Brand New Song composed in Wales for The West End of Wales Orchestra to record

The West End of Wales Orchestra (The WeoW), formed in the summer of 2020 to support musicians who lost their livelihoods during lockdown, is collaborating with Welsh composer Lisa Shelmerdine Richards to record a new song, funded by Valero Refinery Ltd.

Lisa, a Pembrokeshire secondary school music teacher and songwriter, has been creating new music throughout 2020 and was approached by The WeoW in September to write a piece for the Orchestra to record. The track, “Win this Fight Alone,” is a duet featuring Welsh Musical Theatre star Celyn Cartwright and rising talent Oliver John from Carmarthen.

The Orchestra includes Welsh musicians who, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, held coveted seats in the West End, with touring shows, professional orchestras such as The Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and RTE National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland. Others are established freelancers and educators. With the instant closure of Concert Halls and Theatres, many of these musicians were made redundant overnight on March 16^th 2020 and all diaries becoming instantly cleared of any forthcoming gigs and work.

These musicians, under the collective umbrella of The WeoW, will now be paid to record Lisa’s new music, thanks to funding from Valero. Hywel Gibbs, Communications Specialist at Valero, said: “This is exactly the type of project that Valero wants to support. Brand new music, written by a local composer and recorded exclusively by Welsh musicians who find themselves facing the most difficult circumstances at present – through no fault of their own. We are delighted to know that as a company, we can support these musicians who will each be paid to record this exciting new piece of Welsh music.”

The WeoW was set up as a community interest company in August by Laura Llewellyn-Jones and Iestyn Griffiths, who are both originally from Pembrokeshire. Their aim was to alleviate some of the mental health pressures associated with the loss of livelihood and to support musicians’ hardship charities.

Laura, a freelance French Horn player, explained: “Working as a freelance musician is a unique way of life. This life path is committed within you from a very young age and although the financial loss is devastating, so too is the effect on your sense of self and purpose. It was not just our livelihood that was taken from us.”

At first, the WeoW simply allowed players to keep making music from home; it provided a platform to reach mass audiences and to keep entertaining the public at a time when people needed music in their lives more than ever before. High profile fundraising collaborations with “The Welsh of the West End” singers resulted in online performances reaching more than 500,000 views.

“At this point, The WeoW were made aware that several of its musicians had been in receipt of the hardship grant from Help Musicians, the very charity we had been raising funds for,” said Laura.

“We decided to become a Community Interest Company, meaning that any funds raised from further videos could be ploughed back into The WeoW to help and reward our own musicians for their time and skill. We are so grateful to Valero for funding this particular project. The WeoW’s mission is to inspire and support Welsh musicians at every level and their funding has allowed this to happen. Lisa’s new music project feels very holistic and embeds everything that we aim to support now and in the future,” she added.

“Win this Fight” is a track from a new musical being written by Lisa Shelmerdine Richards.

Lisa said: “To have one of my songs recorded by some of the best musicians in the country is beyond a dream come true – I can’t quite believe that it is happening. Thank you so much to The WeoW and Valero Refinery Ltd for their support in bringing my music to life.”

“Win this Fight” will be released on Valentine’s Day and will appear on all of The WeoW’s social media platforms and be released as a single via Distrokid to be available on all major streaming platforms such as iTunes and Spotify.