PERFORMERS come from all over Europe and beyond for the closing weekend of this year’s Gŵyl Machynlleth Festival including Welsh star soprano Elin Manahan Thomas celebrating the centenary of the Dolgellau-born composer Dilys-Elwyn Edwards at 1pm this Saturday, August 25.

Edwards was a prolific composer of some of the finest songs in the Welsh language mostly reflecting her love of nature and the human voice.

Elin will be accompanied on the piano by Jocelyn Freeman with the concert staged at the Tabernacl venue for all the festival events.

The Irish mezzo soprano Ann Murray, one of the superb singers of our time, leads this year’s Masterclass with her wit and passion for music inspiring the talented young singers who take part tomorrow (Friday).

The public are welcome to watch the morning and afternoon sessions, leading up to a concert at 5pm and Ann talks with critic Christopher Cook at 6.15pm about her career which has included singing with English National Opera and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and across Europe and North America,

Festival performers-in-residence Bulgarian pianist Plamenta Mangave, with Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson and Romanian violinist Mihaela Martin, played a concert of Beethoven sonatas on Thursday lunchtime and they return at 7.30pm tonight with a concert of music from Eastern Europe.

The 2018 festival ends on Sunday evening, August 26, with Christopher Cook talking about Robert Schumann as the 'Composer as Critic'; before the final concert at 7.30pm of works by Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms and Tcherepnin, played by Russian violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and Ukranian viola player Maxim Rysanov, with Dora Kokas on cello and Wu Qian on piano.

Other concerts on Saturday and Sunday feature the Serbian pianist Aleksander Madzer and the outstanding young pianist Maya Irgalina from Belarus.

Also tomorrow (Friday) there is the presentation of the Glyndŵr Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales to the musician and composer Sir Karl Jenkins; and a 10pm performance of Poulenc’s one-act drama 'La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice)' by mezzo soprano Christine Rice with pianist and festival director Julius Drake.

Saturday’s late 10pm show is 'The Cabaret to End All Wars' with vocalist Jessica Walker and pianist Joseph Atkins, performing cabaret songs from the era of the end of the First World War, 100 years ago.

For tickets to the various events, contact the box office on 01654 703355.