New grassroots traditional music projects announced through Cronfa Tradd

Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias

Cymraeg

The first projects to be awarded funds from Cronfa Tradd have been announced.  17 awards have been made to individuals and organisations, supporting to them turn ideas into activity that helps develop traditional music in communities across Wales.  

Cronfa Tradd is a Tŷ Cerdd scheme, run in partnership with Arts Council of Wales (ACW). The funding comes as a direct response to the Traditional Music Review, a clear finding of which was the need for development of traditional music at a grassroots level.  

The 17 projects represent a broad spectrum of activity and traditions, including: 

• Calon Afan CIC are developing traditional Welsh music activity in Port Talbot and the Afan Valley through workshops, sessions and work with tradition bearers. 

• Patrick Rimes, Ayoub Boukhalfa and Awen Blandford are established artists leading projects that explore Welsh traditional music, North African drumming traditions and community music-making.

• Youth4Change Wales and WOW Wales One World Choir will be creating opportunities for cultural exchange through projects rooted in world traditions and community participation. 

• Menter Iaith Maldwyn, Menter Iaith Abertawe and Menter Iaith Conwy are leading projects with will strengthen traditional music activity through Welsh-language community programmes, schools work, folk clubs and sessions. 

• Caroline Murphy will bring traditional music to new audiences through the creation of the Llangollen Trad Lab as part of the Llangollen Fringe. 

• Angharad Owen and Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias are widening access to traditional music through youth-focused activity and educational provision.

Alongside financial support, the 17 projects will take part in a programme of shared learning throughout the year. Participants will meet regularly to discuss their work, share experiences and reflect on learning as their projects develop.  

The sharing sessions are a central part of the programme, creating connections between projects that might otherwise work independently and providing a space for ideas, knowledge and experience to be exchanged.  

Arts Council of Wales's Director of Arts, Catryn Ramasut, said:

"We talk a lot about resilience and connection in the sector, but it's projects like these that actually build it — workshops in communities, young people discovering their musical traditions, tradition bearers passing on what they know. The Traditional Music Review made a clear case for this kind of investment, and seeing it take shape — from Port Talbot to Llangollen, from Welsh folk clubs to North African drumming — is genuinely exciting. This is what a thriving, connected traditional music sector looks like."

Youth4Change

Tŷ Cerdd’s Traditional Music Development Manager, Jordan Price Williams commented: 

"It has been great to see the range of ideas that came forward through Cronfa Tradd. The selected projects reflect the variety of work taking place across Wales, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop over the coming months. A key part of the programme is bringing participants together to share ideas and experiences, and I'm excited to see what comes from those conversations."  

Together they represent a snapshot of the work currently taking place across Wales's traditional music scene, and the different ways musicians, organisers and communities are engaging with traditional music today.  

Find more information about Cronfa Tradd, here

Complete list of projects receiving Cronfa Tradd funding: 

• Angharad Owen – Clwb Gwerin Caban, Llanrug: monthly folk club 

• Awen Blandford – Tiwns a thê / Tunes & tea: Sunday morning sessions in Mold 

• Ayoub Boukhalfa – Al-Ta'rija Wales: drumming workshops in Wrexham, Narberth and Newtown 

• Calon Afan CIC – Alawon Afan: traditional Welsh music workshops and sessions in Port Talbot and the Afan Valley 

• Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias – Gwerin i Bawb: embedding traditional music across the centre’s provision Gwynedd and Anglesey 

• Caroline Murphy – Llangollen Trad Lab: four days of traditional music activity at the Llangollen Fringe 

• Community Music Wales – Clwb Alawon Cymraeg, Bethesda: delivering Welsh traditional music activity in partnership with local organisations, creating new opportunities for participation and community engagement. 

• Gwawr Mills – Gweithdy Gwerin Llansannan a Glan Conwy: developing opportunities for people in Llansannan and Glan Conwy to engage with traditional music through community workshops, skills-sharing and local music-making. 

• Menter Iaith Abertawe –Welsh traditional music development in Swansea, including schools work, sessions and instrument bank 

• Menter Iaith Conwy – Tradd Tref Conwy: traditional activity in Conwy, including development of folk club and workshops for young people 

• Menter Iaith Maldwyn – Cân yn y Dafarn: supporting and developing Welsh-language traditional music activity through informal community music-making, encouraging participation and strengthening local musical networks in North Powys 

• Patrick Rimes – Cerddorfa Tradd Orchestra: pilot project with two existing community orchestras in Gwynedd and Cardiff to introduce traditional music through classical methods 

• Sam Frankie Fox – Canu Clustog, Barry: singing circle for parents, grandparents and caregivers 

• Tân Cerdd – Tân Music Collective, Cardiff: Neo Soul sessions, rooted in African and Caribbean diasporic traditions 

• Trac Cymru – Cân y Drudwy, Merthyr Tydfil: exploring and sharing Welsh traditional song through community-based activity, creating opportunities for people to engage with and develop confidence in the singing tradition. 

• WOW Wales One World Choir – Musiqaa Itura Tradd: displaced people working in a fusion of musical traditions in Cardiff. 

• Youth4change Wales – Roots in Rhythm Cymru: youth-led Igbo traditional music exchange between Swansea and Cardiff