12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Harbour set to come alive with song and opera in SPAN's Big Sing
Massed choir and street art opera to take centre stage at Saundersfoot
SAUNDERSFOOT Harbour will be transformed into a vibrant stage of sound and colour on Friday, May 24, as SPAN Arts hosts its much-anticipated Big Sing event—bringing together choirs, composers, filmmakers and street artists in a spectacular free celebration of music and creativity.
The evening begins at 7:30pm with the grand premiere of Songs of the Land, a new choral work by Pembrokeshire-born composer James Williams, performed live by a massed choir made up of singing groups from across the county. The piece is the final outcome of SPAN's Love Stories to Nature commission—a year-long project exploring people's personal and collective connections to the Welsh landscape.
The choirs involved in the commission have helped shape the composition by contributing their own stories and reflections about their relationship with the land. The result is a moving musical work that not only celebrates community, but also documents a shared experience of place, memory and identity.
As darkness falls, audiences will be treated to a dramatic shift in tone as Music Theatre Wales presents two newly commissioned Street Art Opera films—Rahmat–Mercy–Trugaredd and Out of Time—projected onto the side of the Saundersfoot Coastal Schooner.
Both pieces fuse music, animation, street art and storytelling to deliver operatic experiences rooted in contemporary themes. Rahmat–Mercy–Trugaredd, inspired by Sufi spirituality and hip-hop culture, follows a young woman's journey to empowerment through creativity. The work blends henna art and graffiti with a soaring operatic score to powerful effect.
In contrast, Out of Time offers a darkly comic vision of a post-human world where nature has reasserted its dominance. As the Earth reclaims its beauty, the opera asks whether it's too late for redemption.
Organisers say the event is designed to be accessible and inclusive, with no tickets or booking required. The performances are part of a broader effort by SPAN Arts and Music Theatre Wales to take high-quality cultural experiences beyond traditional venues and into the heart of local communities.
A spokesperson for SPAN Arts said: 'This is a truly special evening—one that brings together voices from across Pembrokeshire, world-class artists, and cutting-edge storytelling in a setting that's hard to beat. We hope people of all ages will join us to celebrate the power of creativity, nature and community.'
