Boro Bites – bite-sized concerts in the Library

The Borough Theatre presents 1-hour concerts where the music speaks for itself – no lights no microphones no distractions just talented performers

 Bring your curiosity and settle in with a cup of tea and a biscuit….

Remember when you had to be quiet in a library?
Well, that might be a bit of a problem in Abergavenny if you’re sitting next to a ghost horse with a skull head…and the theme from Oklahoma still ringing in your ears.

From next month, through to Christmas, Abergavenny library, which sits beneath the town’s Borough Theatre, will host a series of monthly ‘Boro Bites’ – Thursday afternoon hour-long concerts covering the widest range of music currently available in Wales.

The first, at 2.30pm on September 4, features Huw Williams – one of the great figures of UK folk music and writer of Fairport Convention’s most memorable hits – performing and discussing his other great love: the golden age of Broadway musicals.

Expect stories and songs from shows such as Oklahoma, Guys And Dolls and My Fair Lady, all played and sung by Huw with just his stunning guitar work for accompaniment.

“That’s the thing about all the shows in this series,” says Huw. “There’s no amplification or ‘electrickery’ – just wonderful, unvarnished music. It’s an atmosphere that connects performer and audience in such a personal, intimate way.”

For the final show, on Thursday, December 4, Abergavenny library welcomes the towering talents of Pat Smith and Ned Clamp for a Christmas special. There’ll be songs and an opportunity to learn to play the spoons (Pat is one of Britain’s greatest players and teachers). Plus an appearance by the legendary Mari Lwyd of Welsh folklore – a horse’s skull on a pole covered by a spectral white sheet.

In between these two bookend concerts, October 16’s performance changes pace entirely for a Sing-a-long To The 60s hour with the Blaenau Gwent Rhythm Band. This is your chance to join in with classics from The Monkees, Beatles, Searchers and many more (try doing that in any library in the 60s and see how far you’d have got!).

November 13th sees a special performance by the mesmerising band Burn The Fiddle. The virtuoso trio are Bernie KilBride (fiddle), Imogen O’Rourke (flute) and Dan James (mandocello). Imagine the Pogues, Dubliners, Waterboys, Chieftains and Mumford & Sons in a wonderful musical mash-up.

Entry to each concert costs just £8 and includes tea or coffee and biscuits (for the December concert there will, of course, be mince pies).

Huw Williams adds: “Boro Bites is more than just a snappy name for these concerts – we hope people will come for a taste of music they might not have experienced live, love what they hear and come to the Borough Theatre’s full-length concerts.”

Tickets are available from the theatres website boroughtheatreabergavenny.co.uk or telephone the box office 01873 850 805