Pianist Joe Howson has performed with Sinfonia Cymru since 2021 but as an orchestra for players aged 30 and under, it’s time for him to fly the nest and open up a spot for another musician.
To mark the occasion, he curated our concert in Newport and New Radnor in November 2025. We caught up with him backstage before his final concert in New Radnor to reflect on this time with the orchestra.
What has been your favourite Sinfonia Cymru memory?
I don’t have a favourite Sinfonia Cymru memory because every project that we’ve done has just been so, so unique and so great and I’ve had an amazing time on each one.
But at present, my favourite memory is of this current concert patch that we’re doing, not least because I got to curate it and choose the music and it’s been a really lovely way to finish, so thank you.
How has being part of Sinfonia Cymru helped you develop as a musician?
Sinfonia Cymru has helped me develop as a musician in so many ways because every project is something completely new. There are also some things that you very, very rarely get to do as a musician.
For example, I had the chance to play in a larger lineup. I’m usually doing chamber music with Sinfonia Cymru, but when I got to play in an unconducted group of 11 or 12 players, that was really interesting to navigate around and see how everything worked. That was definitely a development.
And, of course, there’s lots of new repertoire that I wouldn’t come across normally and that’s great to learn as well.
What are you planning to do next?
So up next after Sinfonia Cymru I’ve got a lot more chamber music projects on the go. Sinfonia Cymru really helped me develop a love of chamber music playing and I hope that’s where my career will take me.