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Culture Wales celebrates its Celtic heritage at numerous Eisteddfod festivals around the country. The Royal National Eisteddfod is the largest festival of competitive music-making and poetry writing in Europe and will be held in Denbigh, North Wales in 2001 (4-11 August). Cardiff is the cultural capital of Wales with top-quality venues, including the Oval Basin, an open-air auditorium next to Mermaid Quay, which is designed for concerts and special events. Music: The male voice choir is an internationally acclaimed symbol of Welsh pride. Local exponents include the Cardiff Male Choir and Côr Meibion De Cymru (South Wales Male Choir). The latter is the largest male choir in Wales (website: www.south-wales-mvc.demon.co.uk). St David's Hall is the national concert hall for Wales and Cardiff's main music venue, and plays host to the biannual Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Competitors in previous years include the world-famous baritone, Bryn Terfel, in 1989. The hall is also the performance home of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales (tel: (0800) 052 1812). St David's Hall is located at The Hayes (tel: (029) 2087 8444, box office or 2087 8420, recorded information). The Welsh National Opera (tel: (029) 2046 4666) performs at the New Theatre (see Theatre and dance section). The company will soon be based at the Wales Millennium Arts Centre - a major new cultural venue with seating for 2000 spectators. Theatre and dance: The New Theatre (tel: (029) 2087 8889 (box office); fax: (029) 2087 8880) was founded in 1906 and completely refurbished in the 1980s. It is now the number-one venue in Wales for touring theatre and dance companies and is, for the time being, the home of the Welsh National Opera. Companies playing there in recent years have included the Royal National Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru and the Northern Ballet Theatre. The Sherman Theatre has a resident company and hosts national and international tour groups in its main and studio theatres. It is located at Senghennydd Road (tel: (029) 2064 6900 (box office); fax: (029) 2064 6902). Film: Mainstream films can be seen at the Capitol Odeon, Monico and the multiplex cinemas at UCI, Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff Bay and Showcase at Nantgarw north of the city. The Chapter Arts Centre screens independent and alternative films at its centre in Canton and at its cinema, The Globe, in Roath. Films set in Cardiff range from the 1959 classic Tiger Bay, directed by J Lee Thompson and starring Hayley and John Mills, to Human Traffic (1999), Justin Kerrigan's portrayal of one wild weekend in Cardiff. Poetry: Maintaining the longstanding oral tradition in Wales, Sampler (tel: (029) 2048 4663; e-mail: sampler@poetic.com; website: www.sampler-poetry.freeuk.com) organises poetry readings and other events in Cardiff. The Academi, the Welsh national literature promotion agency (tel: (029) 2047 2266; e-mail: post@academi.org; website: www.academi.org), also organises a large number of poetry events, workshops and classes in and around the capital. Cultural Events: Cardiff Singer of the World, takes place 10th -16th June at St David's Hall (tel: (012) 2287 8500, box office). Competitors in previous years include the world-famous baritone, Bryn Terfel, in 1989. Mid July sees the Welsh Proms, St David's Hall (details from box office). North Wales is also home to the Royal National Eisteddfod, (tel: (017) 4581 8900 website: www.eisteddfod.org.uk), the largest festival of competitive music-making and poetry writing in Europe, to be held in Denbigh, North Wales between August 4-11. Literary Notes The most famous writer from Cardiff is Roald Dahl, who was born in Llandaff in 1916 and whose autobiography Boy (1984) touches upon his early years in the city. Dannie Abse was also born in Cardiff, as the title of his autobiography, There Was a Young Man from Cardiff (1991) suggests. Novels set in Cardiff city include River Out of Eden (1951) by Jack Jones, Glass Shot (1991) by Duncan Bush, and Cardiff Dead (2000) by John Williams. The late R S Thomas, one of Wales' greatest poets, was born in the city, although his later concerns were generally elsewhere. The poets Peter Finch (Useful, 1997 and Food, 2001) and Gwyneth Lewis (Zero Gravity, 1998) both hail from - and still live in - Cardiff. |