huge collaboration between players and soloist. But working together and talking together, we are bound to have even more new ideas. Being able to programme like that is amazing and the musicians are up for it as they like switching between genres and styles.’

Sinfonia Cymru calls itself ‘the UK’s leading under-30s orchestra’. Daly says this label came about because it provides major opportunities for exceptionally talented people in the early stages of their careers. These are, she says, people ‘at the top of their game’ and only fairly recently out of music college. ‘It brings something quite special to the rehearsal room and to performances - such a fresh approach,’ she adds.

Players do not have to hail from Wales – though a number do – but the benchmark is the quality of playing and the standard they have reached. Players just need to be UK-based and the orchestra’s annual on-line auditions make the Sinfonia as accessible as possible.

‘We run orchestral projects like this one coming up,’ said Daly. ‘We also do a lot of smaller scale projects, with opportunities for players to programme their own music, giving them a huge scope for developing where they want to go and what they want to be as musicians. It feels like a democratic, open organisation that makes musicians feel supported which, in turn, encourages creativity.’

Part of the creative brief is taking this talent to all parts of Wales, often to places where live music is a rarity. The tour takes in Cardiff – usually a given for all tours, using the excellent facilities of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama: Vary will give a masterclass there after the tour – as well as the Riverfront in Newport, the primary school in Pontyberem, West Wales, and Wrexham’s William Aston Hall.

The Sinfonia has performed in Pontyberem, a village of 2,000 or so souls, for more than 20 years. ‘They are very supportive of Sinfonia Cymru and they don’t get much other live music there,’ said Daly. ‘We also work with local schools and run community workshops and performances.’

In Newport, Sinfonia Cymru puts on regular lunchtime chamber concerts and has developed a partnership with Maindee Primary School. Musicians not only visit the school, but children are invited to attend concerts or rehearsals. Indeed, prior to the Newport concert, children will perform songs they have written as part of an outreach project.

The star of the show, however, remains ‘trumpet sensation’ Vary. Maybe let’s not wish her luck but instead keep our fingers crossed.

The Trumpet Sensation tour will include concerts at Newport, Cardiff, Pontyberem and Wrexham. You can find tour dates and ticket links below:

• Riverfront, Newport, 17 November at 7.30pm.
• Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, 18 November 7.30pm.
  • This concert will be recorded by BBC Radio 3 for later transmission.
• Pontyberem County Primary School, 19 November, 4pm.
• William Aston Hall, Wrexham, 20 November 7,30pm.