Senbla, by arrangement with Opera International, proudly presents an Ellen Kent production featuring the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv with international soloists, highly-praised chorus and full orchestra. Award-winning producer Ellen Kent returns to Swansea Grand Theatre with the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv presenting a stunning classical production of Bizet’s Carmen on 16 April. Bizet’s masterpiece, Carmen, is an evening of passion, sexual jealousy, death and unforgettable arias. Carmen is the story of the bewitching gypsy girl whose tantalising beauty lures a soldier to desertion and leads to her own murder. The opera includes some of the most…
Author: Alice Gregory
Alice Gregory
Entertainment & Features Writer
Quantum Advisory, the leading independent financial services consultancy whose head office is situated in Cardiff, has announced a key partnership to share its pension and employee benefits expertise with the housing sector. Quantum Advisory has become a commercial partner of Community Housing Cymru, the trade body for housing associations in Wales. The organisation represents 34 not-for-profit housing associations who provide almost 165,000 homes to 10% of the country’s population. In addition to securing funding and developing policy frameworks to support its vision to make Wales a country where good housing is a basic right for all, Community Housing Cymru is…
Britain’s youngest blacksmiths, Ollie and Harvey, have created their biggest project yet! Dixie the Dragon, which is on tour visiting venues across Wrexham and surrounding areas before heading to Stok Cae Ras, its forever home, on 27thApril. The duo built the dragon as a fundraiser for Nightingale House Hospice, and it will be featured in season 3 of the Welcome to Wrexham TV series. At the start of the year, Ollie and Harvey got together with their family to create a plan for a big fundraiser to start the year. That’s where the ambitious idea to create a life-size Welsh…
There are a number of rabbits at RSPCA Bryn-y-Maen Animal Centre in Upper Colwyn Bay currently awaiting their forever home. Emma and Cleo, Rikki, Madison, Polly, Dolly Bunton, Cracker and Pretzel, Fluff, Bam Bam and Dougie (below) are all hop-ing for the right family to come forward to rehome them. The RSPCA is seeing unwanted and abandoned rabbits across Wales while rehoming has also slowed, meaning more and more rabbits are waiting for their forever homes. The typical image of the Easter bunny means that rabbits can be popular at this time of year and parents may find themselves buying…
RSPCA Cymru has launched an appeal for information to try and find the owner of a pony removed from Gelligaer and Merthyr Common due to concerns for the animal’s welfare. A chestnut filly – who is believed to be aged under the age of one – was removed from the common yesterday (Tuesday 26 March) with assistance from members of the specialist RSPCA Equine Officer team, World Horse Welfare and Caerphilly County Borough Council. RSPCA Inspector Suzi Smith said: “This is a young pony who was found to be significantly lame on the right hind and therefore it was decided…
Collaboration to meet the evolving needs of apprentices and employers was the cross cutting theme for keynote speakers at a conference focused on apprenticeships, skills and economic growth in Wales. Against a background of apprenticeship funding cuts by the Welsh Government, the National Training Federation for Wales (NTFW) attracted around 150 delegates to the successful conference at the International Convention Centre Wales in Newport. Headline sponsor was City & Guilds. Rhian Edwards, the Welsh Government’s deputy director of further education and apprenticeships, thanked work-based learning providers for working with the government during the “most painful budget choices for Wales in…
Irish garage punk band Sprints will join IDLES when they bring their world tour to the Welsh capital this summer. IDLES will perform a headline set at TK Maxx presents Depot Live at Cardiff Castle on Friday July 12 and it is now announced they will be joined on the night by the chart-topping Dublin four-piece. Sprints have steadily grown in stature over the last three years, sharing two acclaimed EPs and building a fearsome live reputation opening for the likes of Yard Act and Suede. Most recently they released debut album Letter to Self to critical acclaim with NME…
Veteran folk rockers Lindisfarne take to the stage at the Tredegar House Folk Festival near Newport this May. It was back in 1970 that the late Alan Hull and Rod Clements emerged from Tyneside to carve out a unique place for themselves fronting one of British rock’s most original bands. Famed for hits such as “Run For Home”, “Meet Me On The Corner” and “Lady Eleanor”, the ever-popular Geordies under the steerage of Clements enjoyed a run of sell-out appearances in 2023 at over 50 venues nationwide. Says Rod: “We’re not exactly shoe-gazers – we have a lot of fun…
Grosvenor Casino Cardiff raised money for local care facility City Hospice pitting Welsh sporting celebrities, including Gavin Gwyne and Craig Quinnell, against each other in a charity poker tournament It was aces high when Welsh sporting legends went head to head to help raise more than £6,000 for a local hospice at Grosvenor Casino Cardiff’s charity poker tournament last week. The tournament was flushed with sporting legends including Welsh professional boxer, Gavin Gwynne, and former Welsh Rugby Union player, Craig Quinnell, who joined 80 poker players battling it out to come out on top in aid of Cardiff’s care facility,…
A housebuilder has donated 50 Easter eggs and 50 colouring books to the Kids Cancer Charity in Swansea. Bellway Wales, which is building 184 new homes at Parc Mawr, in Penllergaer near Swansea, has given the chocolate treats and books for young cancer patients across South Wales. Kids Cancer Charity was set up in Swansea in 1989 and supports children affected by cancer throughout the UK by helping the whole family – from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond. The organisation offers emotional support, play therapy and free holiday breaks. Danielle Brown, Sales Advisor at Bellway Homes visited the charity’s headquarters…