Melville Centre Abergavenny

Film School For Kids
2023-08-21 10:00 - 2023-08-25 15:00 (Europe/London) | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Free Film School for Children aged 9 – 12 years!
Have you ever dreamed of being a director, actor, sound engineer, editor? This 5 day long film school run by 47 Studios and kindly funded by GAVO will give kids the opportunity to explore ideas, create, learn and have fun!
Spending time working on story, aesthetic with a focus on collaboration and leaning key technical skills, Film School For Kids is an incredible opportunity for all film enthusiasts and creatives.
30 places available and offered on a first come first served basis.
For more details and to secure your place, please email 47studios.productions@gmail.com.
Running from 21st – 25th August from 10am – 3pm

Poetry Upstairs
2023-08-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Monmouthshire
Established Monthly Poetry Session in the Melville bar, hosted by Ric Hool. Bringing local and international poets to Abergavenny to celebrate the art of words and the story of our time that is expressed by current poets. £5
This Months Guest Poets:
Pauline Plummer is of Irish/Welsh mix from Liverpool who has lived in the North East England since the 1980s where she became a founding editor of Mudfog Press and a former poet laureate of Middlesbrough. She has 4 collections of poetry, most recently ‘Life Pours Ordinary Plenty’ – Red Squirrel Press 2022, a verse novella ‘From Here to Timbuktu) Smokestack 2012, a collection of short stories ‘Dancing with a Stranger’ Red squirrel 2011. She has taught creative writing in UK, Greece, Sierra Leone and now works with asylum seekers, teaching English and cooking.
Josephine Scott was born in Northumberland but spent her childhood in Australia. In When Rain Becomes Memory (her third collection, following Sparkle and Dance and Rituals) poetry is rooted in matters historical and domestic concerning her coastal place of residence, whilst also responding and sensually exploring the minutia of daily life.Poems have recently been included in This Cullercoats (Iron Press, 2019) and poetry magazines throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. She is a graduate of Northumbria University.
Frank Olding writes in Welsh, reads his work in both English and Welsh. Frank was poet in residence at the Art Exhibition of the National Eisteddfod in Ebbw Vale in 2010 and is a member of the Gorsedd of Bards. He was honoured with an Ovate at the 2011 Eisteddfod in recognition of his services to Wales. Frank Olding’s new collection of poems Eilun, published by Gwasg y Bwthyn, is rooted deeply in the magical and suggestive relationships between history and mythology.

Stitch Together
2023-08-03 10:00 - 2023-12-21 12:00 | Monmouthshire
Create, have fun and have a natter!
Thursday’s 10am – 12pm
Come and join a like-minded and friendly group fo a chat, whilst crafting. We enjoy knitting, sewing, jewellery and doing any kind of hands on creative craft! Always happy to share our skills, we encourage inspiration and conversation.
£4 pre session with a cup of tea or coffee
Contact Lesley on 07905 336976

Story Telling & Kids Craft
2023-08-01 10:00 - 2023-08-17 11:00 | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Come join resident Story Teller, Alison Newson as she weaves some fantastical tales and shares some crafting fun in The Melville Cafe.
Sessions will run on:
Tues 1st Aug
Tues 8th August
Thurs 17th Aug
All sessions 10am – 11am
Suitable for 3 – 8yrs
Tickets £3 per child with café open for teas and coffees
Please email melvillecamanager@gmail.com or call 01873 853167 to reserve your spot

BMJ Presents - Debs Hancock Quartet
2023-07-30 19:30 - 22:30 | Monmouthshire
Get ready from some smoky & sophisticated tones from well-loved local, Debs Hancock as she takes you on a journey through some of the key performances and influences of jazz divas in the 20th century.
Deb’s velvet vocals have graced stages at many a festival including Cheltenham, Brecon, Swansea and Fishguard Jazz.
Devoted to the legacies of the great jazz divas; Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Dinah Washington – the Great American songbook is her book! Performing with some of the best accompanying musicians in Wales, prepare for a night of smooth and eclectic tunes perfectly hitting the jazz sweet spot!
Tickets available here

An evening with James Roberts discussing his book Two Lights
2023-07-26 19:30 - 21:30 | Monmouthshire
In association with Book-Ish. Join us for an evening with James Roberts discussing Two Lights

Wednesday 26th July at 7.30 p/m.
Costs are £5 for admission only, or £20 with a copy of the book.

An extraordinary account of searching for the wildness left in our world – spanning continents and geological eras, skies and oceans, animals and birds, and even the planets and stars. With dizzying acuity and insight Roberts paints a portrait of a life and its landscapes, creating precious connections with wild creatures and places, from swans in the Cambrian Mountains to wolves in the Pacific Northwest. By walking at dawn and dusk, in the two lights of awakening and deepening, through the stripped, windswept hills of Wales, and the jungles and savannahs of Africa, he tries to navigate from a soul-stripping sense of loss towards hope in the future.
In the presence of wild creatures he finds a way back to life.

Gospel Singing Workshop
2023-07-23 16:00 - 18:00, 2023-06-25 16:00 - 18:00 | Monmouthshire
After a hugely successful Gospel workshop at the 2022 wall2wall Jazz Festival – BMJ bring you 2 further sessions on 25th June & Sunday 23rd July.
We are delighted to welcome Tanya walker back to lead the workshops. Tanya has worked within music for over 30 years and has been a natural voice practitioner/vocal and performance coach and choir leader for over 10.
Tanya is the leader and founder of the 60 person strong Alive and Kickin’ Community Choir, Brecon. She also leads the Merthyr Aloud World Music Choir, the Whiterose Singers in New Tredegar and the lunchtime uplift choir sessions at Theatr Brycheiniog.
Come and join us, make friends, make music, laugh-out-loud and enjoy yourself!
Reserve your spot here!

Story Telling Live!
2023-07-17 19:00 - 2023-09-18 20:30 | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
An opportunity for storyteller’s to practice their art.
These sessions provide the space to tell traditional myth, legend and more modern tales in the oral storytelling tradition as well as giving the chance to listen to other storytellers.
3rd Monday of the month, 7 – 8:30pm
£3 with light refreshments
Call 01873 853167 to book

The Ultimate Bubble Show
2023-07-16 12:00 - 15:00 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Experience the best in soap bubble entertainment. Join Iain and Ray, International Bubbleologists and Guinness World Record Holders, and help them in their quest to discover the ultimate square bubble.
The show has a lively and exciting storyline which enthrals and captivates with exciting stunts, amazing magic and spectacular bubble displays.
It’s full of surprises, audience participation and games with a splash of science suitable for children and adults of all ages with a sense of fun.
This is an event you will remember and talk about for years as these are not ordinary bubbles; they’re MASSIVE bubbles, FIRE bubbles, EXPLODING bubbles, STEAM bubbles, COLOURFUL bubbles, MICRO bubbles, PING PONG bubbles, FAIRGROUND bubbles, SPACE bubbles, SNOW bubbles, SNAKE bubbles and even TASTY bubbles.
Then there are not one but two beds of nails, swords, whips and other anti-bubble obstacles to overcome as we try to find The Ultimate Bubble.
Join Iain and Ray and see if they can make THE ULTIMATE SQUARE BUBBLE.
Show times: 12pm & 2pm
TICKETS – ADULT £12 CHILDREN £10
https://melvillecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ADemoVideo.mp4

Shaping the Wild - An Evening with David Elias
2023-07-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Monmouthshire
In association with Book-Ish – Join us for an evening with David Elias discussing Shaping the Wild

Wednesday 12th July at 7.30 pm.
Costs are £5 for admission only, or £20 with a copy of the book.
GET TICKETS HERE

What can one Welsh hill farm tell us about how we can help nature to thrive? In recent times, farming has often been viewed as harmful to nature and the environment, causing friction between those wanting to protect wildlife and the farmers whose livelihoods depend on upon the land. Conservationists and governments frequently propose well-meaning ideas and policies to enable farming and conservation to work together, but all-too-often these do not have the intended results. At the heart of this is a lack of understanding about the realities of farming life and managing the land for nature.
In this captivating debut, conservationist David Elias explores a farm in the Snowdonia National Park and unpacks what it shows us about the gritty reality of trying to reconcile hill farming and caring for nature. Visiting through the seasons, he forms a deep relationship with the land and the people who work it, coming to understand their particular way of life, history and concerns about the future. It is also a farm rich in nature and he brings his experienced eye to how its habitats and wildlife have been shaped by changing farming practices over the generations.
Through lyrical prose and first-hand conversations with farmers, Elias also shows what current government policies have achieved – or not achieved – and why it is so important for us to understand what it really takes ensure farming families remain on the land while simultaneously allowing nature to flourish.

Poetry Upstairs
2023-07-04 18:30 - 21:00 | Monmouthshire
Established Monthly Poetry Session in the Melville bar, hosted by Ric Hool. Bringing local and international poets to Abergavenny to celebrate the art of words and the story of our time that is expressed by current poets. £5
This Months Guest Poets:
Peter Hughes lives on the northern margins of Snowdonia where he runs Oystercatcher Press. He also teaches, and has been Judith E. Wilson Visiting Fellow in Poetry at Cambridge University. Shearsman published Peter’s Selected Poems alongside a volume entitled ‘An intuition of the particular’: some essays on the poetry of Peter Hughes. His other poetry publications include innovative versions of Petrarch, Cavalcanti and Leopardi. His most recent books are A Berlin Entrainment (Shearsman), and Arrangements (Aquifer), a collaboration with Eléna Rivera.
Lesley Burt lives in Christchurch, Dorset. Her poetry has been published in magazines such as Tears in the Fence, Prole, Sentinel Literary Quarterly and Dreich, and online, including by The Poetry Shed, The High Window, The Blue Nib and Ink, Sweat and Tears. She is a long-standing member of the Tears in the Fence Workshop and Festival groups.
Her first pamphlet, Mr & Mrs Andrews Reframed, is published by Templar Poetry in their Iota Shots Series. It was a winner in the 2022 iOTA Shot Pamphlet Awards.
Philip Rush lives in Stroud where he runs a small poetry press. Yew Tree Press of Stroud prepares and publishes pamphlets by local and not-so-local poets which accompanies readings in the town, usually at the Museum in the Park. His own poems have been in many British and Irish magazines and in anthologies from Carcanet, Bloodaxe and Seren. Philip thinks that poems help us to see the world in new ways and that the best poems help us to see ‘into the life of things’. The means at any poem’s disposal to achieve this end are almost infinitely broad.

Draw Off
2023-07-01 14:00 - 17:00 | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Sharpen your sharpies and get ready for some overhead projector fun.

Come down and have a go in Aber’s first open mic for artists. Children and adults will be encouraged to draw in response to music, or watch from the side lines and soak up the multi sensory atmosphere. Live DJ’s and bar open.It’s free!

Donations are welcome toward a future afterschool art club.

Don’t forget to bring the kids and bring a sharpie if possible!

Poetry Cafe
2023-06-27 10:30 - 12:00, 2023-05-23 10:30 - 12:00 | Monmouthshire
Social group for beginner Poets
For beginners – this is a chance to come and spend some time with words; find your voice, share ideas and develop your work.
We encourage you to bring along poems that you are working on as well as those by other authors, which inspire.
This is a group where people come together, simply for the love of poetry!
Price: Donation to cover cost
Teas and coffees available to buy

Join us for an evening with Rachel Dawson, author of Neon Roses, in celebration of and by association with Abergavenny Pride!
2023-06-22 19:30 - 21:30 | Monmouthshire
Thursday 22nd June at 7.30.
Tickets are priced at £7 for admission only or £20 with a copy of the book.
Click here to book
A portion of ticket fees will go to support Abergavenny Pride.

From the Valleys to the nightclubs of Cardiff, London and Manchester, a funny, heartwarming and a little bit filthy queer coming-of-age story with a cracking ’80s soundtrack, from an exciting new voice in Welsh fiction.
Eluned Hughes is stuck. It’s 1984 in a valley in south Wales: the miners’ strike is ravaging her community; her sister’s swanned off with a Thatcherite policeman; and her boyfriend Lloyd keeps bringing up marriage. And if they play ’99 Red Balloons’ on the radio one more time, she might just lose her mind.
Then the fundraising group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners comes down from London, and she meets June, a snaggle-toothed blonde in a too-big leather jacket. Suddenly, Eluned isn’t stuck any more – she’s in freefall.
June’s an artist and an activist, living in a squat in Camden. With June, Eluned can imagine a completely different – and exciting – life for herself. But as her family struggles with the strike, and her relationship with her sister eteriorates, should she really leave it all behind?

Rachel Dawson is a lesbian, working-class Welsh writer. In 2020, she was awarded a bursary by Literature Wales, which enabled her to write her debut novel, Neon Roses. She was born in Swansea and has done a variety of jobs, including selling sausage rolls and vibrators (not at the same time), and volunteering for an MP. She now works in the third sector and lives with her wife in Cardiff.

Black Mountain Jazz Session - Chris Cobson's African Jazz Quartet
2023-06-18 19:30 - 22:30 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Infectious African Rhythms blended with Western Jazz.
The fabulous guitarist Chris Cobson draws on his Ghanaian roots to create a show blended of tantalising rhythms. We have Chris on guitars, Phil Dawson – second guitar, Paul Jefferies – basses and Richard Olatunde Baker on percussion creating a kaleidoscope of colour, atmosphere and pace. Chris was one of the original members of Courtney Pine’s Jazz Warriors and he has performed with Osibissa, Ghanain jazz ensemble Baraka and many more national and international musical ensembles. He has now formed this quartet who brilliantly showcase the musical amalgamation of African and Western jazz sounds. Not to be missed!
Tickets available from the Black Mountain Jazz Box Office

An Evening of Opera & Song
2023-06-17 19:30 - 20:30 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Simon Pratt and Ben Teague present an evening of opera and song as a fundraiser for Abergavenny Pride.

Alongside some of the best known classical composers, they will also present music from composers who were part of the LGBTQ+ community, including Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, and Reynaldo Hahn. Simon and Ben have performed extensively in concert around South Wales, and are looking forward to supporting Abergavenny Pride in this concert.

Tickets available at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-night-at-the-opera-tickets-636560628977?

Please note: Under 18’s must be accompanied by an adult.

Abergavenny Arts Mini Festival 2023
2023-06-17 11:00 - 16:00 | Monmouthshire
Let there be art! Watch, join in, and most of all, Enjoy! And it’s all FREE!
Come down to The Melville and enjoy a massive variety of creative activities – for free! There will be performances in the theatre and bar from a variety of local solo performers and groups, as well as print making, pottery, embroidery and mask making. Click here for the full programme!
Abergavenny Arts Festival will celebrate the arts in their broadest sense and aims to be as inspiring, inclusive and affordable as possible. The Festival has always showcased amateur and professional artists from the vibrant local arts scene as well as inviting some exciting artists and art practitioners from further afield.

Finding Your Voice
2023-06-10 14:00 - 2023-06-27 20:30 | Monmouthshire
Following the positive feedback from Workshops held at Aber Writing Fest 2023, we are delighted to host 2 more ‘Finding Your Voice’ sessions with writer, Liz Pearce
Join us for these next two sessions where will be continuing to work through a fun and creative process and building our collection of writing work, towards a performance and display at the Melville next autumn.
Sat June 10th – 2.00pm – 5.30pm
Tuesday June 27th – 6.00pm – 8.30pm
To secure a place on both or either of these dates, please email lizapearce@hotmail.co.uk

Corinna Nicoll Exhibition
2023-06-08 13:00 - 2023-07-05 15:00 | Monmouthshire
An exhibition of seascapes and street scenes that show the beauty in the ordinary.
Welsh artist Corinna has been painting since she was a teenager. Now also a practicing reflexologist, she believes that through both art and reflexology she can bring something of herself to others, and hopefully inspire feelings of happiness and calm.
Corinna has always been very drawn to certain colours, sunset oranges and reds, and blues and turquoises. She feels colour is what makes the world alive and beautiful. Colours to her represent variety and difference, and many tones of colours together make a rich and diverse world.
She is passionate about the energy and feelings of colours and moments of joy that come from feeling connected to life. Moments in life contain beauty in many forms, be it visual beauty, the beauty of togetherness, laughter, fun, new ideas, synchronicities, different elements coming together in harmony.
Learn more about Corinna here.
Gallery Opening Times:
Monday: 11am – 3pm
Tuesday: 1pm – 3pm
Wednesday: 1pm – 3pm / 6pm – 8pm
Thursday: 1pm – 3pm
Friday: 1pm – 2pm

BMJazz Katz Big Band Workshops
2023-06-04 16:00 - 2023-10-01 18:00 | Monmouthshire
BMJazz Katz is a new project which aims to give young people the opportunity to play together in a big band.
It is open to those who play any instrument, including voice, to a ‘reasonable level’ for their age. With some flexibility, BMJAZZ KATZ is open to those aged 12 to 19 years. Each BMJAZZ KATZ project will last for one year, with a brand new project starting the following year. The 2023/24 programme will start with a workshop on Sunday 4th June 2023 (4pm to 6pm) and thereafter two per month.
It is accepted that some workshop dates will not work for everyone but Sunday 1st October will be an important one, as it will include a performance at the 2023 wall2wall jazz Festival!
The workshops will be run by three great young established musicians, overseen by Jack Mac, with guest tutors joining the programme during the year.
DATES:
Sunday 4th June, 4 – 6pm
Sunday 25th June, 4 – 6pm
Sunday 9th July, 4 – 6pm (followed by a performance)
Sunday 6th August, 4 – 6pm (followed by a performance)
Sunday 3rd September, 4 – 6pm (followed by a performance)
Sunday 1st October – WALL2WALL JAZZ FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
Spaces are £8 per workshop.
For more info and to reserve your spot, please email us info@blackmountainjazz.co.uk
Please include: age, instruments played and a contact phone number.
We can’t wait to get started!

Suitcase Theatre presents The Good Person of Szechwan
2023-05-26 19:30 - 2023-05-27 21:30 | Monmouthshire
Suitcase Theatre presents The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht in a version by Tony Kushner.
Suitcase Theatre Company presents Bertolt Brecht’s classic exploration of the clash between money and morals.
How is it possible to be good and survive in a society where everybody is out to make a fast buck?
Performed in a new version by the American dramatist, Tony Kushner (best known for “Angels in America”).
Thursday May 25th
Friday May 26th
Saturday May 27th

£11
Entry by pre-booked tickets only, available via the Company’s website:
www.suitcasetheatrecompany.com

Black Mountain Jazz Session - Jonny Bruce Organ Quartet
2023-05-21 19:30 - 22:30 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Brilliant trumpeter Jonny Bruce and his new Organ Quartet

Jonny Bruce is a superb trumpeter, based in Bristol but with a national reputation. He is fluent in the whole history of jazz trumpet as he demonstrated some years back in his Trumpet Kings project, in which he covered pieces from Louis Armstrong through to Freddie Hubbard. For this Hammond organ based line-up Jonny has put together a more hard-bop and Blue Note style set, including tunes from Horace Silver, Roy Hargrove and Stan Getz.

Joining Jonny in the front-line is the highly rated tenor saxophonist Greg Sterland who will be playing at the club for the first time. The line-up is completed by two young musicians who make a big impression; the superb keyboard player Guy Shotton and on drums it’s Alex Goodyear, who is becoming one of the most in demand players on both the Bristol and Cardiff scenes.

Tickets available from The Black mountain Jazz Box Office

Poetry Upstairs
2023-05-16 18:30 - 21:30 | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Established Monthly Poetry Session in the Melville bar, hosted by Ric Hool. Bringing local and international poets to Abergavenny to celebrate the art of words and the story of our time that is expressed by current poets. £5
This Months Guest Poets:
Xavier Panadès has produced a striking bilingual collection of poetry that explores the world of Catalan exile, where the themes of the environment and belonging mix with intensely personal experiences and wider political reflections.
Catalan born Xavier Panadès I Blas was brought up in a peasant family and educated to the revolutionary values of solidarity, justice, and freedom. This led to Xavier to have been involved in social-political and environmental movements since the mid-1980s.
Xavier has been instrumental in the internationalisation the culture of the Catalan Lands. He has been stunning audiences for the last 20 years with his explosive performances in Catalan around the globe.
He is known for his passionate performances of poetry and stories.He is the author of the book of poetry in The Ear of Eternity (Francis Boutle: 2019), and his work is regularly published in international journals. Xavier is also a great interpreter of poetry in Catalan, Castilian, and English and his live interpretations are often backed with music.
Kelvin Corcoran lives in Brussels. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, including New and Selected Poems, For The Greek Spring from Shearsman, and most recently Facing West, 2017, the Medicine Unboxed sponsored Not Much To Say Really, 2017, Article 50, 2018, Below This Level, 2019 and The Republic of Song, Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, (America) 2020, and Orpheus Asymmetric, 2020. 2023 will see the publication of his Collected Poems and Transparent Blue of Everything, a collaboration with the artist David Rees.
The sequence ‘Helen Mania’ was a Poetry Book Society choice and the poem ‘At the Hospital Doors’ was highly commended by the Forward Prize jury 2017. His work is the subject of a study edited byAndy Brown, The Writing Occurs as Song, 2013 and is discussed in The Return of Pytheas: Scenes from British and Greek Poetry in Dialogue, Paschalis Nikolaou, 2017. Kelvin Corcoran has also edited an account of the poetry of Lee Harwood in Not the Full Story: Six Interviews with Lee Harwood, 2008. He’s the co-editor with Robert Sheppard of The New Collected Poems of Lee Harwood.
Jonathan Richards is a former general practitioner and Health Board Clinical Director. He has been writing poems for twenty five years. He participated in the Masters in Writing course at the University of South Wales in 2015-2017.
He was commended by the Hippocrates Poetry Competition in 2019 for his poem ‘Rapids’.
His poems have appeared in anthologies including Red Poets, These Are The Hands, The Saccharin Poetry collection Vol 1 and Onward/Ymlaen.
His first collection was River Days, a collaboration with an artist Ruth End. Published in 2019. His second, published in June 2022, is Fall, Falling, Fallen.

FOLK TALES - Race The Rain
2023-05-12 19:00 - 21:30 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Race The Rain are a Brecon-based band, playing powerful and uplifting indie folk.
Led by Rose Segal, Race The Rain came together in the Black Mountains and conjure the magic of the landscape through ethereal vocals, driving bass and earthy percussion.
Drawing influence from both obscure sources and more renowned acts, such as Ben Howard, expect a passionate and engaging evening of powerful music!
Rose Segal – Vocals
Matt Lodge – Guitar
Jack Segal – Double Bass
Jon Pilgrim – Keyboard
Shane Healey – Percussion
Jamie Langford – Drums

Instagram – racetherain_music

Facebook – Race The Rain

Black Mountain Jazz Session - YETii
2023-04-30 19:30 - 22:30 | Monmouthshire
BMJ welcome ‘Yetii’ for this very special one off gig.
Yetii are an acoustic jazz trio playing original compositions. The music combines flowing melodies with expansive group improvisations, interlocking grooves and evolving soundscapes.

“instinctive and impressive ★★★★” The Jazz Mann
“a trio of fluent and wildly inventive improvisers” London Jazz News
“this is music that becomes like a friend as you journey with the trio through contrasting moods, textures, and tonal colours” At the Barrier (Album of the Year)
“their own impressive brand of improvisation-rich, acoustic, Scandi-flavoured jazz” Bristol247

Expect an intimate set featuring several brand new compositions as the band look forward to their second album release later this year.

Alex Veitch – piano
Ashley John Long – double bass
Alex Goodyear – drums

Find out more here
Doors at 7:30pm. Performance begins at 8pm

Celebrating Greenham Common: A Craftivism and Memory Share Coffee Morning
2023-04-30 09:30 - 13:00 | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Join us for a Craftivism & Memory Share Coffee Morning hosted by Greenham Women Everywhere and Scary Little Girls!

Drop in to the cafe area between 9.30am – 1pm for a relaxed session sharing memories and stories from Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp.

We will be joined by local Greenham Women, Greenham Child Rebecca Mordan and local crafter Pat Besson from Stop and Stitch, who will be running a radical stitching workshop.

All materials and vegan refreshments provided.

Accessibility:
The Melville has disabled parking space, rear door for wheelchair access (please call if required 01873 853167), and a disabled toilet.

If you have any access needs you’d like to speak to us about please email hello@greenhamwomeneverywhere.co.uk

Open Micers Life Stories
2023-04-29 19:00 - 2023-05-20 22:00 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
A series of evenings delving into the histories of our local musicians presented by Richie Rich
Sat 29th April, 6th, 13th & 20th May. 7pm. £4
In this series, The Melville Theatre will welcome popular performers seen around venues over the years. Hosted by local personality, Richie Rich, this series will give everyone the chance to find out the musical journeys of local musicians. Performers will be showcasing material as well as participating in an Q&A.
“I am intrigued, as many other people will be, to uncover the origins of these musicians. This promises to be a great series of entertainment for all!” – Richie Rich

Abergavenny Writing Festival Finale Night
2023-04-22 19:00 - 22:00 | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Writing Fest Finale Night! Comedy, music and words
Tickets are £13.01 (including booking fee) and can be purchased here (link opens in new tab)
Starting with some ‘Wordplay Cabaret’ from Mark Blainey; poetry, songs and stories from Alex Wharton and lo-fi alt-Indie music with Folk and Americana influences from Rona Mac. Join us for an entertaining and inspiring evening with our stellar finale night line-up! Each performance will be punctuated with a break and the opportunity to share the buzz with fellow audience members in the Melville bar.
Mark Blayney
Wordplay Cabaret: Yoga for seagulls! Michael Caine! The world’s first poetry magic trick! A quickfire blast of comedy, poetry, poetry-comedy and comedy-poetry from the award-winning MARK BLAYNEY. Einstein! A vicar who loves Kylie! The poet laureate goes to the zoo! Get your seat early, because otherwise, someone else will sit in it.
‘I laughed – then frowned as I realised none of these poems rhyme’ – JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH
Mark Blayney is a writer and performer based in Cardiff. His work spans comedy, fiction and poetry. Mark writes fiction, poetry, scripts and journalism. His novella Two kinds of silence won the Somerset Maugham Prize, his poetry has been longlisted for the National Poetry Competition and my journalism won a Wales Media Award.
Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton is an award winning writer and performer of poetry for adults and children. His First Book of poetry for children ‘Daydreams and Jellybeans’ was shortlisted for the Wales Book Of The Year Award 2022, The North Somerset Teacher’s Book Awards, The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards and was named as a National Poetry Day recommended read.
He is widely published in the sector and has collaborated with Literature Wales, Cadw, The National Dance Company Of Wales, Welsh Government, British Council of literature, Welsh Libraries and many schools, trusts and festivals including Hay Festival and Edinburgh International book Festival.
In 2021 Alex was commissioned by Hay Festival to create a poem with children that would be read to Her Royal Highness, Queen Consort at a ceremony held in Hay-On-Wye. Alex’s second collection of poems ‘Red Sky At Night: A Poet’s Delight’ will be published with Firefly Press in 2024.
Rona Mac
Rona Mac is a trailblazer for expression within music. She is a queer Singer-Songwriter bringing us lo-fi alt-Indie with Folk and Americana influences, crafted in her caravan home-studio in west Wales. Her music comes raw and unfiltered, aching with the kind of nostalgia that comes with rural, rugged places. She weaves satisfying guitar-driven riffs with hooky melodies and she shows the ability in her sophisticated lyricism to reach out to people and make them feel. Her strive for depth and grit evokes the singer-songwriter movement of late 90’s as well as contemporaries such as SOAK, Marika Hackman and Holly Humberstone.
Despite music composition and performance being prominent in her life from a very young age, Rona Mac’s project as a solo musician began in 2020 and she has since released a DIY Debut Album ‘Sheelah’ and EP ‘Shades Of Ham’, exhibiting her captivating talent with music production. Her personal highlights of 2022 are plays on primetime BBCRadio1, BBC6Music and Radio Wales, performing at 6music Fest and Boomtown, and getting featured in Clash magazine. Funded by PRS foundation Women Make Music and Help Musicians UK, she will be releasing a new album in 2023, as well as collaborations with artists Dan Bettridge, Minas and Wil Owen.
https://www.ronamacmusic.com/

Events take place at Melville Centre for the Arts, Abergavenny, NP7 5UD. Plan your journey here (link opens in new tab)
