There might still be a little time to wait until this year’s Last night of the Proms, but a couple of weekends ago, we were lucky to be able to make the road trip to Cardiff to celebrate the Last night of the Welsh Proms – and what a fantastic evening we enjoyed. Mike and I have been before with the Welsh side of my family, but this was the first time that G and M came too and it turned into a family affair with my Mum and Aunt both joining our gang. As you might expect from the great British tradition of the Proms, the night was filled with a selection of well-known classical pieces played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ably led by the hugely talented Owain Arwel Hughes, who is South Wales born and bred.

One of the highlights of the evening was, without a doubt, the world premiere of Mealor’s Concerto for Euphonium, which demonstrated the incredible talents of musician David Childs and kept the audience spellbound throughout its duration. Both children enjoyed the first half, though M was more than a little restless throughout, not fully expecting to have to sit still and listen whilst the music played. G has been more enamoured since discovering that her great-great-grandfather played the euphonium in his local band.

The second half of the concert, however, was when their enthusiasm really came into its own, even considering the slight handicap of them only knowing a few words in Welsh. My Mum had spent the week teaching them one of the Welsh songs and both children had a good attempt to recall the words, no matter how fast the music was playing. Flags were waved, songs sung and the entire audience stood up and sat down as the whim of the conductor dictated. The concert finished with a rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of my Fathers) sung only as the proud voices of the Welsh valleys could do so. It was a lovely evening with some fantastic music and I can’t wait to take the children along again.