EMBARGOED UNTIL 8.30AM ON WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY

PRESS RELEASE – 19 February 2020

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Twitter: @FoVCardiff Instagram: @festivalofvoice_gwylyllais/ Facebook: festivalofvoice Website: wmc.org.uk/voice

WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE’S FESTIVAL OF VOICE GOES ANNUAL

• INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL RETURNS TO CARDIFF BAY ACROSS THE WEEKEND OF 29 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER 2020

• CATE LE BON GUEST-CURATES PART OF 2020’S FESTIVAL

• NOW AN ANNUAL, FOUR-DAY EVENT, THE FESTIVAL’S NEW FORMAT INCLUDES DAY AND WEEKEND-LONG WRISTBANDS

• EARLY BIRD WEEKEND PASSES ON SALE 9AM TODAY

Festival of Voice – Wales Millennium Centre’s flagship international arts festival – is returning to Cardiff Bay across the last weekend of October 2020 with a new format.

Across four days, audiences will be treated to a wealth of performances and events exploring everything the voice can do and how important it is to have one. They’ll have the option of buying day or full weekend wristbands, giving access to more than 60 performances in Wales Millennium Centre and Portland House, located within a few minutes’ walk of each other.

Cate Le Bon will join this year’s festival as both a performer and a guest curator for part of the programme – bringing her own eclectic selection of voices from around the world.

The line-up – which will be announced in full in the summer – will include incredible live music, thought-provoking performance and inspirational talks, immersing the audience in a global chorus of voices.

Today’s announcement marks a significant shift for the festival, which has been biennial since launching in 2016. Previous iterations showcased some of the world’s most recognisable voices from across the musical spectrum including Patti Smith, Van Morrison, Femi Kuti, Laura Marling, Candi Staton, Elvis Costello, Hugh Masekela, Rufus Wainwright, Fatoumata Diawara, John Grant and Angélique Kidjo. Always at the heart of the festival are one-off collaborations that merge voices and genres. In 2016, audiences were treated to a unique evening that saw The Velvet Underground’s John Cale share the stage with Charlotte Church and actor Michael Sheen. And in 2018, Gruff Rhys premiered his album Babelsberg on the Wales Millennium Centre stage accompanied by the 72-piece BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Announcing this year’s new-look festival, Wales Millennium Centre’s Artistic Director Graeme Farrow said: “We’re thrilled that, as of this year, Festival of Voice will become an international centrepiece of Wales’ annual calendar and of Cardiff’s commitment to placing music at the heart of the capital’s development. Festival of Voice is much more than a music festival; it’s an exploration of what the voice can do and how important it is to have one. Grab your wristband now and join us in October – it promises be an unforgettable long weekend.” Guest curator Cate Le Bon said: “I’m truly honoured to curate a small pocket of this extraordinary festival. It encourages its curators to cast a wide net and bring the voices that mean something to the city of Cardiff. It’s a beautiful thing to champion voices that bring joy, that guide, inspire, challenge, soothe and unite us whilst political division and disconnection is being peddled.”

Early Bird Weekend Passes for Festival of Voice 2020 are on sale at wmc.org.uk/voice as of 9am on Wednesday 19 February 2020.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact Kate Hassell at The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 | [email protected]

LISTINGS FESTIVAL OF VOICE A Wales Millennium Centre Production 29 October-1 November 2020 Cardiff Bay wmc.org.uk/voice Age restriction: 14+ Early Bird Weekend Passes: £90

NOTES TO EDITORS

Press invitations will be sent in due course. High-res, colour publicity images available on request.

Get involved on social media: #FoV2020

Twitter: @FoVCardiff @thecentre Instagram: @festivalofvoice_gwylyllais/ Facebook: festivalofvoice

Wales Millennium Centre is a landmark arts venue and a cultural destination that presents the best touring talent from across the globe, and creates its own, equally high-quality productions. We are a charity whose aim is to Inspire our Nation, Impress the World. This is achieved by creating inspirational and life-changing experiences that broaden horizons, and investing in, and introducing, a wide variety of emerging theatre, contemporary work, artists and the very best international performers.

For 15 years, we have created a portfolio of productions, from operas, plays and musicals to a major festival, and presents work all over the world, from New York to Mumbai, from London to Dubai as well as across the UK.

Recent productions and co-productions have included: The Mirror Crack’d, Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation of an Agatha Christie classic, and Ayeesha Menon’s further adaptation performed in Mumbai in January 2020, Carys Eleri’s Lovecraft (Not the Sex Shop in Cardiff), which won Best Cabaret award at the Adelaide Fringe 2019, and a Welsh-language adaptation, Cer i Grafu… sori… GARU!, Man to Man by Manfred Karge in a new version translated by Alexandra Wood which performed in London, New York and a UK tour; Only the Brave, a co-production with Soho Theatre, Daniel Sparrow Productions and Birdsong Productions; Mandela Trilogy, a UK and Ireland tour of this operatic tribute to one of the world’s most iconic figures; and La Voix Humaine, an immersive opera by Francis Poulenc, original lyrics from the play by Jean Cocteau, co-produced with WNO. In 2017, we produced and premiered Tiger Bay the Musical, a major new musical set in Cardiff’s Butetown at the dawn of the 20th century. The cornerstone our production schedule is its now annual Festival of Voice; an international arts festival showcasing all the voice can do, exploring who has one, and immersing its audience in the incredible talents of artists from across the globe.

For further information about Wales Millennium Centre, please visit: wmc.org.uk

Wales Millennium Centre is a registered charity, no. 1060458.