Wrexham piano virtuoso takes centre stage at festival leaderlive.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from leaderlive.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A TOP music festival that’s going virtual for the first time in its history will be paying homage to globally renowned harpist Osian Ellis from Flintshire who died earlier this year. The 2020 Wales Harp Festival had to be cancelled at the last minute following the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic but this year the organisers are determined that the show will go. In a marathon effort of ingenuity and technical know-how, from their headquarters in Caernarfon, Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (William Mathias Music Centre) orchestrated a way to transfer the entire programme of festival events online. They were more determined than ever that the 2021 festival on March 30 and 31 should go ahead because it is dedicated to the memory of Osian Ellis, who passed away in January, aged 92.
Festival pays homage to Flintshire harp legend leaderlive.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from leaderlive.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A switch to online classes because of the covid crisis has enabled an acclaimed music centre in North Wales to provide lessons around the world. Among the tutors at Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (William Mathias Music Centre), which has bases in Caernarfon, Denbigh and Ruthin, is internationally renowned harpist Elinor Bennett who is now teaching one of her young protégés 7,500 miles away in the Welsh colony of Patagonia in Argentina. The long-distance tutoring through the medium of Welsh is a dream come true for talented teenage harpist Helen Green who loves the lessons with her music idol. The centre has managed to continue to conduct 65 per cent of its one to one lessons since the coronavirus pandemic struck.
A SWITCH to online classes because of the covid crisis has enabled an acclaimed music centre in North Wales to provide lessons around the world. Among the tutors at Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (William Mathias Music Centre), which has bases in Denbigh and Ruthin, is internationally renowned harpist Elinor Bennett (below) who is now teaching one of her young protégés 7,500 miles away in the Welsh colony of Patagonia in Argentina. The long-distance tutoring through the medium of Welsh is a dream come true for talented teenage harpist Helen Green who loves the lessons with her music idol. Within a week of going into lockdown in March, the lessons moved online – something that also allowed the centre to extend its reach well beyond its traditional heartland.