Breaking The Wall

Lloyd Coleman, Junior Chairman of UCAN Productions Young People’s Steering Committee is composing music to celebrate the 2012  Olympics.

The project has been running for over a year and is progressing well.  Breaking The Wall is to be played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Lloyd will conduct.  To support the performance UCAN members will be creating a performance piece using Lloyd’s music as the inspiration.  All these performances will be in 2012 at various venues around Wales.

Lloyd (18) who is currently studying composition at the Royal Academy is developing the ‘Breaking The Wall’ project which will comprise of three musical movements supported by poetry and body percussion.

Speaking  about his project, Lloyd said:-

‘The idea is to also have a narrative around the Greek athlete Pheidippides, who ran something like 150 miles to Marathon in tow days to summon more support to stop invaders taking over their territory.

I think this is very relevant especially to the Para Olympics. I see it as an overall metaphor of how everyone can achieve their dreams.  When it’s played in 2012 it will be just tremendous.  It will be the biggest thing of my career.  I hope it will isnpire so many younger people and show disabled and able-bodied people that disability is not a barrier to success.’

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales has a long standing commitment to support and encourage emerging young Welsh talent.  We are therefore delighted to be able to offer Lloyd this opportunity and l0ok forward to working with him.

Philip Watts, Development Manager, BBC National Orchestra of Wales

To promote the project Lloyd and Jane Latham were invited to visit the brand new Olympic Park on 7 November 2010.

Breaking The Wall is a partnership project with ‘Whose Flame is it Anyway’ which is part of Power of the Flame, funded by Legacy Trust UK, managed by The Arts Council of Wales and delivered by Disability Arts Cymru.

UCAN Members Performed at the University on 22 June

By invitation from Maggie Woodhouse, Senior Lecturer of The School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, UCAN members performed at the University on 22 June.  The performance was attended by conference delegates, international researchers and professionals  from the visual impairment sector.

UCAN Productions Perform at the Disability Pride Festival on 12 June 2010

Join UCAN Productions on 12 June 2010 from 12 o clock to 6pm in Cardiff Bay’s Oval Basin, Roald Dahls Plass (which is the big open space outside the Wales Millennium Centre) for the Disability Pride Festival.  UCAN has lots of activities planned throughout the day including workshops and storytelling and some of our UCAN Members will be performing on the Glanfa Stage in the Wales Millennium Centre.

There will be an event showcasing our exciting new project, funded by Cardiff City Council Innovation Fund – UCAN Talk, a social networking site especially created by our friends Core-Multi Media for visually impaired young people.  This will be held in the Sony Room, WMC at 12.30 pm.

We will also be launching another exciting project, Radio UCAN at 4.15 pm in the Japan Room at the WMC followed by a performance on the Glanfa Stage. Radio UCAN has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund andis a partnership project with RNIB Cymru and RNIB’s INSIGHT Radio Station. 

We hope to see you there, it will be fun!  If you require any further information please contact Jane Latham at ucan.productions@ntlworld.com

Find out what our amazing Junior Chairman Lloyd Colman has been up to recently and listen to his interviews

Read what the Mail on Sunday has to say about Lloyd.

Lloyd’s article in the South Wales Echo

Listen to Lloyd on the BBC

Well done Lloyd you continue to be an inspiration to all of us!

X Factor Concerts

The lovely manager of the Cardiff International Arena offered UCAN members the opportunity to attend the X Factor Concerts.  ‘It was fantastic, we were treated like real VIP’s we even had our own private box’.  A massive thanks to the CIA from all who attended.