They were directed by World renowned musicians, chart-topping composer/percussionist Chris Marshall and former Royal Harpist, Claire Jones, who became a household name following her esteemed performance at the Royal Wedding for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The concerts featured well-known favourites from the movies including music from the Lion King, Mission impossible, Romeo and Juliet and many more!
‘Ensemble47’ includes 10 students from the World’s top Music Conservatoires, Universities and schools. Their achievements to date include tours of the USA, performances for the Royal Family, National prize winners at the Urdd Eisteddfod and members of various National Youth Orchestras and music theatres of Great Britain.
Bluestone’s Cloud Theatre is located under the Serendome’s magical roof. The state-of-the-art amphitheatre is equipped for anything - from acrobats flying through the air, to an elf orchestra singing festive tunes.
Both musical directors, Chris and Claire, also made special appearances as performers in the concert, audiences were enthralled and enjoyed a visual feast of mass harps and various instruments on stage.
Chris has produced many bespoke compositions for the Bluestone Resort over the past two years including the Winter Lights and Christmasland full scores.
On this occasion he produced eight very special arrangements and one original composition called ‘Andalucia’ for him, Claire and ‘Ensemble47’ to perform and also created a show which required the students to work with full audio production and backing track.
The ensemble have combined daily rehearsals with a well-deserved holiday at Bluestone over the last week with their families. They were thrilled to receive the invitation to perform for such a supportive audience at the Serendome. Following the pandemic this was their first set of performances in two years.
Speaking about their stay and the concert, Claire said: “The last year and a half has been challenging for everyone especially those who are arts professionals.
“Chris and I have developed our ensemble over many years. They have toured the East Coast of America and performed at so many prestigious venues in the UK.
“Following the pandemic we really wanted to energise, inspire and motivate the ensemble by planning an unique course which offered the special experience of working together with the Bluestone production team.
“To be able to deliver this level of production in one of Wales’ finest theatre settings was a real joy and the Bluestone team made it such an enjoyable and wonderful experience.
“My roots are firmly placed in Pembrokeshire therefore after so many months away from the stage, there was no doubt in my mind Bluestone was the perfect place to host our come back in 2021!”
Yvonne Buckingham, Head of Marketing at Bluestone added: “We are so thrilled to welcome Claire, Chris and their talented group to the resort. We’re so pleased they had a wonderful stay and grateful to them for performing to our guests.”
“The concerts were magical and kicked-off our Summer Festival in such a beautiful way,” added James McNamara, Head of Leisure at the resort.