Blogs

Darren's new country/pop orientated track "Lovin' You" from the album "Matters Of The Heart" has just received a 'commended entry' position in the 2009 UK Songwriting Contest.Darren has had a great run in this contest:winner 2004 ("Reality"), semi-finalist 2005 ("Everything But You"), semi-finalist 2006 ("Stay"), semi-finalist 2007 ("Lost") and finalist 2008 ("Slippin' Away")The contest is judged by among others; directors and senior executives of The BRIT Trust, The Guild of International Songwriters and Composers, The Music Aid Organisation, The World Music Foundation, The Music Aid Awards Academy, The International Song Copyright Agency, many independent producers and executives, experienced songwriters, music journalists and authors, members of music qualification examination boards plus specialist panels and judges provided by The BRIT Trust and the BRIT School.Listen to "Lovin' You" on music player or follow links on main page to listen/buy...

Thursday 10th September - 15 year old Welsh born Siobhan Owen won the "Junior Vocal Championship" (ages 14 to 18) at the Adelaide Eisteddfod in Australia. The entrants had to sing an Italian Aria, English Art Song and a song by an Australian composer.

Dear Americymru-ersGreetings to you all from a Welsh woman from the South Valleys living in Uruguay in South America since 2000. My band has just launched our first album, and I thought some of you may be interested! Traditional folk from the British Isles meets Buenos Aires melancholy meets Pampas zamba Trelew is a town in the Patagonian region of Argentina founded by Welsh immigrants in the 1880s. They speak Welsh there to this day. Trelew the band blends traditional music from the British Isles with original compositions that explore the links between the old country and South America, and features musicians and sounds from the River Plate region.For those of you on Facebook, I wanted to let you know that Trelew now has a Facebook page. We have just started and would really appreciate it if you'd help us get started with our "friends" list - we're looking very unloved right now We're on Facebook and MySpace where you can find four of the songs from our first album which is out this month. And if you like the music, the CD is available in the States on independent record distributors' CDBaby.com Looking forward to hearing from the wider Welsh American community and enjoyKarenxx

Millbrook Cottage of Llangenny, Wales, opened in late July 2009 and has been doing great business ever since, they were recently reviewed in the Observer on Sunday and last week saw the unveiling of their new website at MillbrookCottages.com !Please read below and if you are interested in booking be sure to visit the site and mention the Americymru group to receive 10% off.Millbrook Cottage, the first of two luxury rural retreats located in the heart of the Brecon Beacons, has started to welcome its first guests. The holiday cottage is run by Gill Jones and daughter Samantha, whilst son, Gareth has helped launch their company with a fantastic website and internet marketing campaign. The new business has got off to an excellent start by attracting a travel correspondent from a National newspaper and earning some early praise in The Observer. Annabelle Thorpe who wrote the piece Great British EscapesThe vale of Usk said Millbrook Cottage is a newly renovated cottage with a delightful garden that feels miles from anywhere.We opened Millbrook Cottage for business in late July 2009 and have been fully booked ever since. The feedback from visitors has been fantastic and we are thoroughly enjoying playing host to tourists coming to the area. We plan to start renovating the stone barn near the cottage shortly and hope that this will boost business further said Gill Jones, the owner.Millbrook Cottage sleeps 5 in 4 well-appointed bedrooms. The house has a kitchen/diner and utility room fitted with washing machine, tumble dryer, fridge freezer, dishwasher, oven and hob. Downstairs there is also a comfortable sunroom, living room with original cast-iron range, a single bedroom and modern shower room. Upstairs has 2 single bedrooms, a master bedroom and a newly fitted bathroom. All bedrooms feature wardrobes, bedside tables and dressing tables and quality linen and towels are provided. The cottage also boasts a flat screen TV with basic Sky, DVD player, CD/radio with AUX connection and wireless broadband. A travel cot and high chair can also be provided if required. Externally there is a spacious garden, parking for up to 3 vehicles, a BBQ and seating area. Nestled in a tiny hamlet of only 4 other houses, and surrounded by stunning countryside, Millbrook Cottage offers the best of both worlds; a rural, picturesque and tranquil setting yet only a few minutes drive from Crickhowell or Abergavenny in the heart of the Brecon Beacons. This fantastic location makes Millbrook Cottage an ideal base for an energetic, adventure holiday or for those needing a break from the hustle and bustle. Millbrook Cottage is the perfect place from which to explore the stunning Brecon Beacons. Cycling, walking, pony trekking, climbing and kayaking are just a few of the activities on our doorstep. Its rural location also makes the cottage a fantastic retreat for bird-watching and wildlife enthusiasts. Come and visit Millbrook Cottage and explore the dramatic Black Mountains, climb the famous Skirrid Mountain and enjoy the wonderful hospitality of the local pubs and renowned restaurants including The Crown at Whitebrook (Wales only Michelin-starred restaurant), The Walnut Tree and The Hardwick.Visit us at MillbrookCottages.com . Remember if you are interested in booking to mention the Americymru group and receive your 10% off.

Just a quick note to let people know that line no 123 in the Hedd Wyn petition has been voided ( http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?heddwyns&151 ). Thank you to all members who expressed concern about this. We apologise for the length of time it took to correct it. Please continue to support the petition in order to ensure a favorable conclusion to this important campaign. Read the latest update from Huw Davies HERE .

Sign the petition HERE

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Americymru was pleased to receive the following communication from Y Lolfa today. Y Lolfa is one of Wales' leading printers and publishers. As well as a huge list of Welsh books they sell English books of Welsh and Celtic interest and resources for Welsh learners. Please find details of their most recent promotional offer below:-

Dear Editor, Before the end of the year Y Lolfa intends to publish a new edition of Welsh Names for Children by Heini Gruffudd. Since it was first published in1980 naming children in Welsh has become more and more fashionable with many new and original names emerging. In order that this new edition is as up to date and useful as possible, Y Lolfa would appreciate if readers could suggest new Welsh names that are not included in the current edition of the book. We will send a copy of the book to anyone that sends us a name that we feel is suitable to be added to the 2009 edition of Welsh Names for Children.Please send your suggestions, along with your address, to anwen@ylolfa.com Yours sincerely,Anwen Howard

New Issue of WelshArtNow "We are pleased to announce the September issue of WelshArtNow www.welshartnow.org is out now . This month's featured artist is Wendy Yeo. Wendy was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Wales. Working in water colour and employing Chinese brush methods she sees the Welsh landscape with a fresh vision. Artist Paul Matosic asks how artists are coping in the current recession. There are artists who are able to make a living from their art alone but they are very few and far between. For the majority an art's practise has to be supplemented by part time work. Some artists do not make saleable' work and might be totally dependant on support from arts council funding. Are these grants still flowing as freely in the present climate? Paul considers all these questions and reaches some interesting conclusions. We bring an interesting story from over the border, of how artist Gabriella Falk sought to bring fresh interest to a museum collection by creating a new art work in response to it."

Pittsburgh hosts national festival celebrating Wales and its peopleMonday, September 07, 2009By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAmerican Festival of Wales at Point State Park.At some point in life, after it has sunk in that you are Welsh, you have to figure out what to do about it. One option is to do nothing; the Welsh are so well blended on the American palette as to be nondescript.Another option is to join the choir.It's exciting to walk into a gathering of people who all revere the same little place, especially knowing they can harmonize on pitch at the drop of a hat. The annual North American Festival of Wales -- held over the weekend at the Downtown Hilton -- felt like Wales in a jar. There were enough native voices to flavor the air, and even American-born voices had lilt.Garnet Roth, the outgoing publicity chair of the St. David's Society of Pittsburgh, began seeking publicity for the festival -- the first one in 20 years to be held in Pittsburgh -- several months ago. She had the good sense to pitch to a Jones.The red dragon flag of Wales flies over my front door, but Wales has always been just a fun idea, a thread of ancestry dragged through Appalachia for centuries on my father's side. Now, after two days of lurking about my fellow Welsh people, I feel the pride of tribe."It's a little bit the underdog thing," said Jeannine Lanigan of Edgewood. "I'm English and Irish, too, but they don't need me."As opening ceremonies began in Point State Park Thursday, she heard the Welsh national anthem played by Northampton County's Bangor Area High School band and hurried out of the hotel carrying her Welsh-English hymnal. A crowd of about 75 had already assembled, standing in song.David Siegel, 24, of Shadyside showed up, too. He lived in Wales as a foreign exchange student, he said."It was the best time of my life. When I saw this in the paper, I thought, 'I can't miss this.' "The festival in North America follows the annual singing competitions traditional to Wales. No one has a satisfying explanation for why the Welsh are such strapping singers; it's one of our mysteries. People walked along the halls of the hotel singing, some quietly the way people absently whistle, and some people hummed in the elevator.This festival included a bus tour of Pittsburgh, a trip to the Welsh Nationality Room, which opened last year at the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, and heritage groups' displays of efforts to promote what's Welsh about the world.Cindy Durkee of Holiday, Fla., wore a black stovepipe hat she had made of felt and lace, and she cradled a dulcimer. Her husband, Clark Owen Parry, also carried a dulcimer. They are learning Welsh as members of the Welsh Society of the Sun Coast in Florida.The tradition of women wearing tall black hats comes from the days when Norsemen commonly invaded when they thought the men were away on fishing trips. When the men were away, the women wore these funny hats, which must have distracted the Norsemen from noticing anything beneath them.Rob Willis, a storyteller, said his mother was born in Greece, and on her side he is also Jewish, but the Welsh lines of his father are the reasons he dresses in a perched hat reminiscent of a beret, a kilt, leggings, a plaid blanket, belts and heavy pins. His shield depicts the red dragon symbol of Wales."This is not authentic," he said about his get-up. "I look around for things that could contribute to a semi-convincing fifth-century ensemble." He got his shoes, which have vented toes, from www.medievalmoccasins.com.The host of the festival, the St. David's Society of Pittsburgh (www.stdavidssociety.org), mails to about 500 people and counts 225 dues-paying members. Like all heritage groups, it longs for young members.Megan Landmesser, the 30-year-old president of the Plymouth Cambrian Society, has taken on that role in Wilkes-Barre, a stronghold of Welsh-Americans. In fact, Wales contributed more immigrants to Pennsylvania than to any other state. Most came to escape poverty and work in coal mines and iron works."My mother started dragging me to these things before I wasn't old enough to say no," she said. "I just have such a feeling for the culture, the music, the literature and the struggles the Welsh people have gone through.""Welsh was looked down on," said Sian Frick of Newark, Del.She grew up in England, completely Welsh on her mother's side, and as a child wondered why she could take French but not learn her mother's language."It wasn't good for job prospects," she said. "But today, you can go to court and have your case heard in Welsh, and many parents who haven't heard Welsh since their grandparents are sending their children to Welsh schools. The percentages [of Welsh speakers] are going up. Now it's a good idea to be bilingual."Ken Davies, a retired physicist, came to Pittsburgh from his native Wales in 1962 to work for the Westinghouse Research Lab. His singing voice could make you believe he has made his living singing. He is otherwise reticent, smiling politely when asked how it affects him to hear the hymns of his homeland. "The word is 'hwyl,' " he said.Does he miss Wales?"Oh yeah," he said, almost breezily. "The word is 'hiraeth.' "A person can feel hwyl if he is part Welsh or not Welsh at all. Ms. Roth read "How Green Was My Valley" in the sixth grade and would never be just Scots-Irish again, she said."I'm not Welsh, but I think I have been to Caernarfon Castle more times than the Prince of Wales."Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09250/996113-51.stm#ixzz0QPNz1y6Y

The Morriston Orpheus Choir Supporters Association sponsors an annual Young Welsh Singer of the Year competition with the winner being awarded ,1000 ($1636). The competition was held in Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston Swansea. Catrin hails from West Wales and is studying at the prestigious International Academy of Voice in Cardiff with Dennis ONeill. She previously studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), Cardiff, and the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), London, gaining a Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction. Whilst at RWCMD, she won the first Dame Shirley Bassey Vocal Award, the Sir Geraint Evans Scholarship and the Elias Prize. She also won the RAM English Song Prize. She represented the UK in the final rounds of the Montreal International Singing Competition in May this year and, in August, won the Towyn Roberts Scholarship at the National Eisteddfod in Bala. Other awards include the DISS Advanced Opera Scholarship and she was a finalist in the Stuart Burrows Competition.As winner, Catrin was presented with the MOCSA Trophy, sponsored by Gravells Renault of Kidwelly, and the The Ivor E Sims Memorial Prize of 1,000, donated by the Choir.The other three finalists, who contributed to a wonderful competition, Menna Cazel Davies, Osian Gwynn and Rhian Lois, each received an inscribed plaque and a cheque for 300.

The Old North, still alive as memory even in the fourteenth centuryI have been redirected recently to return to the poetry of Ap Gwilym, the Welsh poet that stands within a European context as much as in a Cymric one. (I am thinking of the work of Chotzen). My reference is to the first few poems of Dafydd Ap Gwilym of the collection Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym by Thomas Parry.This places the poet in the traditional fabric of the concerns of 12th and 13th century bardic verse. Among these poems are the ones to Ifor Hael. I shall not be concerned with the historical accuracy of Ifors existence but point to old notions held as best as I am able.It points to the interdependence of poet and patron, their mutual co-existence. As in Taliesin, the patron is unrivalled and seen as a model of excellence. Ifor Hael is compared to the generosity of Nudd, Rhydderch and Mordaf, the three great nobles of Britain. What I find interesting is that Ap Gwilym compares Ifors home to that of neuadd reged ands almost seems to put himself in the role of another Taliesin.O nawdd rugl, neuadd regedBendith Taliesin wingostA bery byth heb air bostA flowing protection, the hall of Rheged, Taliesins blessing, expended on wine will ever endure without a word of boast.Reward from Ifor puts Ap Gwilym into recollection of the Old North as a poetic reference. In the marwnad to Llywelyn we find another reference.Deifr helgud- one who harasses the men of Deira.So Dafydds audience would have been familiar with the transmitted notions of the glory of the Old North, its old concepts of praise poetry, perhaps distant but still somehow preserved among poets, as memory.Ap Gwilym moved on to perfect the cywydd, championing both cywyddau mawl and cywyddau serch, the latter perhaps forming something of a more personal nature though not losing the tint of praise poetry(How far does something remain personal once it becomes public anyway?). The praise poetry shifted from patron to desired lover.It is apparent that even at the time of Ap Gwilym (fourteenth century) the Old North remained as a nod to past glory.Marwnad-an elegy, a lamentCywydd mawl- a cywydd in praise of a patronCywydd serch- a cywydd in praise of a lover cf. RhiengerddCywydd-couplets of seven syllables used within a system of cynghanedd(I do not propose to explain that here). An example is:Gwelais long ar y glas liYn y gwyll yn ymgolli