Cardiff musicians get backing from Sound of the City project

FOUR talented Cardiff-based musicians have received Sound of the City commissions to support the creation of experimental new work, some of which will be presented later this year as part of the recently announced Cardiff Music City festival.

The “musicians-in-residence” awarded commissions are N’famady Kouyaté, Natalie Roe, Eugene Capper and Gemma Smith.

The commissions, which are supported by Welsh Government, Cardiff Council and Cardiff Music Board, form part of Cardiff Council’s music strategy and aim to nurture and sustain development in the city’s music sector.

N’famady Kouyaté will merge his traditional West African musical heritage with the classical European instruments of Sinfonia Cymru.

While Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama graduate Natalie Roe will fuse sounds collected from around the city with her electronic compositions, to paint an audio picture of Cardiff.

Natalie has previously written concert music for BBC National Orchestra of Wales and The Band of the Welsh Guards.

Musician, sound designer and sound artist Eugene Capper will work with bands and musicians he helped via his own studio in Riverside over the last nine years.

Founder member of Ladies of Rage network, Gemma Smith (aka Missy G) was once Wales’ only female drum ’n’ bass MC.

Now, with the help of a Sound of the City commission, the DJ, rapper, producer and singer is creating a new multi-genre album.

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “Cardiff’s music sector is worth in the region of £100m annually to the economy and the wealth of talent in the city was evident in the strength of the applications for these inaugural Sound of the City commissions.”