Festival No.6
For a few years the beautiful Italianate villege of Portmerion hosted Festival No.6. The event got its name from the character Patrick McGoohan played in the spy fantasy (?) series of the 1960s 'The Prisoner' where McGoohan a British spy who having handed in his notice is taken away and held captive in a mysterious coastal village. He has no name. He is No.6, ever trying to work out who No.1 is and why he's held prisoner.
The Festival ran from 2012 until 2018 and for most of that time Joe Duddell ran the 'Town Hall Sessions' where artists already at the festival played a striped-down set in the village hall with classical accompaniment. I worked with Joe most years transcribing and arranging music for the No.6 Ensemble which tended to consist a string quartet with a couple of winds, percussion and often harp. 2017 was an eventful year with Joe having (if I recall correctly) fractured a vertebrae. We found ourselve working on one computer late into the first night of the festival writing a tonne of new arrangments. Amongst the artists arranged for were ISLAND, Palace, The Slow Readers Club, KLARA and Mercury Prize nominated East India Youth.
The Festival ran from 2012 until 2018 and for most of that time Joe Duddell ran the 'Town Hall Sessions' where artists already at the festival played a striped-down set in the village hall with classical accompaniment. I worked with Joe most years transcribing and arranging music for the No.6 Ensemble which tended to consist a string quartet with a couple of winds, percussion and often harp. 2017 was an eventful year with Joe having (if I recall correctly) fractured a vertebrae. We found ourselve working on one computer late into the first night of the festival writing a tonne of new arrangments. Amongst the artists arranged for were ISLAND, Palace, The Slow Readers Club, KLARA and Mercury Prize nominated East India Youth.