THERE is nothing like getting lost in a good book.
So says Joanna Harries, one of Opera Prelude’s Young Artists, who will be giving a lecture recital on the subject of books and opera in Henley next week.
The mezzo-soprano was born in New Zealand and raised in South Wales and has been a bookworm as far back as she can remember.
She recalls: “I was the kid who was trying to read under the bed covers and not show that my light was on, reading way past my bedtime.
“I used to go to the library and I would try to read the books on the way home. My mum would be like, ‘Pay attention to where you’re going, look at the road!’
“I briefly studied English at university, before switching to music, so I have a long-held interest in books and words. Sometimes the world of a book is just much better than real life.”
Joanna, a recent graduate of the National Opera Studio, is making her debut in the 2022/2023 season with Opera Rara and the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Finocchini in Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde, Contessa Ceprano in Rigoletto for Opera Holland Park and Lucinda in La forza dell’amor paterno for the Barber Opera.
So how do you turn a novel into an opera? “It’s quite a big task to undertake but I think it’s really interesting to do,” she says. “They’re two quite different types of art. Opera is a collective, communal experience, whereas reading is a solitary, personal experience.
“They’re quite different but it’s interesting seeing how one story transmutes across. How do you keep the same feel even though it’s a completely different format? Inevitably there’s change. You’ve got to cut things and decide what to focus on.
“One of the big questions which I think is really interesting is if you’re turning a character from a novel into a character from an opera, what does that character sound like in song? Do they have a high or low voice? When we’re reading, we have such strong visual images of characters.” Joanna will be talking about adaptations of tales such as Little Women, Mansfield Park, Great Expectations, Alice in Wonderland and Robinson Crusoe.
She particularly enjoyed Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel.
“One of my favourite childhood books was Little Women, partly because there’s a character called Jo, who is a bookworm and doesn’t want to marry, or at least didn’t initially.
“She’s very forthright in her opinions and I was like, ‘oh, it’s me!’ There’s something about recognising yourself in a book.”
Joanna says her lecture recital will be a relaxing and uplifting event.
“There will be live music as I’ll be singing in-between things and I do some nice colourful slides. And did I mention that there’s tea and cake during the coffee break?
“The last one I did, I had several people come up to me afterwards saying they were new to opera. If you get the chance, anyone who hasn’t been to an opera should just go.”
• From bookshelf to opera stage — the classic novels transformed into operas with Joanna Harries is at Christ Church, Reading Road, Henley, next Friday (September 30) from 11am to 1pm. Tickets cost £30. For more information and to buy tickets, see operaprelude.org
Serious allegations have been aired during multiple inquiries into Australia’s largest casino groups.
Key points:
Star Entertainment has until tomorrow to ‘”show cause” about why it should not lose its NSW casino licence
Star and Crown Resorts have been exposed for a long list of breaches of the law, particularly with money laundering
State and federal regulators have indicated they do not intend to pursue individual casino executives
Crown Resorts was found in the Bergin inquiry to have facilitated money laundering and partnered with operators that had links to organised crime.
Star Entertainment was found in another inquiry to have let patrons use credit cards to move money for gambling out of China, disguising the payments as ‘hotel expenses’ and sending false documents to banks.
But no single staff member, executive or board director of either Crown Resorts or Star Entertainment has faced a civil or criminal sanction.
Corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and regulators in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have not laid charges — and are unlikely to do so.
“It’s really extraordinary that no individual has been held accountable,” said Dr Charles Livingstone, one of the nation’s foremost gambling researchers.
Monash University associate professor Charles Livingstone is scathing of our casino regulation:(Supplied: Monash University)
Dr Livingstone holds strong views about individual culpability.
“Clearly, individuals have been complicit in these companies’ breaches of regulation, Australian law, state law and, in some cases, international law, and haven’t been held to account.
“So it’s hard to know what you would have to do to be held accountable”
In the findings of his inquiry, Adam Bell SC didn’t hold back, describing misconduct at The Star as “dysfunctional”, “deceptive”, and “brazenly misleading”.
According to Mr Bell, The Star facilitated money laundering, ignored warnings about links to criminals, treated the gaming regulator with disdain and misled one of the big four banks.
Chief executive for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Carol Bennett, is appalled by what looks like a lack of consequences for individuals at the companies.
Carol Bennett is the chief executive of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. (ABC News: Tamara Penniket)
“We want to see accountability when it comes to significant breaches of the regulations, and certainly criminal sanctions when there is criminal activity occurring in these venues,” she says.
“I can’t imagine another sector where we would see these kinds of breaches and criminal activity occurring where there would be no consequences. Absolutely none.”
Explosive revelations by 60 Minutes and Four Corners woke up state governments that had slumbered through repeated warnings about the criminal infiltration of Australian casinos.
The extensive allegations led to two royal commissions and two inquiries in three states.
The Star in Sydney made $832 million profit in the 2021 financial year, a fall of 30 per cent due to COVID.(ABC News: Jason Om)
The recent inquiries have found Crown Resorts unsuitable to operate casinos in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. Under new ownership, Crown Resorts operates casinos in each of these states.
No charges have been brought
WA’s regulator, the Gaming and Wagering Commission, is still reviewing the findings and recommendations of the Perth Casino Royal Commission. In a statement, it noted there will be no charges against individuals.
“The … final report does not identify findings against individuals that at this stage contain sufficient evidence for prosecution to be mounted under the existing regulatory arrangements,” it says.
In a statement, NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) chief commissioner Philip Crawford said new laws meant the commission could hit casino operators with fines of up to $100 million, 10 times the previous maximum.
Philip Crawford says casino licences can be cancelled, suspended or amended to put in a special manager.(AAP: Paul Braven)
But the legislation has a lot of caveats. It doesn’t allow for “disciplinary penalties” to be dished out to former board members, staff or executives.
“There is no express provision in the act for disciplinary action to be taken against a former close associate,” Mr Crawford said.
So, anyone in trouble needs to simply quit their job at the casino and the problem disappears, a fact that goes some way to explaining this statement from Mr Crawford:
“To date, no civil or criminal action has been taken against individual former directors or executives in relation to casino inquiries.”
Victorian regulator’s shortcoming exposed
The shortcomings of the regulator in Victoria — where Crown operates one of the largest casinos in the world — were exposed at its royal commission.
Managers at Crown Resorts misled, threatened and pushed back against Victoria’s gaming regulator when it tried to get the company to tighten anti-money laundering protocols, at one stage even threatening to call the state’s gaming minister, the inquiry heard.
Crown Casino’s precinct on the Yarra River in Melbourne is the largest “single site” employer in the state, with thousands of staff servicing three hotels and a gambling floor that is one of the world’s biggest. (ABC News: Darryl Torpy)
The regulator was disbanded and replaced by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission. The VGCCC has already used its power to impose larger penalties, hitting the casino with a $80 million fine for a scheme that shifted money from China and broke both Chinese and Victorian laws.
Deputy chief executive Scott May said that under Victorian laws, staff, executives and board members of Crown need to be of “good repute, having regard to character, honesty and integrity”.
He declined to point to a single individual or investigation, citing the need for strict confidentiality. But in his statement, he noted the same quirk of law that exists in NSW: quit your job and you’re probably fine.
“During the course of our investigations there was significant change in key staff at the Melbourne casino, which resulted in resignations. Where this occurs, those persons are no longer associated with the casino, surrender their casino special employee licences and cannot be associated with the casino.”
If those staff wanted to be re-employed by the new owners they would need to be approved by the regulator with “rigorous probity assessments which would consider any information concerning the person identified during previous inquiries”.
ASIC investigating
In a statement, the corporate watchdog ASIC confirmed an investigation into The Star and its board commenced in March 2022.
“ASIC has been closely following the inquiry into The Star as well as carefully considering the evidence before it, its findings and The Star’s response to those findings. ASIC’s investigation into The Star continues, and therefore ASIC will not be commenting further on this matter at this time,” the statement said.
In March, the regulator’s chair Joe Longo said dropping charges against 10 unnamed former Crown directors and senior executives was the “right call”.
“I think we made the right call on Crown,” he told a meeting of governance experts, reported in the Australian Financial Review.
“The evidence, the age of the matter, the knowledge of the directors at the time and in all the circumstances there wasn’t an actionable case against the directors.”
Casino bigwigs in court
That’s not to say that associates of casinos haven’t seen the inside of court rooms.
Corporate watchdog ASIC wanted Crown director Harold Mitchell fined and banned from being a company director after it accused him of breaching his director’s duties and other offences under the Corporations Act during a negotiation for broadcast rights for Tennis Australia.
Former Crown Resorts board member Harold Mitchell leaving Federal Court in November 2019 during the hearing about the awarding of Australian Open TV broadcast rights.(AAP: Julian Smith)
But in the 2020 civil penalty proceedings, Justice Jonathan Beach found for the media mogul and philanthropist, except on one point of contravening the Corporations Act.
While other bodies such as state-based police forces may take action against individuals, gambling regulation experts view this as unlikely.
The only real prospect of danger for any casino associates who are alleged to have facilitated money-laundering is financial crimes agency AUSTRAC.
The body works to stop criminal groups from “washing” ill-gotten gains to look like legitimate earnings, and to prevent the financing of terrorist groups.
In 2018, the Commonwealth Bank was hit with a $700 million fine for money laundering reporting breaches.
After imposing a $700 million fine on the nation’s biggest bank, AUSTRAC’s Nicole Rose has the attention of every CEO in Australia.(Twitter @AUSTRAC)
That was topped in 2020 by a mammoth $1.3 billion fine for Westpac after more than 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering laws, including facilitating hundreds of customers whose money transfer behaviour exhibited tell-tale signs of engaging in overseas child exploitation.
AUSTRAC is investigating SkyCity Adelaide and the Star Group, and in March it launched Federal Court proceedings against Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth.
The civil penalty proceedings are over “alleged serious and systemic non-compliance” with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.
AUSTRAC boss Nicole Rose said Crown failed to meet its obligations, saying that made it and Australia’s financial system vulnerable to criminal exploitation.
“AUSTRAC’s investigation identified poor governance, risk management and failures,” she said.
So far, no individuals have faced prosecution over the failings.
Coonan accused of re-writing history
The most substantial penalty has been paid by staff who have stepped down or resigned from executive roles and board positions. There has been extensive turnover at both Crown and Star. Crown has new owners and is no longer listed on the stock exchange.
Former Crown Resorts chair and Howard government minister Helen Coonan spoke to The Australian earlier this year, appearing to be seeking to vindicate her position.
“I paid my dues,” she told Tansy Harcourt, explaining the tumultuous period.
“The easiest thing for me to do would have been to walk away and not take on the whole remediation of Crown, which was a super serious experience, but I had the courage of my convictions”.
Helen Coonan replaced Ken Barton during Crown’s searches for a new CEO.(Supplied: Crown Resorts)
Ms Coonan was on the board for a decade, was chair of the board and took over the role of chief executive in early 2021 after then-CEO Ken Barton stepped down when the Bergin Inquiry found the company was “unsuitable” to have a casino licence in New South Wales.
Ms Coonan had conceded in her evidence to the Bergin inquiry that Crown had facilitated money laundering, but put it down to “ineptitude”.
The company was subject to the NSW inquiry and royal commissions in Victoria and Western Australia and multiple takeover bids, at the same time as dealing with the building of its Sydney casino and the COVID pandemic.
“Nobody remembers who the individuals are out there, day after day, trying to bail water out of a difficult vessel,” Ms Coonan said.
In the article, this interpretation was described by an unnamed board member as farcical.
“It’s about being revisionist and that’s just bullshit … being on the board as long as she was, makes her part of the problem.”
Ms Coonan denied that in the article.
“This was a board where information was withheld by senior management on material matters – and you can’t know what you don’t know,” she said.
A pub landlord attempting to stop Britain from running out of Nigels staged a festival for men with the name – and hundreds turned up.
Nigel Smith, 59, held Nige-fest last night – gathering hundreds of Nigels from all over the world together for a pint. The entertainment was provided by musicians called Nigel, and attendees brought photo ID and signed the “the book of Nigel” kept at the Fleece Inn, in Bretforton, Worcs.
Nigel came up with the idea after the name became officially extinct according to new birth records in 2016 and 2020. The landlord broke the world record for the largest gathering of Nigels after 432 joined him for a pint in 2019.
He was hoping to break his own record last night – but this year, 372 Nigels turned up for an evening of Nigel-themed refreshment. The oldest Nigel in attendance was an 84-year-old who came from America for the event. The youngest Nigel was in his 30s.
Others travelled from Los Angeles, Florida and Texas to Nicaragua, Zimbabwe and Spain. Entertainment was provided by other Nigels – two DJs, an MC, a comedian, a busker, and even a group of Morris dancers all called Nigel as well. The second ever ‘Nigel Night’ raised more than £3,000 for British Heart Foundation. Pub landlord Nigel plans to host it again in 2025.
Eight Nigels with the same surname Smith
Nigel said: “It was absolutely brilliant. We had a fantastic time. It was like we all had known each other forever, but obviously we didn’t. It was a great feeling of all of us getting together and celebrating our Nigel-ness. Times are pretty difficult at the moment for many of us so it was great to be able to get together for a party. We just had a jolly fine time.
“Tradition is something you do twice, that’s the rule, and we shall do it again. I think we’re encouraged enough to say every two to three years, we’ll do it again, definitely. We had people from all over coming to the event. Our friend from Texas – Texas Nigel – came for the second time, only to be joined by another Texas Nigel.
“One Nigel came from the Isle of Wight so we had to give him an award for the longest travelled Nigel in the UK. People who came this time heard about us three years ago and put it in their diaries.
“We were running shuttle buses from our local town and hotels so that all the Nigels who had travelled were able to get here and perhaps enjoy a beer or two and not have to drive home. We had a 14-week-old puppy called Nigel as well, which was nice – but he didn’t say very much!
“We are uniting Nigels from all across the world, and we would like to reach out to and invite all Nigels – and all non-Nigels – to come along and join us next time in 2025.”
Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel (Image: GETTY)
“I cut my teeth learning the bass-baritone repertoire on my dad’s tractor as he brought the hay in,” the affable Welshman tells me. “Me and my brother Ian would quarrel for the tractor seat so dad made a rota system and when it was my turn, I had my cassettes and I stuck them on.”
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At 6ft 3in, Bryn is a big man with a bigger heart and so much natural warmth his laugh could boil the seaweed for your laverbread. He’s in Paris when I call, after performing with conductor Gustavo Dudamel at the Opera Bastille, but the star never forgets his humble roots, nor the debt he owes to Welsh culture.
His incredible musical odyssey began years before his teenage tractor sessions, on the Eisteddfod circuit.
“I was three years old in my little sandals and shorts,” recalls Bryn, 56. “I am a child of that web of finding and nurturing talent.”
Once he started singing as a boy soprano in the national Eisteddfod, it felt, he says, “like breaching the heights of Everest – I was a young kid winning everywhere”.
Simon Keenlyside as Ford and Bryn Terfel as Sir John Falstaff in Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff (Image: GETTY)
His parents hired a local recording studio to capture his voice. “On that day I was finding it difficult to hit the high notes, and the next day my voice broke. I was distraught! I could have been Aled Jones before Aled Jones!”
It could have killed his career. Instead, it was a new beginning to an unorthodox Grammy-winning journey that would see him singing World In Union with Dame Shirley Bassey, duetting with Sir Tom Jones on Green Green Grass Of Home and performing for Sting and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
Sir Bryn’s voice works just as well in musical theatre as it does in opera – as his nine-date Songs & Arias tour, starting on Saturday, will remind us.
“I’m doing four concerts with an orchestra – one of them in Wales, which my parents are coming to – and all the rest with my wife [harpist Hannah] and a pianist [Annabel Thwait].
“My piano is still full of scores,” he adds. “I’m mulling over what to include. There will definitely be Fiddler On The Roof, Welsh folk songs, operatic arias…”
Sir Bryn Terfel after he was knighted for services to music by Queen Elizabeth II (Image: GETTY)
Opera purists might baulk at the eclectic mix but he insists, “If you sing them well, all are enjoyable as each other. It’s a palette – I love the different colours.”
The first music Bryn remembers was at church on Sunday mornings where his parents sang in the choir. Older brother Ian introduced him to the decidedly less spiritual sounds of Pink Floyd, Queen and Dire Straits – “the first concert I went to was Mark Knopfler at an ice rink, our feet were so cold we had to dance,” he laughs.
Bryn recalls driving his earliest car, a Ford Escort Mk 1, around Snowdonia with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody blasting away on the basic stereo as he boomed out the “Scaramouche fandango”.
His great classical inspiration was the late bass-baritone Sir Geraint Evans “who ploughed the way for the next generation, at home, in Europe and across the Atlantic; he was on a pedestal without a doubt.”
Bryn Terfel performs as Prince Charles and Camilla attend a Gala Concert at The Royal Opera House (Image: GETTY)
Moving to London at 18, Bryn spent five years at the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama where he was tutored by Arthur Reckless (billed as ‘A. Reckless, Baritone’) who had also trained Sir Geraint.
After graduating, he won the Lieder Prize at the Cardiff Singer Of The World competition.
In 1988, Evans presented him with one of the biggest Eisteddfod prizes and added a gift of his own by ringing Hungarian conductor, Sir Georg Solti and suggesting he audition the farmer’s son.
“I went to his home in London, he had more Grammys than I’d ever seen, Oscars…and he gave me a part immediately, as Antonio in The Marriage Of Figaro. I jumped at the chance. I cracked the nut because of one man’s passion.”
Andrea Bocelli (L) and Sir Bryn Terfel (Image: GETTY)
Terfel found himself working with magnificent European singers, “I felt like a little mouse in a big zoo filled with lions, tigers and bears…”
Initially he concentrated on Mozart – Figaro, Leporello, and Don Giovani – but proved equally adept as Verdi’s Falstaff, Puccini’s villainous Scarpia and Sondheim’s demon barber, Sweeney Todd.
He then moved on to heavier Wagnerian roles; most memorably as Wotan in Das Rheingold leading the gods across the rainbow bridge to Valhalla.
What were his greatest highs? “When Bocelli did the concert in Central Park, New York, I was guest soloist,” he recalls. Impressed, Sting asked if he’d sing a Police number at his 60th birthday bash. “I said, what would I sing?”
The answer was Roxanne tango style from Moulin Rouge – Sting repaid the favour four years later, duetting with Terfel for his 50th at the Royal Albert Hall in 2015.
Bryn recorded Roger Waters’s opera, Ca Ira – “It was incredible to have him by my side knowing my brother was sat at home tearing his hair out knowing I was working with one of his idols.”
Other highlights include performing Sweeney Todd with Dame Emma Thompson – “a highly intellectual bundle of fun” – in New York and at the London Coliseum.
High culture is riddled with the same problems as low culture, however. “Things always malfunction. People trip over sets – I trip over sets all the time. Last night I kicked a piece of furniture. You get very passionate on stage.”
He fractured an ankle slipping on a wet pavement in Bilbao in 2020.
Away from music, Terfel’s great loves include Red Devils Manchester United, fine wine, and Cymru of course – he is so Welsh that if you cut him, he’d bleed dragon blood.
Richard Burton is a hero, his favourite author is Islwyn Ffowc Elis and he has collected Sir Kyffin Williams’s art for decades, buying his first, Farmer, Blaen Nantmor, at auction for more than £5,000 and then realising “It would take thirty concerts to pay for it.”
Born Bryn Terfel Jones in Pantglas, he lost the Jones to avoid confusion with baritone Delme Bryn-Jones. Terfel is pronounced Ter-vel.
Welsh is his mother tongue. If he hadn’t become a singer he’d have been, “A fireman,” he replies instantly. “I was obsessed with becoming a fireman or a radio sports commentator. They were my plan Bs.
“I’ve had a couple of back operations because of working on raised stages so I think my career as a fireman wouldn’t have lasted very long.
“My dad got up at 5.30am every day. Farming is hard work. Lambing, crops, keeping the dry-stone walls in pristine condition…He had his porridge before we were even thinking of getting dressed for school.”
Sir Bryn Terfel tees off on the 14th during the BMW PGA Championship Pro-AM at Wentworth (Image: GETTY)
Bryn lives in Penarth, south Wales, has three grown-up sons from his first marriage and daughter Lili and son Alffi from his second. He met wife Hannah, once official harpist to the Prince of Wales, while filming a TV special; they wed in 2019.
Terfel’s work calendar is booked for the next three years. “No matter how hard you shake that money tree you can’t stop,” he says. “I’ve had to travel a lot and lose weddings, birthdays, funerals…”
He’s eagerly awaiting the UK tour. “I’m glad audiences are coming back, and I’m looking forward to singing in places I’ve never sang before.”
And then? “Ideally, I’d like to bring my golf handicap down to single figures and I’d like somebody to write an opera with me in mind. I’d love it to be based on Citizen Kane which is Spielberg and Scorsese’s favourite film.
“That storyline would transpose beautifully onto the opera stage…”
Sir Bryn Terfel’s nine date UK tour dedicated to the world of Songs and Arias’starts on Saturday October 1. Tickets from premier.ticketek.co.uk
Kylie Minogue performs on the Pyramid Stage on day five of Glastonbury Festival in 2019. (Hussein/WireImage)
Get out of my way! Pop royalty Kylie Minogue has been confirmed as the headliner of Sydney WorldPride.
The down-under diva, and globally adored gay icon, will headline the Live and Proud: Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert, presented by American Express on 24 February, 2023.
This is the first time that WorldPride has been hosed in the Southern Hemisphere, and 45 years after the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Pride attendees can now get tickets for the opening event starring Kylie Minogue from Ticketmaster Australia.
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“YES! I’m so excited to announce that I will be performing at the opening concert in Sydney,” Kylie said in a statement. “Can’t wait to see you there!”
The event will be hosted by Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan and drag royalty Courtney Act.
The princess of pop will get the party started at alongside other acts, who will be announced later this year.
Kylie Minogue for WorldPride (Darenote Ltd)
“Kylie is not only a beloved musician and rainbow icon, but the highest selling Australian-born solo artist of all time,” said the CEO of Sydney WorldPride, Kate Wickett.
“We are honoured and INCREDIBLY excited to have Kylie again stand with our community at Sydney WorldPride 2023 – the global rainbow family reunion we’ve been waiting for.”
Kylie with fans in June in New York, New York. (MEGA/GC Images)
The New South Wales minister for toursim and minister for the arts, Ben Franklin, outlined Syndey’s plans to be the first WorldPride host south of the equator.
“Sydney is ready to host the first WorldPride in the Southern Hemisphere – we’re expecting 500,000 attendees and tens of thousands of international visitors.
“We are ready to celebrate and showcase our diverse and inclusive city to a global audience and highlight our creativity, innovation and unique natural and cultural experiences that the Harbour City is internationally renowned for.
“As the major strategic partner of Sydney WorldPride, the NSW Government welcomes the announcement of Kylie Minogue as a headline performer.”
Sydney WorldPride 2023 runs for 17 days, from 17 February to 5 March 2023 incorporating Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Tickets are available for the event now on Ticketmaster Australia.
MUNCIE, IN—Acclaimed Wales-born and London-based solo acoustic guitarist Gwenifer Raymond will be performing in a FREE concert as part of the 2022 Muncie Three Trails Music Series. The concert will take place at 7 PM on Saturday, September 24th in the E.B. Ball Auditorium at Cornerstone Center for the Arts. Lonesome With Company will be open the show.
Raymond’s specific field of solo guitar is known as “American primitive,” a term coined by acoustic guitarist John Fahey in the late 50’s to describe his own music, intended to somehow convey an ineffable and ever-evolving amalgam of influences. Although the classification may seem odd for an artist who has a PhD in astrophysics and holds down a day job as a video-game coder, Raymond embraces the label. “Fahey himself invented the term because he couldn’t think of what it was he did, right?” Raymond asks. “So in and of itself, the moniker is kind of representative of the idea that I don’t really know what it is I do, I just play instrumental guitar that has some influences from American folk music – and then a bunch of other [stuff] thrown in there.” It’s a mesmeric, meditative form of playing that, with its open tunings and air of mystery, has as much in common with Appalachian folk and the pre-war country blues of the American south as it does with Indian ragas and more modern drone-based music.
Raymond also admits to being heavily influenced by artists such as the Fall, Gang of Four, and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, whose MTV Unplugged in New York proved particularly addictive. She has taken all these forms and also added an Old Country twist, conjuring up a good dose of Welsh folkloric strangeness (make sure to check out her videos!). When she plays, her hands are a blur of motion exhibiting her awe-inducing clawhammer technique: the right hand, with thumb and fingers curled in like a claw, providing a rhythmic counterpoint to the singing, melodic storytelling work of the left. The sound she makes is so cavernous, evocative and frenetic it seems as though at least two more guitarists must be hiding somewhere in the wings. Whatever the description, it all comes together on her two long-players and in her live performances. So be prepared for a completely unique and spellbinding experience when Gwenifer Raymond takes the Cornerstone stage.
The Muncie Three Trails Music Series is a non-profit partnership between Muncie Downtown Development Partnership, Muncie Arts and Culture Council, and Rick Zeigler, series founder and organizer. The mission of the series is to bring critically acclaimed, national recording artists to perform in downtown Muncie, IN. A second mission is to promote the many recreational, artistic, and cultural attractions located along, or in close proximity to, the downtown area and Muncie’s popular “Three Trails” — The White River Greenway, Cardinal Greenway, and Muncie Arts and Culture Trail. We hope attendees will heed our slogan, “Explore the Trails, Enjoy the Music.”
Complete information about the Muncie Three Trails Music Series can be found at www.munciethreetrails.com.
Comedian Kevin Bridges has been recognised with an award for being the performer to play the most shows at the Scottish Events Campus (SEC) in Glasgow.
He is the first person to be awarded the accolade by the entertainment complex following his 16-night, sell-out, Overdue Catch-Up gigs at the OVO Hydro.
It brings his total number of performances at the entertainment venue, which comprises the Hydro, the SEC Armadillo and the SEC Centre, to 63.
Bridges was presented with a platinum artist award backstage on Thursday evening as the run nears a close.
With an incredible 6⃣3⃣ shows, @kevinbridges86 is now the artist who has performed the most shows EVER at the @SECGlasgow!
We thought it only right to present him with our first ever Platinum Artist Award in recognition of his phenomenal achievement 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/u7CXysoOx5
Debbie McWilliams, SEC’s director of Live Entertainment said: “It is always a pleasure to welcome Kevin back to the SEC, and this year more so than most as he reaches this significant milestone.
“It is fitting that homegrown talent is the recipient of our first platinum artist award. Kevin now paves the way for other artists to be recognised with this new award.”
A green wall and vine feature from Evergreen Walls added the final touches to a newly built home in Bella Vista, New South Wales, helping bring the outdoor entertainment area to life.
Evergreen Walls’ Classic Boxwood was installed on two sides of the exterior of the sauna walls and door. Additional vines and bushes were wrapped around baton pots within the alfresco area to add a touch of maintenance-free greenery.
THE 80th Golden Globes are due to take place in 2023 and the exact date has now been revealed and the ceremony’s organising body has reiterated its commitment to increase diversity.
Returning to the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, the landmark show is scheduled to take place on January 10, 2023.
According to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), US networks NBC and Peacock will broadcast the event.
A muted ceremony took place earlier this year after the HFPA faced heavy criticism over diversity issues within the organisation.
Periodic updates from the Golden Globes website and official social media accounts replaced the typically star-studded and joke-filled event.
The HFPA announced that the upcoming show next year would see the organisation make greater efforts to diversify its voting pool.
Recently, international-based voters became part of the voting pool for the first time with 103 new voters now added to the HFPA’s ranks.
The voting body is now represented by 62 different countries around the world.
Combined with the current HFPA membership, the total Golden Globe Awards voting body is now 52 per cent female, 51.5 per cent racially and ethnically diverse, with 19.5 per cent Latinx, 12 per cent Asian, 10 per cent Black and 10 per cent Middle Eastern, the HFPA said.
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“We are thrilled to announce the return of the Golden Globe Awards on NBC and to hosting the ‘Party of the Year’ for audiences around the world who have been waiting for its return,” said Helen Hoehne, President of the HFPA.
“It’s great to be back at the Beverly Hilton for the must-see celebration recognizing the best in film and television.
“The HFPA remains committed to important changes and supporting programs that prioritize diversity, inclusion, and transparency.”
“We recognise the HFPA’s commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th Anniversary in January 2023,” added Frances Berwick, chairman, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
Nominees for the Golden Globes 2023 will be announced on December 12 with the ceremony taking place on January 10, 2023 from 1am UK time.
AMMANFORD’s Big Weekend is taking place this weekend.
The event was due to take place earlier this month, however, was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
It will take place at Parc Rhydaman on Friday, September 23 and Saturday, September 24 with a wide range of events taking place.
On Friday, the Elvis movie will be shown in the park and an adult only party in the park will be taking place from 6.30pm to midnight. P’tchaeow will be performing.
Saturday will begin with the return of the parade, which will kick off the family fun day. The parade will begin at 10.30am, meeting outside Home Bargains on Quay Street before making its way to the top of Quay Street and into the park at 11am.
The park will open at 11am with live music and entertainment throughout the day from Bloco Vale Samba Band, children’s entertainer Crazy Clayton, RESPECT Party Band, Rhys Morgan Soloist, Noel James, The Rock Project, Chip Shop Gravy Band and West End To You.
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Encanto will be shown in the park on Saturday evening and there will also be the results of the costume competition.
Also on during the fun day is a giant obstacle course, inflatable slide and bouncy castle.
There will be family activities including craft stalls, pottery painting, glitter tattoos, face painting, have a go sports, forest woodland activities, clay modelling and the chance to see a real life fire engine.
Snacks including Nachos and popcorn and other American style food will be available from Wild Puppy Snack Shack and Celtic Laser Tag will be on site.
Pembrokeshire Pony Parties will be bringing some of their party ponies and furry friends to the event.
by Staff
