AVANC was the first iteration of our National Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales. During the pandemic, 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. As lockdown came to a close, we also launched a full online concert broadcast live from Theatr Soar in Merthyr.
National Library of Wales: Exploring the Archives
An important aspect of traditional music is researching and discovering music that has been collected by musicologists of the past. The National Library of Wales holds an extensive collection of manuscripts containing such music, much of which has been digitised. AVANC spent several sessions with Nia Mai Daniel, Head of Manuscripts, Visual Images, Maps and Music Unit at NLW, exploring their digital archives. Many of the tunes found in this incredible resource have made their way into AVANC’s repertoire, and we have collated those tunes and presented them here! Each melody was chosen by a member of the project, and you can find copies of the tunes in their original manuscripts reproduced with permission. For more music in the collections of the National Library, click here.