The Gesualdo Six, one of Britain’s foremost a cappella ensembles, will return to North Wales to perform at the North Wales International Music Festival on Friday 11 September, days after they are scheduled to take part in the BBC Proms.
Programme and venue
The concert at St Asaph Cathedral will feature music drawn from the group’s latest album, Wishing Tree, presenting a programme that stretches across 500 years of repertoire, from the 16th century to contemporary works. The performance will close with a newly commissioned arrangement of the Welsh folk song Ar Lan y Môr.
Ensemble background and recent activity
Directed by composer Owain Park, The Gesualdo Six were formed in 2014 for a performance of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories in the chapel of Trinity College. The six-voice group comprises a bass, baritone, two tenors and two counter-tenors, singing unaccompanied in close harmony.
“It was lovely singing in the cathedral with its wonderful acoustics. We’re really looking forward to coming back and sharing this programme with the audience in North Wales. “We sing in harmony and unaccompanied as a group of six but some of the songs have been written for three, four or even five voices so we give each other a breather f
The ensemble made its BBC Proms debut in 2023 and is scheduled to appear at the Proms again the week before the St Asaph concert. In 2024 they extended their touring footprint with their South American debut in Colombia and first appearances in Japan, China and Singapore.
Festival partners and funding
The North Wales International Music Festival runs a varied programme of concerts, workshops and fringe events. Its delivery is supported by principal grant funders Arts Council of Wales and the Colwinston Charitable Trust. Other partners and sponsors include:
- Pendine Park care organisation, via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT)
- Scops Arts Trust
- Tŷ Cerdd
- St Asaph City Council
- Salisburys Chartered Accountants
Pendine Arts and Community Trust was established by owners Mario Kreft MBE and his wife Gill, who are named in festival materials as headline sponsors.
Context and implications
The Gesualdo Six’s return to St Asaph underlines the continuing role of cathedral spaces in the UK as acoustically rich venues for vocal and early-music performance. Their mixed programme — extending from Renaissance repertoire to newly commissioned material and folk arrangements — reflects a broader trend among leading British ensembles to pair historical works with contemporary commissions and cross-cultural repertoire.
For the festival, securing an internationally recognised group with recent Proms exposure is likely to boost profile and ticket sales, while the backing of national funders and regional sponsors illustrates the typical funding mix that sustains mid-sized cultural events across Wales and the UK.
| Year / Event | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Ensemble formed for a performance at Trinity College |
| 2023 | BBC Proms debut |
| 2024 | South American debut (Colombia); first appearances in Japan, China and Singapore |
| 11 Sept (2026) | Performance at St Asaph Cathedral for North Wales International Music Festival |
The festival’s continuing operations also point to the importance of national arts bodies such as the Arts Council of Wales in underwriting touring activity and commissioning work that engages local audiences. That dynamic is particularly evident when an ensemble uses a festival appearance to present newly arranged national repertoire — in this case a fresh setting of Ar Lan y Môr — which both acknowledges regional identity and broadens the group’s artistic remit.
While the quoted remarks by the director emphasise the acoustic appeal of St Asaph Cathedral and the ensemble’s enjoyment of returning, the programming choices suggest a deliberate balance between historic vocal technique and contemporary accessibility, a model that has carried the group from college chapel origins to international touring and repeated Proms invitations.
