Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
hyrwyddo a dathlu cerddoriaeth Cymru
promoting and celebrating the music of Wales
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CotM interview
Leading figures from Welsh Music ask the composer about his life, work and his hopes for the future
Mari Pritchard
Co-ordinator of National Music Service Wales
During your early years in North Wales, at what age did music become a prominent pathway for you? Were there any influential teachers or figures that inspired and supported you what would your advice be to any young person thinking about pursuing a career in music?
Music was always in our house, but at nine I had an ‘awakening’ and really felt the need to study music and composing, Mari.
There were lots of influential teachers in my schools – both at classroom level and in the instrumental service who were incredibly supportive. The amount of amazing work that was done in schools in Wales and continues to be done by instrumental teachers needs to be recognised much more. It is a life-saver for many students. William Mathias of course was a big influence and help early on.
For any young student feeling that they might want to pursue music either in further education or as a career, my answer will of course be, do it! Don’t be afraid that you might fail or that you’re not good enough. We all think that. Music rewards what you give it. The world has plenty of accountants and lawyers, but it needs many more musicians to sing our songs, play the greatest language ever invented, talk beyond our century both backward and forwards. Music teaches us – as do most of the arts – what it is to be human, what it is to live, to interact with others and the world, to dream… In the words of Stephen Sondheim, "If I cannot fly, then let me sing"…
Composer and Lecturer at the Cardiff University School of Music. Shortlisted for ISCM World New Music Day 2026 Welsh section.
When teaching composition, how do you draw on your own creative experiences to connect with students and help them develop their individual voices?
I always begin a session with a new student by asking them what they want from me. I don’t believe, of course, that one can teach ‘inspiration’, but one can teach ‘technique’. We, as teachers, can help them find the tools to find their voice, if that’s what they’re seeking. Helping them see many options for a musical idea is one such help. Also, ‘development of ideas’ has often been the one thing younger composers can have issues with.
Showing them what I have done and what others have done in a similar situation can, sometimes, help them unlock a solution to their own problem. Though, to be honest, I often learn as much as I teach in a tutorial. Sometimes, we find solutions together.
Laura Sinnerton
Viola player with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Her album, Inner Voices (NMC) features six new works for solo viola by emerging composers.​​
What is your process for developing pictures into sound for a project like Wonders of the Celtic Deep?
I've really enjoyed writing music for TV and film because, often, the form is given to you in the script and on the screen. With the fabulous four-part BBC Wales nature series, Wonders of the Celtic Deep, I had a dream job - creating, in sound, the birds of Wales, the sea creatures, mammals and humans who work on and around the sea. I was able to create my own 'sea symphony' in many ways. The difficulty, of course with the sharks, is not to sound like the Jaws music!
Captain Sir Norman Lloyd Edwards
Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan from 1990 to 2008. Among his many current roles is that of President of the Welsh Music Guild.
You are often asked to compose anthems or other liturgical settings for Royal occasions — What inspires you to choose the words and compose the music? Is the task more difficult knowing the request has come from a member of the Royal family?
I have had the great honour of writing anthems and motets for a number of important State occasions over the last fifteen years and, it never gets any easier. In fact, it gets harder. The words are often given to me, as is the ‘type’ of piece which is needed – i.e. ‘a reflective anthem for the start of the Eucharist’ and, of course, the words also lead you down a particular artistic direction. Also, knowing which performer will perform your composition also influences your choices. For example, knowing that Sir Bryn Terfel was the soloist for my Coronation Kyrie meant I knew exactly the type of piece I wanted to write – a showcase for him that calls upon all of the great Welsh hymns of old.
But, knowing that you are composing for a major State occasion and for the Monarch can be very daunting indeed. I try to write the piece straight away! This helps me. Of course, I go back and re-work things; but, getting an idea almost the moment you come off the phone is the only way I can stop myself becoming overwhelmed by the occasion.
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Conductor, Educator and Entrepreneur.
Robert will conduct the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong at HK City Hall in October. In 2026 he conducts NEW Sinfonia in their groundbreaking community opera Gresford: Up From Underground, composed by his brother Jon Guy.
​You have spoken previously about how the text immediately sparks your imagination and provides something concrete to work with when writing for choirs. What is your inspiration and process for composing orchestral music where there are no words?
I often cheat when writing chamber music and orchestral music and have a poem, or piece prose or painting that inspires the work. Nothing of mine, even my four symphonies are ever really abstract to me. They may be to others, but to me they are always inspired by other art works or landscape, as choir music is by poetry or prose.
Deborah Keyser
Director of TÅ· Cerdd
How has your role as an educator impacted on your own music?
Music is not a static art and is constantly developing and talking to itself. I find that every piece I write comments upon the last and asks questions to the next. And, this is what it is with teaching. I find in teaching, I learn and in learning I can help students more and in turn that helps me. It's a strange thing but really, we're all in the business of constantly educating ourselves and teaching is an amazing way of doing that. So, my work as an educator constantly forces me to look deeper at my own work.
Conductor and Artistic Director of Presteigne Festival
​As Artistic Director of the North Wales International Music Festival and a much-celebrated composer yourself, do you intend to programme and promote the music of early career and lesser-known Welsh composers at St Asaph?
I do indeed and have already done so. I got my break, as a teenager with a festival commission and know how very important it is. In my two festivals (2024 and 2025) since taking over from the fabulous, Ann Atkinson MBE, I commissioned seven pieces from young (and not so young composers), many of them born or living in Wales and featured music by lesser known and more well-known Welsh composers. Nowhere near as many as you, George - you must have the record! But, a good start for us. It’s crucial that we continue to do that.
Iwan Fox
Founder and Editor of 4barsrest.com​
You have maintained a strong connection to the brass band world over many years, most recently through your St Asaph Festival, but also with a welcome reprise performance of your 'Fantasia on a Theme of Purcell' at the 2025 RNCM International Brass Band Festival. Do you have future plans to continue this musical link, and if so, can you tell us more?
I was made President of the world renowned, Foden’s Band in 2023 and have been working with them very closely, Iwan. This month they will premiere a new, major work of mine for brass band, ‘Tranquil Abiding’. There is a move to perform this in several places and record it.
And, we have established a ‘brass band’ night at the North Wales International Music Festival which has seen Foden’s and the Black Dyke Band perform for us already and that will continue with more band in the future and, I have to say, it has proven incredibly popular with two sold-out concerts.
Composer, Conductor and Educator
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Eilir's new work Adre' Dros 'Dolig / Home For Christmas will be premiered by Cor Ifor Bach at Capel Bethlehem, Gwaelod y Garth 7 December. He will direct Cor CF1 at Barry Music Festival 7 November and at the launch of the Choir's new CD at St Teilo's Whitchurch 5 December.
​As a composer rooted in Wales yet celebrated internationally, how does your Welsh identity shape your choral music?
That’s a fascinating question, Eilir. When I was younger, I really didn’t believe that it had; however, having lived for twenty-five years in Scotland and recently returning to live in North Wales – hearing the call of the mountains deep in my soul – I can see, feel and hear that it is essential to who I am and what I write.
I now hear the seas in my music, I hear the long bass-lines of the male-voice choirs, the longing, lamenting minor keys of loss which is part of the Welsh soul and the true warmth of its people. I hear the penillion in my vocal solos, the decorated ornamentation from our folk music in my accompaniments, and the cydganu in my unison writing and, of course, the over-reliance on the harp as an accompanying instrument. But, you know, I never did any of it consciously. It found me and spoke to me through subterranean passages of my soul, ear and genetics.
Rhiannon Mathias
Scholar, flautist and Director of the Women’s Work in Music Conferences ​​
How much of an influence was my father, William Mathias, as a role model for you when you were growing up in North Wales?
This is a very good question, Rhiannon. William was an immense influence, not only musically, of course, but also his work as a performer and festival director. I adored his energy and work ethic, something I've tried hard to emulate.
Growing up in North Wales at that time, he really showed me what a composer in the community really meant - reflecting the community and landscape in sound. I was always impressed that he could compose a small choral anthem with the same technical brilliance as a large concerto or symphony.
Gillian Green
Artistic Director at Fishguard Festival of Musi​c. In 2015 Gillian was awarded an MBE in recognition of her 25 years leading Live Music Now in Wales.
Dearest Paul, you are probably in the throes of planning your third festival in St Asaph, what are the joys and challenges of this work?
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Wishing you a very happy birthday! Penblwydd Hapus!
Thank you so much, Gillian. You know well the joys and difficulties of running a festival of course! Well, the joys are pretty straightforward - bringing top musicians into my home town and engaging with local, Welsh musicians and helping create synergies between the two - there is such joy in this. And, in our workshops and masterclasses, seeing young North Wales musicians rubbing shoulders with the likes of Joseph Calleja and Rebecca Evans and how much this means to them and how much the young musicians learn.
The difficulties / challenges are easy to mention and well known to us all but, we have a fabulous team at the North Wales International Music Festival that is brilliantly supported by the City Council and County Council and the Cathedral and some wonderful private sponsors. Long may that continue!
Composer
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John's string quartet, Towards Silence, will be performed at King’s Place, London on 29 November 2025.
Do you think we are living and working in a healthy, vibrant musical culture and are you optimistic about the future of music in Wales?
There are quite obviously massive challenges facing music and culture in Wales (as there is facing music and culture in the UK as a whole). I don’t need to list all of them here as we live them daily as I am sure you are only too well aware of, John; however, seeing (and hearing) so many young composers now coming from Wales, being educated in Wales, and making Wales their home gives me a massive sense of optimism.
Despite the lack of funding, the closure or suggested closure of institutions, the energy and vibrancy of our people, our young, won’t be silenced. It is our job, as custodians of the arts in this time, to help in every way that we can to ensure more is done to help them.