A rare insight into the early lives of Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, founders of the famous Gregynog Festival and granddaughters of Victorian mining and railway entrepreneur David Davies, will be revealed at their ancestral Mid Wales home as part of this year’s festival.
The sisters launched the Gregynog Festival in 1933 at Gregynog Hall, Tregynon, near Newtown, but it was Plas Dinam (pictured) at Llandinam where they spent a large part of their lives.
Now the organisers of Wales’ oldest classical music festival have been given permission by the Davies family to host a rare opportunity to see the house and a recently opened private family museum as part of 24 concerts and events being held during the Gregynog Festival between 12th and 28th June.
The house, its gardens and private museum will be open by ticket only on June 15 from 2.30pm. And a special candlelit concert will be held at Llandinam Village Hall the evening before (June 14).
“We’re very privileged to have access to Plas Dinam and the private family museum,” said Dr Rhian Davies, Gregynog Festival’s artistic director.
“This is a very rare opportunity to see the childhood home of the Davies sisters and to see private items and archives relating to their lives in the private museum which is rarely opened to the public.”
Plas Dinam is now run as a five star luxury venue for weddings, holidays and corporate events by descendants of the sisters.
Lord and Lady Davies moved out to another property in Llandinam in 2011 with their daughter, Eldrydd Lamp, taking it over and putting her entrepreneurial stamp on it.
“It’s quite fitting to have a festival event here at Plas Dinam,” said Mrs Lamp. “This is where my relatives grew up. They were inspired by the surroundings and would always return here after their travels around Europe collecting art and attending musical concerts and recitals.”
The sisters moved to Gregynog Hall in 1922 when their brother, David, remarried and moved to Plas Dinam to raise a family.
On the evening before the event, a candlelit concert will be held at Llandinam Village Hall with Bach, Vivaldi and Couperin.
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On June 14 at 7.30pm the Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments will perform using a hurdy-gurdy, viola d’amore, viola da gamba and harpsichord in the style of the Societe des Instruments Anciens.
“The concert will recreate one of the candlelit concerts given by a group of the same name when the sisters were purchasing their paintings in Paris,” said Dr Davies. “It’ll be a very atmospheric event and quite timely the night before the event at Plas Dinam.”
The event is part of the 2015 Gregynog Festival which has the theme “Revolution.” Taking place between June 12-28, this year’s classical music festival focuses on Welsh connections between the Napoleonic Wars and the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and with an emphasis on French music and musicians.
Details about the Gregynog Festival and tickets for these events can be found at www.gregynogfestival.org or telephone 01686 207100.
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Notes to the Editor:
Gregynog Festival is a Lottery funded project for the Arts Council of Wales, a Signature Event of the Major Events Unit, Welsh Government (Visit Wales), and the only Welsh member of REMA, the European Early Music Network based at Versailles.
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