Record turnout at Tenby International Music Festival's second year

AUDIENCE numbers trebled as the Tenby International Music Festival staged its second year. The 2026 festival brought international musicians and composers to the Pembrokeshire seaside town for four days of concerts, new music and community events from August 13-16.

The Festival, which was founded in 2025 by Welsh musicians Thomas Mathias and Dominic Ciccotti, welcomed artists from Wales, England, Scotland, France, Japan and the United States, as it continued its ambition to establish Tenby as a destination for world-class music while maintaining a strong connection with the local community.

Six events took place across the four-day Festival, ranging from major evening concerts at St Mary’s Church to a free open-air performance in Tenby town centre and an interactive children’s concert, ‘Colours of the Coast’ at Tenby Museum & Art Gallery.

The 2026 Festival featured Welsh violinist and Co-Artistic Director Thomas Mathias, Welsh pianist and Co-Artistic Director Dominic Ciccotti, Japanese pianist and Artistic Adviser Yuki Minami, violinist Hana Mizuta-Spencer, violist Gordon Cervoni, and cellist Zachary Owen.

They were joined by Welsh composer Katie Jenkins and American composer Kian Ravaei, Director of the Festival's Composer Fellowship.

One of the highlights of the Festival was a collaboration between the visiting musicians and the Tenby Male Choir, bringing together the Festival's international outlook with one of the area's longstanding musical traditions in an opening evening concert at St Mary's Church.

In a review, Festival Patron Robert Smith wrote: “Community is perfectly represented by Tenby’s ever popular and very much loved Male Choir. The choir shared an evening of music with the festival musicians. An instance of musical synergy if ever there was one! The choir very thoughtfully had learnt, and sang, the Japanese national anthem in honour of pianist Yuki Minami.

“That was something of a summary for the four days as a whole - a great internationally inspired party for audience and participants alike.”

Other programmes took audiences on musical journeys across Europe and beyond. Prague to Paris: A Piano Journey Across Europe featured music by composers including Mozart, Liszt, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Elgar and Dvořák, all “under the magic spell of pianist Yuki Minami’s poised and scintillating playing.” – Robert Smith.

Fire and Fiddle: An Evening of Hungarian Music celebrated music by Dohnányi, Bartók, Brahms and Monti, “all its variety and emotional intensity brought marvellously to life by all the festival’s extraordinarily talented musicians.” – Ibid.

A major development in the Festival's second year was the Tenby International Composer Fellowship, which attracted an extraordinary 256 applications from 39 countries.

Just three composers were selected for the inaugural Fellowship: Fiona Frank from Wales and Bea Carr and Will Stackpole from the United States.

The tuition-free programme, directed by American composer Kian Ravaei, provided the selected composers with professional development, workshops with musicians, and performances and professional recordings of their music.

All three had their work performed in the festival’s thrilling finale concert which also featured the work of other contemporary composers including Kian Ravaei and the Welsh composer Katie Jenkins, who divides her time between London and the US and whose music was very aptly described in the programme note as ‘evocative of her Welsh heritage and infused with the dynamic energy of New York City’. 

Festival Co-Artistic Director Thomas Mathias said:

“We want Tenby to become a place where outstanding international artists, emerging musicians, and the local community come together. We're enormously grateful to everyone who has supported us, and we're already thinking ambitiously about where we can take the Festival next.”

Co-Artistic Director Dominic Ciccotti said:

“As someone from the Tenby area, it is particularly special to see the Festival growing so quickly. We want to build something the town can be proud of: bringing exceptional musicians to Tenby while ensuring that the Festival remains welcoming and accessible to everyone.

"Seeing our audiences treble in just one year has been incredibly encouraging, and we’re excited about what that could mean for the future.”

Robert Smith added:

“Tenby is fortunate indeed to have this young festival with its quality, inclusiveness, international perspective and ambition set to carry it confidently forward over the years ahead.”

In its two years the festival has packed an enormous amount into its concert programmes and wider musical activities. Planning is now beginning for the 2027 Tenby International Music Festival, as the Festival looks to expand its artistic, educational and international programmes and build on its position as a growing fixture in the Welsh cultural calendar.