The Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Wind Band have struck it rich with a cash award for their hard work in boosting the profile of Welsh music.
The young musicians have been awarded £500 in this year’s W S Gwynn Williams Award, announced at the Annual General Meeting of Ty Cerdd – Music Centre Wales, in recognition of their promotion of music from Wales on the international stage.
The Youth Wind Band was commended for the inclusion of works by Welsh composers in its programme at the gala concert of the New York Wind Band Festival at Carnegie Hall, New York in March this year.
The 82-strong band performed Dolbadarn by Gareth Glyn, Sospan Fach by Gareth Wood and Euphonium Concerto by Karl Jenkins with international euphonium virtuoso, David Childs as well as premiering its wind orchestra version of Jurassic Coast by Derek Bourgeois, commissioned by the youth wind band with additional funding from Ty Cerdd.
Avril Harding, Chair of the Ty Cerdd Executive Committee, praised the hard work of the young players over the last two years not only for raising funds to attend this prestigious festival in New York but also to gain the necessary musical standards to undertake such a demanding and challenging programme, adding that the critical acclaim that the Youth Wind Band received for their Carnegie Hall performance was tantamount to the magnificent achievement they had made.
The W S Gwynn Williams award will help secure new music for the band to challenge and further develop members’ musicianship over the next year. They are now aiming to compete in the regional festival of the National Concert Band Festival in Monmouth in November and if selected, will go on to represent Wales at the finals to be held in Glasgow next April.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “Congratulations to all the young members of the Youth Wind Band, and of course their tutors, whose tireless work and commitment has contributed to this recognition. It’s absolutely fantastic that young musicians from Cardiff and the Vale performed at Carnegie Hall earlier this year – what an experience for them all.
“The talent and skill of these young people is tremendous and it is clear from their invitation to perform at such a prestigious event that the youth wind band are very highly regarded.”
