Case History: St Davids Festival
Friday 13th June 2008
Live Music Now musicians have performed at St Davids Cathedral Festival since 2001 giving a public performance followed by a participatory concert at Pilgrims, Care in the Community. When St Davids Care in the Community opened in 1978 it was ahead of its time providing homes for people with learning disabilities to lead their lives as part of an every-day community. The seven homes in St Davids cater for the needs of individuals with moderate to severe learning disabilities, and for those with the addition of physical disability.
St Davids Cathedral Festival's long-standing partnership with LMN has generated a two-way benefit: the Festival is able to reach out into the heart of its community, reaching an audience whom they might otherwise miss; and residents of Pilgrims have the pleasure of a first-class musical performance, performed in their own setting and tailored to their needs and interests. Indeed, over the years the residents have developed their musical understanding and appreciation through their own music sessions and visits from LMN musicians, whilst gaining great solace from the power of music.
Amongst the many festival opportunities for LMN musicians in Wales, this really is one of the highlights of the year. The performers in 2008 were violinists Simon Hewitt Jones and David Worswick who told us: It certainly was one of the more memorable sets of performances that we have given recently, and the reaction to the music from the St Davids Pilgrims Care in the Community will live long in the memory.
By choosing to work with LMN, the Festival knows that it can be sure to book musicians who combine the special qualities of musical excellence with an ability to establish a rapport both with their community audience and with the regular concert-goers of the Festival. The new Festival team this year said: Many people who were present at Whitchurch have since come up to me to say how very much they had enjoyed David and Simon's violin playing. It was the most wonderful and charming concert.