After protests against redevelopment, the Welsh capital’s council took steps to protect venues and nurture new talent. Artists are heartened – but say more can be done
‘In these stones, horizons sing,” reads a striking copper inscription above the entrance to the Wales Millennium Centre, an arts venue in the heart of Cardiff Bay. The six-foot-high words, written by poet Gwyneth Lewis, speak to the multiplicity of creative voices within the city, one whose music scene has long been overlooked and its diverse, tenacious people underestimated.
Located just streets away from Butetown, one of the UK’s oldest multicultural hubs, the venue forms a key part of the new, month-long Cardiff Music City festival. Pre-existing events such as the new-music-focused weekender Sŵn will combine with new opera art installations, inclusive “little gigs” for school-age performers, and unique one-off shows (such as a double bill of Leftfield and Orbital). Cult pop acts Fabiana Palladino and Porridge Radio are on the lineup alongside experimental composer Gwen Siôn – whose piece Llwch a Llechi mixes field recordings, one of Wales’s oldest male voice choir and electronic instruments fashioned from wood and slate – plus Tuareg rock, Butetown jazz and Noongar-language songs from western Australia.
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