National Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales

In 2018, Trac Cymru invited a group of Wales’ most talented young musicians to come together to create Wales’ first national Youth Folk Ensemble. The ensemble aims to train young traditional musicians aged 18 - 25 in performance skills, which will help them into a career as professional folk musicians as well as representing Wales’ folk music on major stages. The first iteration of the ensemble was AVANC. This group come from all over Wales, with most of them having first met at our annual youth folk course Gwerin Gwallgo. From there, the ensemble provided a next step up for musicians older than Gwerin Gwallgo’s age range of 12-18.

Under the artistic direction of Patrick Rimes and tutor support from Sam Humphreys and Gwen Màiri, the ensemble built a high-quality set of material reinterpreting traditional Welsh music for new and modern audiences. Following intensely-packed rehearsal weekends, they took this music to festival stages including Cwlwm Celtaidd, Tafwyl, Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau, Festival Interceltique de Lorient, the National Eisteddfod and Gŵyl Werin Hydref.

During lockdown, the group attended a series of online skills-development sessions delivered by industry professionals. Their learning was documented in a short film for Creative & Cultural Skills Cymru, which explored roles in the wider music sector such as sound engineering and graphic communication. During this time, AVANC recorded and released 2 tracks with a newly developed brand identity, and began the creation of their debut album released under Trac Cymru’s label.

AVANC are now an 11-piece band, featuring a line-up of fiddles, harps, whistles, guitar, percussion, pipes, voice and step-dance, continuing to wow audiences at home and internationally. Keep up to date with them via their socials which you can find via their website www.avanc.cymru

White text 'AVANC' on red background.

This project was piloted by Trac Cymru in 2017/18 with support from the Arts Council of Wales and the National Lottery. From 2018-20 the ensemble was supported by the Colwinston Charitable Trust.

Musicians from AVANC performing on a stage under a large tent with a crowd of spectators at Festival Interceltique de Lorient.
Band AVANC performing with various instruments including a harp, keyboard, clarinet, guitar, and violin in a studio setting with stage lighting and fog effects.
Group of young musicians from AVANC posing with traditional instruments like harps, cello, accordion, violin, and guitar, with a scenic landscape in the background.