The term Fika comes from the Swedish tradition of enjoying a break during the day to eat or drink something sweet to recharge one‘s energy. The duo aims to build a unique concert repertoire through new arrangements and collaborations with composers, including Zoë‘s own
compositions and live improvisations. I think, based upon their performance, they certainly achieved their goals.

The duo produced a thoughtful programme, showcasing excellent technique and musical synergy, which resonated well with the audience.

The flute can often dominate the sound of a classical guitar in such pairings, but Zoë and Emma were perfectly matched, creating a harmonious interplay which felt both natural and deliberate. This balance set the stage for a high quality performance throughout.

A highlight of the evening was the performance of Swarming, a commissioned piece by Effy Efthymiou which through the duo‘s interplay with rapid, intricate passages, evoked the frenetic buzz of swarming insects.

The duo‘s rendition of Histoire du Tango (Astor Piazzolla) transported the audience through the gritty bordellos of the 1900s, to the more romantic setting of Parisian cafes in the 1930s , Nightclub 1960, infused with bossa nova vibes and the Concert of Today (1985).

Other standouts were Cable to the Sun by fellow student Franklin Onyeso and Zoë‘s improvised composition Low Earth Orbit. Equally impressive was Stephen Goss‘s composition La Catedral Sumergida, a piece originally commissioned for BCGS‘s own Francisco and Emily Correa. The evening concluded with a playful encore, Philip Houghton‘s Gary the Gecko.

I’m sure I can say on behalf of the audience that it was an excellent recital and we look forward to further
performances by this talented duo.

Programme

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA (1921–1992)
Histoire du Tango
i. Bordel 1900

EFFY EFTHYMIOU (1980-)

Swarming (IGF Commission)

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Histoire du Tango (ctd.)
ii. Café 1930

FRANKLIN ONYESO (2005–)
Cable to the Sun

ZOË MEADOWCROFT (2005–)
Low Earth Orbit

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Histoire du Tango (ctd.)
iii. Nightclub 1960

STEPHEN GOSS (1964–)
La Catedral Sumergida

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Histoire du Tango (ctd.)
iv. Concert d’Aujourd’hui

Introduction

It was a great privilege to welcome Cai Charles and Oliver Manning, two very talented and up-and-coming players, to give a performance through the IGF Young Artists’ Platform on 13 March 2025. Cai and Oliver have been performing as a duo since 2020, having met during their undergraduate studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Oliver Manning was selected by John Williams to become a Julian Bream Trust Scholar in 2023 to support his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music, London, and was winner of the John Mills Guitar Competition and also of the Orpheus Voice and Guitar Competition. Cai Charles was a winner of the Solo String Competition at the Wales National Eisteddfod. He also gave the UK premiere solo performance of the Dos Dalias concerto by Gerard Tamez during the World Harp Congress in St David’s Hall, Wales, in 2022. The duo has performed both in the UK and at the Maestros de la Guitarra concert series in Granada, Spain.

The IGF helps to launch the career of young guitarists as they embark on their concert careers, and by commissioning music written specifically for the players.

Programme (selections)

• Stephen Goss — Cocktail List (six of twelve miniatures): “Boulevardier”, “Negroni”, “Alabama Slammer”, “Vodka Martini”, “Vieux Carré”, “Manhattan”.
• Traditional Welsh (arr. Stephen Goss) — “David of the White Rock”, “Suo Gan”, “Hunting the Hare”.
• David John Roche — Quaver Dreams and Quaver Nightmares:
  I. Limited Chordal Universe; II. NotBach; III. Aggressive Bicycle Music. (World premiere of a BCGS-commissioned work in three movements.)
• Carlo Domeniconi — Fire Brigade on Ice from Circus Music.

Performance

Cai and Oliver exuded confidence as they started their performance with 6 out of the 12 miniature pieces of the Cocktail List by popular British Composer Stephen Goss. ( “Boulevardier”, “Negroni”, “Alabama Slammer”, “Vodka martini”, “Vieu Carré” and “Manhattan”). The selection gave the duo the opportunity to show their virtuosity, rapidly switching styles between Jazz, nostalgic, discordant, hints of James Bond, Blues and music reflecting a mood of New York. They definitely have good stage chemistry, know each others play so well and their technique and timing were immaculate.

The mood changed as the duo played a selection of well known Welsh folk songs arranged by Stephen Goss, including the much loved “David of the white Rock”, “Suo Gan” and “Hunting the Hare”. The performers played with great sensitivity to achieve a much more soulful, lilting and melancholic sound.

The Duo then performed a world premiere of their commissioned piece in 3 Movements by young composer David John Roche Quaver dreams and quaver nightmares I. Limited Chordal Universe II. NotBach and III. Aggressive Bicycle Music.The final piece brought out their strong sense of fun when they donned red noses to play Carlo Domeniconi’s Fire Brigade on Ice from Circus Music.

Closing Thoughts

The Wales Duo gave a memorable and technically brilliant performance and the pair clearly has a bright future ahead. You can follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/walesguitarduo/

This month, members of the BCGS were treated to a concert by rising star Luke Bartlett, whom we regard very much as one of our own. Luke has been attending the BCGS regularly since the age of 14 and we have watched him flourish and his hairstyles changing from one visit to the next. He is approaching his Finals Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, was selected as an IGF Young Artist 2024, is a Julian Bream Scholar and has recently won a prize for Voice and Guitar at RWCMD. The BCGS has provided Luke with a small scholarship towards his studies at University and he has richly rewarded us with his ongoing support for the society and to witness his considerably talent unfolding.

It was clear form the outset that he had put considerable thought into his concert. In Fantasia by Alonso Mudarra, Luke used Segovia-like fingering to achieve warmer tones, with beautiful campanella over-ringing to achieve Mudarra’s aim of imitating “the harp playing of Ludovico.” He impressed in the Scarlatti Sonata K.208 with his cross-string trills and is ornamentation. His stand-out piece was the Fantasia-Sonata, Op. A-22 which was written for Andres Segovia by Catalan composer Joan Manen, a rarely performed piece. Luke achieved many rich textures in this dramatic piece, bringing out all of the voices. It had a fast section, lots of slurs and rasgueados, percussive and complex rhythms and ended with a slow soulful section. His concentration did not falter despite the loud ticking of the wall clock and a member of the audience knocking over a water bottle. The Sarabande for Guitar, written by Francis Poulenc for Ida Presti, was impressionistic and played with haunting delicate tones and fading into silence at the end. This was followed by Tango de la Casada Infiel (Homenage a Garcia Lorca) by Vicente Asenscio. Luke mastered the complexities of this discordant and sad piece with ease and made it sound beautiful. Luke ended the concert with his own arrangement of two rarely heard pieces from Herbert Howell’s Lambert’s Clavichord: I. Lambert’s Fireside and V. Sargent’s Fantastic Sprite. Luke elegantly caught the intended renaissance flavour, the first piece slow and reminiscent of Dowland, the second much faster with a slightly Celtic influence.

Luke rewarded the audience with a beautiful rendition of Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Prelude No. 3 as his encore. All pieces were played on Luke’s Kim Lassarangue guitar with impressive volume and he was able to demonstrate the full dynamic range of this instrument.

The audience thoroughly enjoyed this high-quality performance and wish Luke well in his Finals Performance, the Sir Ian Stoutzker Prize Final and of course the rest of his career.

Programme