TWO cultures will collide at a highly anticipated concert in Cardigan later this year.

Catrin Finch, a Welsh harpist, will be joined by Colombian joropo band Cimarrón, in Cardigan as part of a July tour.

The tour celebrates the partnership between the musical powerhouses, which has been going on for 16 years.

Catrin is one of the most celebrated harpists in the world and has performed as a soloist and with a number of the world’s leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the English Chamber Orchestra.

She has also collaborated with the likes of Bryn Terfel, Sir James Galway, Julian Lloyd-Webber, Karl Jenkins and Aoife Ní Bhriain. Some of the collaborations have appeared on Universal Records, EMI, Sony Classical and Deutsche Grammophon.

Catrin has also performed at the likes of WOMAD, Shambala, Sfinks, Chicago World Music Festival, Hay Festival and at the Sydney Opera House and BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

Two-time Grammy nominated Cimarrón performs joropo music from the Plains of the Orinoco River in eastern Colombia and western Venezuela, with the music being described as ‘wild, untamed music that preserves the spirit of freedom found in one of the world’s most untouched regions, rooted in a deep tradition defined by the mestizo mixed heritage of African, Spanish and indigenous cultures.’

The group is fronted by Ana Veydo. They blend their Andalusian, Indigenous American and African roots in a powerful force of impetuous and deep ethnic singing, stomp dance and instrumentation such as harp, four-stringed cuatro, guitar-like timple and bandola, maracas, Afro-Peruvian cajon, Brazilian surdo, Afro-Colombian tambora, ancient deer-skull whistles from the Orinoco River and the stomp dance from Los Llanos.

The tour with Catrin Finch and Cimarrón will begin at Cardigan Castle on July 12. The tour is produced by Mwldan and starts at the site of the first National Eisteddfod of Wales. Tickets can be bought at www.catrinfinch.com

Following the Cardigan date, there will be performances in Caernarfon, Bury St Edmunds, Abergavenny, Southampton, Swansea, London and Liverpool as well as festivals in Guiting, Charlton Park, Cambridge and Aberystwyth.