Glain Dafydd from Bangor, North Wales won the Urdd Gobaith Cymru Bryn Terfel Scholarship 2011 in a concert at Dragon Studios, Pencoed near Bridgend on Sunday, 25 September. The Scholarship, worth £4,000 was presented to Glain at the concert shown live on S4C.
Glain (19), a former pupil at Ysgol y Garnedd and Ysgol Tryfan and the William Mathias Centre claimed the prize after impressing the six judges with her performance of Au Matin by Touriner, La Source, Albert Zabel and Impromptu by Reinhold Gilère following a master class with harpist Ieuan Jones.
Glain is accustomed to performing and competing both in Wales and internationally. She has already won Tlws y Telynor and the Urdd’s Simms Scholarship as well as the Blue Riband at the National Eisteddfod, Blaenau Gwent 2010. In the same year she was very close to winning the BBC’s Young Musician competition and the Royal Overseas League. She is now studying at the University Normale de Musique de Paris under Isabelle Perrin. Glain also recently appeared as a member of the British Youth Orchestra at the Proms at the Albert Hall.
Glain said, “Winning the Urdd Gobaith Cymru Bryn Terfel Scholarship is a key milestone in my career. It has been a privilege to take part in a competition supported by Bryn Terfel, which is recognised as one of Wales’ foremost Scholarships. Being part of the competition reflects the high musical standards which I’m trying to achieve as a harpist and it’s important for two reasons: the first is the practical, financial support and the second is to raise my profile as a performer – that’s priceless. I’d like to recognise the vital part the Urdd has played in my career as a performer over many years which reaches a pinnacle with this particular competition.”
Aled Siôn, Director of the Urdd National Eisteddfod said, “Once again the competition for the Scholarship has been great with an impressive performance from each of the competitors. The eight competitors gave exceptional performances and I would like to congratulate Glain on her success. We look forward to following Glain’s career in the future.”
