Community

Trac Cymru’s work in communities has involved people of all ages with an interest in traditional music, song and dance; projects such as:

The Big Experiment – our former flagship weekend for singers, dancers and musicians
Tŷ Gwerin – the ‘house of folk’ is now an integral part of the National Eisteddfod
Session support:
• tutors for established tune clubs and sessions like Dolanog Tune Club in Powys, Sesiwn Fach Caerdydd in Cardiff, and Aberystwyth Tune Club
• new tune clubs, sessions and workshops in Machynlleth, Anglesey, Ystradgynlais, the Vale of Glamorgan, Llandovery, Betws near Bridgend and Narberth in Pembrokeshire
• clogging workshops in Caernarfon, Mold and Denbighshire
• song workshops in Llandeilo, Ystradgynlais and Cefn Cribwr, Bridgend
Mari Lwyd – the ‘vegan option’ for an ancient horse head tradition
Folk arts days – we’ve run whole days like the Aberystwyth day of folk song and Cerdd Dant, the Pembrokeshire days of songs and tunes and the Swansea Day of Morris dance and tunes
Merthyr Tydfil – Pibgyrn workshops, and supporting Canolfan Soar’s Folk Day of sessions, concerts and workshops
Local repertoire – some work has focussed on local connections to songs and tunes such as the work of Ifor Ceri in Powys, the Songs of Pembrokeshire, Alawon Fy Ngwlad based in Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Alawon Llanrwst
Plygain – regrowing this iconic Welsh song tradition
May Carols – teaching the songs and the traditions in Aberystwyth and Cardiff
Coch Bach y Bala – an original ‘folk opera’ by Sioned Webb staged as a community production in Rhuthun

Young People

The rising generations are the future of the folk arts, and our work with young people has been a major focus over the past few years.

Gwerin Gwallgo – Wales’ folk school for young people aged 11-18
Gwerin Iau – folk weekend for primary-age children
The Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales – young musicians 18-25 who perform under the stage name Avanc
Plant Penderyn – working with teenagers in Merthyr Tydfil
Folkworks – nine young Welsh folkies take their music to Durham
Ethno – Sweden’s famous folk school welcomed Wales’ young talent
Degogenod – ten young Welsh female musicians teamed up with Swedish counterparts
Work in schools – song, music and dance workshops in Torfaen, Gwynedd, Cwmtawe, Cardiff and Powys; sessions on the Mari Lwyd in Carmarthen, and a project on the Gypsy tradition bearers with Romany children in Pembrokeshire
Jac y Do – a CD of songs for children, sung by children

Tradiators

We’ve run several events for folk champions and local ‘do-ers’ – our former Director, Siân Thomas coined the term Tradiators for them

Shaking Off The Dust – an international symposium on reclaiming archived music
Tradiators’ Forum days – networking and training for folk clubs and organisers
Music Publishers’ symposium
Researching source material – music collections at the National Library of Wales