A Pembrokeshire teacher’s musical showcase – which sold out at the Torch Theatre earlier this year – is coming to Tenby in August.

Lisa Shelmerdine Richards, a music teacher at Haverfordwest High, decided to create the show to fulfil her dream of performing her own music live on stage with an eight-piece band.

It was such a success that she and her musicians are doing it all over again – with some extra special guests.

The band will have the same line up fronted by Sarah Benbow, Emilija Kaijacks and Joe Morgan and this time will be joined by Carreg Las String Quartet. They will also be joined by a very special young choir who have been put together especially for this evening. Representing many different comprehensive and primary schools from the local area, the group will premiere a brand-new song, written by Lisa for the evening and directed by Emilija Kaijaks.

Children from Pembrokeshire Schools who will be taking part in the Tenby concert with Lisa Richards.
(Pic supplied)

The concert will take place at St Mary's Church Tenby on Thursday August 10, starting at 6pm.

“Many of us in the band are teachers and we were all passionate about creating an opportunity for young people to get to sing new music, live with a band. Hopefully this will create a long standing memory for them and they will want to keep performing in the future,” said Lisa.

Lisa has loved composing music since she was a child, and during 2020, set herself a personal challenge to release one piece of new music each month. When the pandemic hit, Lisa increased this challenge to writing 20 pieces of Music in 2020.

Amongst Lisa’s many compositions is a piece of music written for the West End of Wales Orchestra which was featured on BBC Radio’s Roy Noble Show, Radio Cymru and ITV News. She embraces a diverse range of styles, including jazz, rock, pop, musical theatre, country and contemporary classical.

“I truly love writing anything and everything,” added Lisa. “I feel blessed also that I can write for such a diverse range of instruments having spent my childhood immersed within such a musically rich area in Wales”

Cash purchase tickets for the Tenby concert will be available on the door which will open at 5:30pm. They are £10 a ticket and £25 for a family ticket to include two adults and two children.