On Saturday 15th May we will be re-staging Breaking the Wall as part of the Unity Festival at Sherman Cymru in Cardiff. We will be performing alongside the Disability Arts Cymru performance of Remote Exit and to buy tickets, please go to www.shermancymru.co.uk/performance/unity-festival/remote-exit-unity
We hope to see you there!
Breaking the Wall was the centre piece of the 2012 UCAN Perform Festival. This performance was the culmination of an extraordinary Cultural Olympiad Journey when UCAN Productions Junior Chairman, Lloyd Coleman, who was 17 years old at the time, was asked to write a large-scale orchestral work in celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The resulting work, Breaking the Wall, was performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in March 2012. Using this inspirational score and narrative, UCAN Productions, under the direction of Artistic Director Bernard Latham, has created a dramatic representation of the story of Pheidippides, which was performed by highly talented blind and partially sighted young people from across Wales. Lloyd has been the Junior Chairman of UCAN Productions since its launch in 2005 and is currently studying composition at the Royal Academy of Music. As a young man who has both visual and hearing impairments, Lloyd continues to inspire us all. Breaking the Wall is part of the ‘Whose Flame is it Anyway?’, a project led by Disability Arts Cymru, which is part of Power of the Flame, a distinctive and unique contribution from Wales to the Cultural Olympiad, led by the Arts Council of Wales. -------- Music by Lloyd Coleman, words by Giles Abbott and choreography by Alys Jenkins. Performed by members of UCAN Productions, directed by Bernard Latham. The soundtrack is provided by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Nicholas Collon. Websites: www.ucanproductions.org www.lloydcoleman.co.uk
Breaking the Wall was the centre piece of the 2012 UCAN Perform Festival and the performance is now available to watch online (please see above). The performance was the culmination of an extraordinary Cultural Olympiad journey when UCAN Productions Junior Chairman, Lloyd Coleman, was asked to write a large-scale orchestral work in celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The resulting work, Breaking the Wall, was performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in March 2012.
Using this inspirational score and narrative, UCAN Productions, under the direction of Artistic Director Bernard Latham, has created a dramatic representation of the story of Pheidippides, which was performed by highly talented blind and partially sighted young people from across Wales.
Lloyd has been the Junior Chairman of UCAN Productions since its launch in 2005 and is currently studying composition at the Royal Academy of Music. As a young man who has both visual and hearing impairments, Lloyd continues to inspire us all.
Breaking the Wall is part of the ‘Whose Flame is it Anyway?’, a project led by Disability Arts Cymru, which is part of Power of the Flame, a distinctive and unique contribution from Wales to the Cultural Olympiad, led by the Arts Council of Wales.
Music by Lloyd Coleman, words by Giles Abbott and choreography by Alys Jenkins. Performed by members of UCAN Productions, directed by Bernard Latham. The soundtrack is provided by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Nicholas Collon.
To learn more about Lloyd please go to: lloydcoleman.co.uk
Dr Iwan Machreth Morris and his daughter Rhian Morris lost someone very close to them on Christmas morning. Haf Morris was Iwan’s sister and Rhian’s aunt. They got in touch with UCAN Productions just after Christmas to tell us they wished to donate all the collection money at the funeral to UCAN Productions because of all the work Haf had done with children and music her whole life. Please read a little about Haf Morris below.
UCAN Productions wish to thank Iwan and Rhian Morris and all those who generously donated at Haf’s funeral. These funds will go towards purchasing Ukulele’s, which will be known as ‘The Haf Morris Ukulele’s’. UCAN Productions will develop a recording to enable blind or visually impaired children to learn to play the Ukulele and hold Ukulele workshops. The remaining funds will be donated to UCAN Volunteer Georgina Lucas, a student Optometrist, who is planning to visit Malawi in September 2013 where she will assist with testing the sight of African children and supplying them with prescription glasses.
‘Haf was the first of three children born in Aberangell, the Dovey Valley, to Huw and Laura Morris, the village headmaster and his wife. Following her local Primary education and Secondary school in Dr Williams’s, Dolgellau, she attended the University of Wales College, Cardiff, where she graduated amongst many of Wales’s prime musicians. For some time she was a Music teacher at Llangefni, Anglesey and progressed on to Sir Thomas Jones School in Amlwch in the same county where she stayed until she retired. She was praised many times for her high standards, her determination and her skill in dealing with adults as well as children. She taught many child or other in how to enjoy music as well as perform, and for many years, she was a keen and skilful adjudicator on all aspects and genre of music, especially on the most Welsh of all styles, namely to present words on a countermelody to accompaniment – be it harp or other. (Cerdd Dant or Canu Pennillion). Indeed, she was generally accepted as one of the chief exponents of this art, and the tribute published in the Liverpool Daily Post on the occasion of her death declared her the ‘Queen of Cerdd Dant’. She served on all forms of committees or in some society or other that would promote music throughout Anglesey and beyond, and many of these will miss her badly, because her contributions were so enthusiastically huge in many ways. Haf was honoured with the Sir T. H. Parry Williams medal in 2009 for her life’s work with children and the people of Wales in her specialist field. She would be very pleased to see the UCAN Productions success as well as the children and young people with visual impairments and other associated disabilities in Wales being given a chance to understand and perform music publicly and on stage.’
Rhodd i UCAN Producitons, er cof am Haf Morris
Collodd Dr Iwan Machreth Morris a’i ferch Rhian Morris rhywun agos iawn iddynt ar fore Nadolig. Haf Morris – chwaer i Iwan a modryb i Rhian. Cysylltodd Iwan â UCAN Productions ar ôl y Nadolig i ddweud wrthym eu bod yn dymuno i roi holl arian casgliad yr angladd i UCAN Productions oherwydd yr holl waith oedd Haf wedi ei wneud gyda phlant a cherddoriaeth ar hyd ei bywyd. Darllenwch ychydig am Haf Morris isod.
Hoffai UCAN Productions ddiolch i Dr Iwan Morris a’i ferch Rhian a phawb a gyfrannodd yn hael yn yr angladd. Bydd y cronfeydd hyn yn mynd tuag at brynu Ukuleles, a fydd yn cael ei adnabod fel ‘Ukuleles Haff Morris’. Bydd UCAN Productions yn datblygu cyfarwyddiadau i alluogi plant dall neu â nam ar eu golwg i ddysgu chwarae’r Ukulele a chynnal gweithdai Ukulele. Bydd yr arian sy’n weddill yn cael ei roi i un o Wirfoddolwyr UCAN, Georgina Lucas, sydd yn fyfyriwr Optometrydd, sy’n bwriadu ymweld â Malawi ym mis Medi 2013, lle bydd hi’n cynorthwyo gyda phrofi golwg plant Affricanaidd ac yn eu cyflenwi gyda sbectol bresgripsiwn.
‘Ganed Haf yn Aberangell, Dyffryn Dyfi yn blentyn cyntaf i Huw a Laura Morris, y prifathro lleol a’i wraig. Wedi ei addysgu yn lleol ac yna yn ysgol Dr Williams yn Nolgellau trodd am y Brifysgol yng Nghaerdydd ble y graddiodd ymysg llawer o enwogion cerddoriaeth Cymru. Bu’n athrawes Gerdd yn Llangefni ac yna aeth ymlaen i Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, Amlwch nes bu iddi orffen ei gyrfa athro ysgol. Fe’i canmolwyd sawl gwaith am ei safonau, ei dycnwch a’i gallu ymysg ieuenctid ac oedolion. Dysgodd lawer un, blentyn neu arall i fwynhau Cerddoriaeth yn ogystal â pherfformio, a bu yn feiniad crâff a galluog ar bob math a steil o gerdd – yn enwedig ar y ffurf fwyaf Cymreig o gyflwyno cerdd ar gyfalaw, sef Cerdd Dant, neu ganu Pennillion. Yn wir, fe’i derbyniwyd fel un o’r prif arbenigwyr yn y maes hwn, ac mae’r deyrnged gylwynwyd yn y Daily Post ar achlysur ei marwolaeth yn ei chyfrif fel ‘Brenhines Cerdd Dant’. ‘Roedd ar bob math o bwyllgor neu gymdeithas a hyrwyddai gerddoriaeth drwy Sir Fon ac ymhellach dros Gymru, a bydd llawer o’r rhain yn ei cholli’n arw o’u mysg, gan fod ei chyfraniad mor fawr a brwdfrydig mewn sawl ffordd. Cafodd Haf ei anrhydeddu gyda Medal Syr T.H Parry Williams yn 2009 am ei oes o waith dros blant a phobl Cymru yn ei maes. Buasai wrth ei bodd yn gweld llwyddiant UCAN Productions, a’r ieuenctid a amhariaeth gweld yn cael siawns i ddeall a phefformio cerddoriaeth yn gyhoeddus ac ar lwyfan.’
UCAN Productions held their annual UCAN Perform Festival, kindly hosted by the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay on Tuesday 17 July 2012.
Over 100 people attended with children travelling from all over Wales to be a part of the Festival and over 20 volunteers came along to help. You will see from some of the photos below the children and young people enjoying themselves in some of the workshops the UCAN Trainers ran throughout the day, there was Drama and Percussion, Jewellery making, Ukulele and a Circus workshop. Paddy The Clown put on a wonderful, funny performance over lunch on the Glanfa Stage for all to enjoy.
The centre piece of this year’s Festival however was the Breaking the Wall performance which was held in the Weston Studio. This was a culmination of an extraordinary Cultural Olympiad Journey2009 when UCAN Productions Junior Chairman, Lloyd Coleman, who was 17 years old at the time, was asked to write a large-scale orchestral work in celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The resulting work, Breaking the Wall, was performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in March 2012.
Using this inspirational score and narrative, UCAN Productions, under the direction of Artistic Director Bernard Latham, has created a dramatic representation of the story of Pheidippides, which was performed by highly talented blind and partially sighted young people from across Wales.
Lloyd has been the Junior Chairman of UCAN Productions since its launch in 2005 and is currently studying composition at the Royal Academy of Music. As a young man who has both visual and hearing impairments, Lloyd continues to inspire us all.
Breaking the Wall is part of the ‘Whose Flame is it Anyway?’, a project led by Disability Arts Cymru, which is part of Power of the Flame, a distinctive and unique contribution from Wales to the Cultural Olympiad, led by the Arts Council of Wales.
Thanks go to our funders for helping us hold the UCAN Festival:
Reach The Heights, European Social Fund, Welsh Government, Arts Council of Wales, Legal & General and The Legacy Trust Lottery
