The first winner of the Alun Sbardun Huws Trophy is Llywelyn Elidyr Glyn from Llanllyfni, Caernarfon.
The trophy is presented for an original song in acoustic style. This was announced at a special ceremony to honour the winners of the music composition competitions at the National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny.
Delivering the adjudication, Emyr Huws Jones spoke on behalf of himself and Bryn Fôn, and said, “This song worked from the very first listen. There are great words and the melody adds to them in a wonderful way. The first response, maybe, was that the song needed a ‘middle 8’, taking it somewhere else musically. But listening to it again, the composer has been brave and clevere, allowing the melody to lie in its simplicity. The kind of thing Alun Sbardun Hughes would have done.
“Four songs stood out and appealed to us more than the others from the very beginning. It was very dificult to choose between them, but we had to and this year’s winner is Llew Blew.”
Llywelyn Elidyr Glyn is from Llanllyfni and was educated at Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, Caernarfon and Bangor University. At school, he started writing with his friend, Meredydd Wyn Humphreys.
He is a former President of UMCB, the Welsh students’ union at Bangor University, and regularly performs with Gwilym Bowen Rhys, having taught himself the fiddle by jamming in the Globe pub. He has been working as a classroom assistant in Ysgol Syr Huw Owen, and he and Meredydd have started performing and composing under the name of ‘Bwncath’.
The Sbardun Trophy will be presented for an original song in an acoustic style. Alun ‘Sbardun’ Huws was one of our most notable composers, and the aim is to mark his contribution to the Welsh language music and literature world.
The winner will receive the trophy, designed and created by artist, Carwyn Evans, to be kept for a year and £500. The trophy and the financial prize have been donated by Sbardun’s wife, Gwenno Huws.