Welsh College of Music and Drama, Young Musicians' Festival, 2001
![[Castle Players]](images/older/castle.jpg)
Jemma Bogan, flute
Karen Fergusson, piano
Elin Wyn Lewis, soprano
Sara Stevens, cello
Sylvia Strand, soprano
Florian Tippe, clarinet
The Castle Players are a group of postgraduate and final year students who take their name from the fact that the Welsh College of Music and Drama is situated in the shadow of and in the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The Welsh College is the youngest of the conservatoires in the UK, and is currently undergoing great changes, thanks in part to the increased funding given by the Welsh Assembly. The most important change is the extension of the undergraduate course to four years, bringing it into line with the other conservatoires. All the players have played in the WCMD Symphony Orchestra, and regularly take part in outside concerts in Cardiff and around South Wales.
At their concert at the Young Musicians' Festival on Saturday 28 April 2001, the Castle Players will be giving the premiere of a new work by Suzanne Parry.
Suzanne Parry grew up in Cornwall and studied the clarinet and recorder before becoming interested in composition at the age of 16. She had lessons with Paul Drayton before going to the WCMD where she now studies with Lynne Plowman, Lynn Davis and Michael Berkley. Whilst at the College, she has composed and directed a production of 'A Christmas Carol' and has had her piece 'Fallen' performed by the pianist Ian Pace. Suzanne's ambition is to pursue a career in concert and theatre music.