{"id":17309,"date":"2025-10-09T11:06:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/?p=17309"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:06:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:06:41","slug":"press-release-new-project-reimagines-the-folk-songs-of-gower-and-swansea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/press-release-new-project-reimagines-the-folk-songs-of-gower-and-swansea\/","title":{"rendered":"PRESS RELEASE \u2013 NEW PROJECT REIMAGINES THE FOLK SONGS OF GOWER AND SWANSEA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Acclaimed musicians\u00a0Angharad Jenkins<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Huw Warren\u00a0<\/strong>are set to debut\u00a0a new project inspired by the folk music of Swansea and Gower<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this project commissioned by\u00a0Menter Iaith Abertawe<\/strong>\u00a0and supported by\u00a0T\u0177\u00a0Cerdd<\/strong>,\u00a0the musicians have\u00a0researched\u00a0the existing folk songs of Gower and Swansea\u00a0by engaging with the local community\u00a0and consulting various archives.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project shines a new light on existing songs and stories of the area, as well as using the landscape of Gower \u2013 the birthplace of both musicians \u2013 as inspiration for new compositions. The result is a brand-new, bilingual programme blending old and new in a vibrant, genre-defying performance drawing from both folk and jazz influences. The debut performance of this new work will take place at\u00a0All Saints\u2019 Church, Mumbles on Thursday the 6th<\/sup>\u00a0of November<\/strong>. The performance will\u00a0also\u00a0be recorded for prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project has given us a chance to look at some of Swansea\u2019s rich and varied cultural past, and to present a small amount of these stories through music,<\/em>\u201d said Angharad Jenkins<\/strong>. \u201cWhen you think about folk music in Gower, one name comes to mind. Phil Tanner of Llangennith is regarded as one of Britain\u2019s greatest field singers. Phil\u2019s songs were very much those he collected from other people and other places. While we will perform a couple of his songs, we also wanted to highlight some lesser-known folk songs about Swansea itself. Expect to hear songs about the Swansea horse races, the shipwreck at Pwlldu, and some dance tunes hailing from the area. It\u2019s been a pleasure getting to know the cultural heritage of our hometown in this way<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomos Jones, Head Officer at Menter Iaith Abertawe<\/strong>, said \u2013 \u201cThis project is of particular interest to our work as a Welsh language initiative as many of the existing archives and recordings of songs from the area focus on those written in the English language, but records of the Welsh language songs composed in the area are harder to find.\u00a0By presenting them alongside the English language songs,\u00a0this project\u00a0will\u00a0help give them\u00a0equal status and fully reflect the unique bilingual heritage and nature of the area<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huw Warren and Angharad Jenkins<\/strong> are both celebrated musicians from the fields of jazz and traditional music in Wales. With both musicians hailing from Swansea, it\u2019s natural for the two to explore the music of their hometown and surrounding areas in this project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angharad Jenkins<\/strong> is a fiddle player, songwriter and creative collaborator from Swansea. She\u2019s probably best known for her work in the folk, roots and acoustic world having started her musical career with the award-winning folk band Calan. She\u2019s a passionate player and advocate for traditional Welsh music but is also a prolific composer of new music \u2013 both instrumental folk melodies, as well as new songs. Her debut solo album \u2018Motherland\u2019 was nominated for the 2024 Welsh Music Prize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huw Warren<\/strong> is a pianist, composer and educator. He\u2019s achieved an international reputation for innovative and eclectic music making over his thirty-year career. Equally at home crossing the worlds of Jazz, World and Contemporary music; he has a distinctive and personal voice and has collaborated with a huge variety of artists worldwide. He was awarded the BBC Jazz award for Innovation, and the ACW Creative Wales Award, he has also written for many ensembles including Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Welsh Chamber Orchestra the National Youth Brass Band of Wales amongst others. He\u2019s currently a jazz lecturer\/tutor at RWCMD, Cardiff, and is also head of Jazz Ensembles at Cardiff University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angharad and Huw first came together in December 2020 when they were commissioned by the National Eisteddfod to present new music for the organisation\u2019s \u2018Advent Amgen\u2019 online Christmas programme. Inspired by the old Plygain carols, the duo worked together to arrange and reimagine this traditional material for a full-length album \u2018Calennig\u2019, which was released on the Sienco label in 2023. In December that year, the duo performed live on BBC Radio 4\u2019s Loose Ends programme, as well as a special concert at the RWCMD, alongside a 15-piece ensemble of current jazz students. They have also performed together at the Bath Jazz Weekend, and have received radio play on BBC Radio 3, Radio 2, Radio Cymru and Radio Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets are on sale now \u2013 only \u00a310 in advance<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All enquires:\u00a0<\/strong>swyddfa@menterabertawe.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acclaimed musicians\u00a0Angharad Jenkins\u00a0and\u00a0Huw Warren\u00a0are set to debut\u00a0a new project inspired by the folk music of Swansea and Gower. In this project commissioned by\u00a0Menter Iaith Abertawe\u00a0and supported by\u00a0T\u0177\u00a0Cerdd,\u00a0the musicians have\u00a0researched\u00a0the existing folk songs of Gower and Swansea\u00a0by engaging with the local community\u00a0and consulting various archives.\u00a0 The project shines a new light on existing songs and stories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized-cy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17312,"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17309\/revisions\/17312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mentrauiaith.cymru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}