Llyr Williams
Encyclopedia
Llŷr Williams is a Welsh
pianist.
in Wrexham
, Wales
.
He inherited an interest in opera
from his father, and before the age of seven he was going to performances at Llandudno
and Manchester
. He started with the opera
s of Giuseppe Verdi
, but by the age of ten he had developed a taste for those of Richard Wagner
as well.
He began piano lessons at the age of seven. By the age eleven he had passed Grades I-VIII
, all with Distinction
.
in Wrexham
, and then read music at The Queen's College, Oxford
from 1995-1998, finishing with a First-Class degree and being awarded The Gibbs Prize in Music for outstanding performance in his final examinations. He attended the Royal Academy of Music
as a postgraduate scholar and studied with Michael Dussek, Iain Ledingham, Hamish Milne
, Julius Drake
, and Irina Zaritskaya. He won every available prize at the Academy
and received its highest academic award, the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music (DipRAM)
(2000). Upon graduating he was elected to a Shinn Fellowship (2000-02), during the tenure of which he studied conducting and coaching singing.
. In 2003 he joined the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme
. In 2004 he received an award of £20,000 from the Borletti Buitoni Trust, part of which he said he would spend on replacing the mechanics of his piano
, which had become worn out through being played for six hours each day. In 2005 he received the Outstanding Young Artist Award from MIDEM Classique and the International Artist Managers' Association. In 2009 he was awarded the Glyndŵr Award
for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales
of the June 2005 issue of BBC Music Magazine, performing works by Ludwig van Beethoven
, Franz Liszt
, and Franz Schubert
.
In 2006 he released his first commercial recording, Chopin's
Préludes, on the Quartz label.
His first commercial recording of songs, with Welsh baritone
Paul Carey Jones
, titled Enaid - Songs of the Soul, was released in November 2007 on the Sain
label.
on his tour with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales
.
He has performed at the Edinburgh International Festival
every year since 2002. In the same year he was appointed an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
, a role he continues to fulfil. He made his Proms
début in 2005, playing Schumann’s
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Jiri Belohlavek
. Later that year he appeared in the Mozart Birthday Concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
in aid of the Young Concert Artists Trust
and Amnesty International
. He has also performed in the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Barbican Arts Centre, the Cheltenham Festival
, Amersham Festival, and Gregynog Festival and he has given more than fifty concerts as part of the Live Music Now! scheme.
. He has also appeared on S4C
playing Mozart's
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K467
, Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310
, and Fantasia No. 3 in D minor, K397
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
pianist.
Childhood
Llŷr Williams was born in 1976 in the village of Pentre BychanPentre Bychan
Pentrebychan is a village in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales....
in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
He inherited an interest in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
from his father, and before the age of seven he was going to performances at Llandudno
Llandudno
Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. He started with the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, but by the age of ten he had developed a taste for those of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
as well.
He began piano lessons at the age of seven. By the age eleven he had passed Grades I-VIII
Music examination
Music examinations are a method of formally assessing the accomplishments of pupils learning musical instruments.Although there are music examinations available to school and university students alongside other regular qualifications and assessments, there are also a number of independent bodies...
, all with Distinction
Distinction
*Distinction may refer to:* Distinction is a social force that places different values on different individuals....
.
Education
Williams was educated at Ysgol Hooson in Rhosllannerchrugog and Ysgol Morgan LlwydYsgol Morgan Llwyd
Ysgol Morgan Llwyd is a Welsh Medium school in Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is the first, and only Welsh Language Secondary school in Wrexham County Borough. It is named after the renowned seventeenth century Welsh author Morgan Llwyd. The school has been open at its present location, Cefn Road,...
in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
, and then read music at The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
from 1995-1998, finishing with a First-Class degree and being awarded The Gibbs Prize in Music for outstanding performance in his final examinations. He attended the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
as a postgraduate scholar and studied with Michael Dussek, Iain Ledingham, Hamish Milne
Hamish Milne
Hamish Milne is a British pianist known for his advocacy of Nikolai Medtner.Milne studied at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury and then at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he now teaches, and later in Italy under Guido Agosti...
, Julius Drake
Julius Drake
Julius Drake is an English pianist who works as a song recital accompanist and chamber musician.-Biography:Drake was educated at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music; he made his professional debut at the Purcell Room in 1981 and developed a special affinity for the music of Robert...
, and Irina Zaritskaya. He won every available prize at the Academy
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
and received its highest academic award, the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music (DipRAM)
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
(2000). Upon graduating he was elected to a Shinn Fellowship (2000-02), during the tenure of which he studied conducting and coaching singing.
Further awards
In May 2002 Williams was selected for representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust. In the same year he won the Critics' Prize at the Edinburgh International FestivalEdinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
. In 2003 he joined the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme
BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme
BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme was devised by BBC Radio 3 Editor Adam Gatehouse and launched in 1999. It exists as part of the BBC's commitment to nurture young musical talent. Every autumn six to seven young artists who are beginning to make a mark on the national and international...
. In 2004 he received an award of £20,000 from the Borletti Buitoni Trust, part of which he said he would spend on replacing the mechanics of his piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, which had become worn out through being played for six hours each day. In 2005 he received the Outstanding Young Artist Award from MIDEM Classique and the International Artist Managers' Association. In 2009 he was awarded the Glyndŵr Award
Glyndwr Award
The Glyndŵr Award is made for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales. It is given by the Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust to pre-eminent figures in music, art and literature in rotation...
for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales
Recording
Williams appeared on the cover CDCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
of the June 2005 issue of BBC Music Magazine, performing works by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, and Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
.
In 2006 he released his first commercial recording, Chopin's
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
Préludes, on the Quartz label.
His first commercial recording of songs, with Welsh baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
Paul Carey Jones
Paul Carey Jones
Paul Carey Jones is a baritone opera singer.-Education:Jones attended Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf...
, titled Enaid - Songs of the Soul, was released in November 2007 on the Sain
Sain
Sain , in full – Recordiau Sain Cyf is a Welsh record label, which was in the Welsh folk revival....
label.
Concert engagements
Early in 2007 Williams performed at eleven venues in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on his tour with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both a broadcasting orchestra and national orchestra.The BBC NOW has its...
.
He has performed at the Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
every year since 2002. In the same year he was appointed an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....
, a role he continues to fulfil. He made his Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
début in 2005, playing Schumann’s
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Piano Concerto (Schumann)
The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54, is a famous Romantic concerto by Robert Schumann, completed in 1845.Schumann had begun several piano concerti before this one: In 1828, he had begun one in E-flat major; from 1829-31 he worked on one in F major, and in 1839, he wrote one movement of a concerto...
with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
conducted by Jiri Belohlavek
Jirí Belohlávek
Jiří Bělohlávek is a Czech conductor. His father was a barrister and judge. In his youth Bělohlávek studied cello with Miloš Sádlo and was later a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
. Later that year he appeared in the Mozart Birthday Concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
in aid of the Young Concert Artists Trust
Young Concert Artists Trust
Young Concert Artists' Trust is a charity which identifies, supports, nurtures and promotes outstanding young classical musicians based in the United Kingdom....
and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
. He has also performed in the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Barbican Arts Centre, the Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National...
, Amersham Festival, and Gregynog Festival and he has given more than fifty concerts as part of the Live Music Now! scheme.
Media coverage
Williams was the subject of a documentary film, Y Pianydd – Llŷr Williams on Sianel Pedwar Cymru (Channel Four Wales) (S4C)S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
. He has also appeared on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
playing Mozart's
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K467
Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart)
The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed on March 9, 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, four weeks after the completion of the previous D minor concerto.- Structure :There are three movements....
, Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310
Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310/300d, written in 1778 is a sonata in three movements:#Allegro maestoso, common time#Andante cantabile con espressione, F major, 3/4#Presto, 2/4A typical performance takes about 22 minutes....
, and Fantasia No. 3 in D minor, K397
Fantasia No. 3 (Mozart)
Fantasia No. 3 in D minor, K. 397 is a piece of music for solo piano composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782. Despite being unfinished at Mozart's death, the piece is nonetheless one of his more popular compositions for the piano...
.
Sources and further information
- BBC Singer of the World in Cardiff
- Borletti Buitoni Trust
- 'Llyr Williams - A Pianist of Genius' on the S4C website
- News Wales: Wales orchestra tunes up for US tour
- Dorset County Council Sound of Sunshine project
- Artists' Biographies: Llŷr Williams, programme for the Mozart Birthday Concert (Queen Elizabeth HallQueen Elizabeth HallThe Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
, Sunday 30 January 2005), p. 10 - Oxford University Faculty of Music Prize Information
- Oxford University Gazette, Nov 1995 - Award of Gibbs Prize
- Sain website