Yesterday both a sad and a happy day when I left my post at one of Wales’ finest food companies; Blas ar Fwyd, in Llanrwst.  I have been working with my colleagues there two days a week for the last two years as the webmaster, and marketing person. I can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the work there! This past two years were my second stint at the company where I previously worked as a PA to the DM back in 2001. 

Over the Christmas period I’d thought and thought of what I wanted to do next and what plans were coming for the future. Being somebody who doesn’t like to sit still, I enjoy performing, teaching and travelling and therefore something had to go to make way for all the new plans!

I left on Thursday 16th Feb, and threw myself straight into the hard work of selling myself, my music and my CDs.  Piantel had a concert last night with guests at Henllys Hall, Beaumaris. Annette and I both enjoy working together as and we have a lot more in our repertoire to offer our audiences. We are travelling down to Clacton on Monday for a concert… all the details are on my webpage diary! This concert we’re told has sold between 700 and 800 seats to last Sunday which is a fantastic boost to our confidence and hope we can wow the audience with our programme!

My latest project is of course the new Harp Duet ‘Arpe Dolce’, a harp duet with a difference… Anghard Wyn Jones and I love a Jazz side of the music and both of us are keen to show off what we can do with the harp to everybody… we want to wow our audiences with the fantastic sounds a harp can create and persuade some sceptical people that a harp is not ‘just a classical / traditional instrument’

I have two CDs to add the finishing touches to within the next couple of months… one is of course our Piantel CD and the other is my own solo album, the third solo album…. there’s plenty to keep me out of mischief over the next few weeks I’m sure!

Keep checking my web blog and diary folks…. more to follow very soon and don’t forget to ‘like’ this post, the Dylan Cernyw Fan Page and Arpe Dolce fan pages Facebook

Esmor Davies has invited the 100-strong choir, who touched the nation with their 2011 hit Wherever You Are and gained the coveted Christmas No. 1 spot in the charts, to sing at Llandudno’s Venue Cymru.

Click here for the full story….

Why not take a look at their website here

for more information about the new duet please see this page..

 I’ve just returned form South Wales.  I was taking part on the S4C programme Wedi 7 in Llanelli.  I was a guest on the programme talking about my work, concerts, up and coming tours, concerts, and projects.  

Newydd ddychwelyd o’r Dé. Roeddwn yn cymryd rhan ar raglen S4C, Wedi 7 yn Llanelli. Roeddwn yn westai i John Hardy ac yn cael y fraint o siarad am fy nghwaith, cyngherddau a phrosiectau sydd ar y gweill!

I had a few recitals over the Christmas period as well as the annual concert of the William Mathias School Services held at Bangor Cathedral. The Senior Harp ensemble did us all proud and to put even more pressure on they were performing two of my own arrangements of Welsh Christmas carols, a big thank you to them! 

New Years Eve was a really busy time for me as I finished the year off in the company of friends, colleagues and some celebrities….. I was performing at ‘Gwesty’r Castell’ in Caernarfon where it was more of a sing along session. In other words they hum it and I played it. A good old Welsh evening / Noson Lawen style affair, nothing formal at all about the evening. I finished off at aroung 2.30am with a hand covered in blisters and a clear head (what a change for a New Years Eve!)

So…what will 2012 bring? 

Well have a look at my schedule on the ‘Live Events’ section which has some dates for concerts, recitals and various other performances. I’ve also got some new projects on the go (more details to follow)

Its been a while since I last wrote my blog….. been a bit busy with different things but never mind its better late than never!

Last week was the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and as one of the official harpists at the Festival it was a busy week for me between competitions, concerts and doing some personal PR stints with Annette Bryn Parri as ‘Piantel’.

During the week I was accompanying 4 different competitions, solos, parties and choirs and as usual they were of a very high standard.  I was accompanying the Cerdd Dant section which is an very unique way of singing here in Wales.

As I was working for the week I decided to take my caravan to the Eisteddfod so I did not have to travel back and forth along the A55. My  caravan (and awning) had been the centre of attention during the week as highlighted on Caryl & Dafydd’s Radio Cymru Breakfast Show…. The awning did not fit the caravan and was all saggy and limp (see the photo!!)…..all good PR I guess!

On the Thursday night I was taking part and was a member of the band for the Concert held at the Pink Pavillion (Main Eisteddfod Stage).  This was a concert celebrating the 150 years of the Eisteddfod.  The concert was hosted by Cefin and Rhian Roberts, of Ysgol Glanaethwy, who’s choir was in the final of the BBC series “Last Choir Standing”.

During the evening there were performances by not only one but three of the Ysgol Glanaethwy School choirs, as well as soloists performing from the school.  We had the main choir that was of course the Ysgol Glanaethwy Youth Choir, then we had the Ysgol Glanaethwy Youngsters (age up to 14), then finally the new choir under the Cefin Roberts lead known as Da’Capo.  This Choir / small choir is formed of some of the Cefin and Rhians former students who have left Glanaethwy to pursue careers in acting / singing and performing……

By having the three choirs together under one roof, a live band and all this being conducted by Cefin Roberts, you have one spectacular concert / evening entertainment.  This was recorded for the BBC to be screened on S4C in the near future and I can tell you now that it is going to be well worth putting on your SKY+ record!

After a late Thursday night concert I returned back to the Caravan getting myself ready for a busy Friday on the field and on stage.  Here I had 2 competitions to play for with my co-accompanist (2 harps accompanying together for the choirs).  In the morning (9am start) we had 12 parties singing which meant we accompanied in the rehearsal, the preliminary section, and finally on the main stage again (x 12) in the afternoon. All this of course done  under the bright stage lighting and heat in the pavilion – all 12 parties competing for the First Prize and Cup to take home.

When this competition finished we had a bit of a break before starting again but this time to accompany the choirs.  Here we had three very large choirs (all female choirs this year for some reason) singing to the accompaniment of 2 harps, with no conductor!  This is the thing with Cerdd Dant, you can’t have a conductor when singing / performing / competing which means getting it right, first time! All three choirs sang brilliantly in the primary section then they all sang again in the Pavillion for the First Prize. The largest choir I think had 90 singing the same time and I’m pleased to say they were all in tune with no conductor which is a great task for any choir and I’m sure the MD/Conductor was very happy with the performances.

Accompanying Cerdd Dant is something that I do enjoy doing (whatever the papers have said in the last few months!) as you have to know the rhythm of the words, the meaning of the words and have an idea of how to “set words to the harp piece” (Gosod Cerdd Dant).  Not only this, but you have to write the harp piece out in different Key Signatures so that the Soloist/Choir/performer has the chance to sing the piece in his/her correct Key for their voice.  So for all this a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ preparation work has to be put in before you go on stage to accompany anybody, which means a lot of practice in the 6/7 different Key Signatures on the harp (for each piece).

That was my week at the Eisteddfod…….

Oh no I forgot….As well as accompanying for the Cerdd Dant Section, and the Thursday night concert I was actually competing as well (yes I do sing sometimes!)

This year three of my good friends and myself decided to compete in the Cerdd Dant Quartet Competition and as the piece we were singing was about “The Harp” / Y Delyn we decided it was very appropriate to compete!

The Quartet members were Elfed Morgan Morris (Can I Gymru Winner / Composer / Singer and harpist), Catrin Angharad Roberts (Ysgoloriaeth Bryn Terfel Winner as well as other Top Prizes at the Eisteddfod / Singer) and Esyllt Tudur Davies (Llwyd or Bryn / Main Blue Ribbon Competition / Singer ) and myself.

One of my friends Sioned Webb (Perdoneg Music Company) Musician / MD / Harpist / Pianist arranged the words for the harp piece and arranged the four part voice to go with the harp piece. We were competing on the Wednesday lunchtime and had been rehearsing for 2 weeks on and off at my house. 

We arrived for the competition and there were four trios/quartets singing  for only three places on the stage…..so it was crunch time.  We sang (quite well from all the feedback received from friends and relatives – then they would be biased!), then had to wait for the others to perform. We got our space on stage (which meant we had to sing again on the Big Pavillion stage in the actual competition to beheld later on).  When that time came I feel we sang a lot better this time compared to the preliminary although not quite well enough to win as we came second. Second is still a win and we were very pleased with our performance and were happy to come second to Triawd Berfeddwlad who in fairness have been performing together for years.

This was our first attempt as a quartet which has given us the taste for it and would love to compete again in the future. The third prize went to our great friends (and one of them related to Elfed).  As I keep saying to my pupils – its not the winning that matters, but the enjoyment in taking part in something you enjoy.

All three parties on the stage were good friends before and after the competitions.  Thank you Sioned for the work you put in! Oh another fact – we had a few suggestions for names but were not sure what, so we went for ‘Pedwarawd Pen y Bryn’ (as in the pub near my home) so hopefully a few free drinks there for putting their name on S4C …. ;o)

The link below will open a new page to the S4C Video of the three parties singing.

Well that really was the week at the Eisteddfod (complete with the lovely caravan and awning).  I’ve got a lot to do now after this including the Piantel CD to finish, as we need 4 more tracks to put down in Sain, and also my own CD.  Im busy rehearing for that now and some concerts, and tours coming up.  Watch this space and keep checking the diary for more upcoming events!

Well, its time for another blog entry – I have not written one in a while, my apologies!

Its been a busy few months to be honest! It all started off in Ireland representing Wales over the Easter Holidays as a music and harp judge.

The Pan Celtic Festival is held every year in Ireland, and this year event was in Dingle again and I traveled over with the Welsh choirs.

One of the competitions I was judging was the international song contest which included the successful “Can i Gymru” song, sung by Tesni Jones “Rhiwyn yn Rhywle” written by Brigyn. Brigyn came with us to Ireland and performed their winning song as Tesni was not able to attend to represent Wales for the event.

Brigyn came first in this competition although I was not allowed to judge the Welsh song (for obvious reasons).

The events are not all about competitions and there is a lot of fun to be had there. The highlight of the week is the Welsh Night on the Friday night, where all the choirs (this year we had about 5 choirs from Wales) perform at the venue, soloists, bands, dancers. I performed a solo as well and so too did Gwenan Gibbard the other Welsh judge at the festival – and as a special treat we performed a harp duet for the audience – a harp duet on the same harp, which you have to see and hear to believe it. Above all its all good fun though!

After retuning home it was straight on to rehearse for the Urdd Festival – this year held in Swansea. I was down as an accompanist for the Cerdd Dant section  – so a busy week there.

It did not stop after that. between everything its been one thing after the other.

Being a soloist in concerts, its great to meet up with different people. This month has been one where I’ve performed with about 7 different choirs… and I’ve enjoyed each and every one of them.

My first concert with the Male Voice Choirs was on May 26th with the Penrhyn Male Voice Choir at St Johns Methodist Church, Llandudno.

My second concert was in Ystradgynlais, Nr Swansea on May 28th.  I was taking part in a concert with Côrdydd from Cardiff, alongside Catrin Angharad Roberts, David Doidge, Llio Evans.  We set off at about 10am from Colwyn Bay to get down to Swansea, performed at the concert and drove all the way back. This was a concert i really wanted to be part of as it was organised by Aled Hopton – again an old friend and it was all in aid of a very good cause.  See the previous posts in the blog for more information and don’t forget to take a look at the gallery pages for some photographs!

There was no rest for me on the Sunday 29th as I was performing at a wedding of a friend of ours, Sophie and Greg from Colwyn Bay, who were getting married at the Family Estate in Nercwys. Later that afternoon we traveled back down to Swansea as I had arranged a piece for a harp ensemble from Conwy and they had gone through to the finals at the Urdd National Eisteddfod, so I went along to support Lisa Butler and her girls (and tuning 5 harps for her) all good fun!

What happened next? – oh yes, we traveled back up north for a few days for other work commitments, then yet again another trip down, Wednesday 1st June where we stayed until the Saturday. This time I was accompanying the Cerdd Dant Section at the Urdd Eisteddfod and we had lovely weather – helps a lot during the Eisteddfod week.

Then on Thursday 9th June, I was back in Llandudno at the St John’s Methodist Church and performing with “The Dalesman Choir” from Derby – They were here performing concert tour up in North Wales, The Venue was full with all the seats taken!

On the 11th June it was time for the duet PIANTEL to perform.  This was a concert arranged by the Glyndwr Male Voice Choir, held at St Asaph Cathedral – three choirs, Piantel and Ann Atkinson Mezzo Soprano.  Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir, Bro Glyndwr, and a guest choir from Holland. The finale was brilliant with all three choirs singing “Gwahoddiad”!

The last concert of the week was on Sunday 12th June.  This was in Criccieth with Côr Eifionydd, and Côr Aelwyd Chwilog with Piantel.  Côr Eifionydd are celebrating 25 years of being together and were releasing a new CD as part ot the Anniversary Celebrations. Piantel were invited to perform but Annette couldn’t be present at the last minute so I gave a Solo recital so not to let the Piantel followers down!!

It was back home to check the diary and complete a harp arrangement for the HarmoniX Trio I perform with.  We have a special anniversary party celebration coming soon and we are are performing, so I’ve arranged a piece especially for the Trio to perform at the party.

I’ve got a few more concerts this month so I have plenty more rehearsing to do as well as now thinking about preparing for my new CD to be released in October (ish) more details to follow on that – and Piantel are going into SAIN to record in July for a September/October release as well – so plenty to do!

Right enough for today! I think I’ve brought you all up to speed with things as they are at the moment….keep checking out the blog and also make sure you check out the diary pages regularly for information on upcoming events and don’t forget you can contact me with the links on the site if you would like more information or a booking for your event.