TWO leading lights from the Welsh folk scene will be take centre stage at the North Wales International Music Festival’s first dedicated folk night for more than 10 years.

World-renowned trio Awen Celtica will be joined by chamber-folk band VRï for what promises to be an exciting and eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary Welsh folk music at the two week long festival at St Asaph Cathedral on Friday, September 27 at 7pm.

Awen Celtica, which was formed in 2016 by long-time friends and Welsh folk exponents, Siân James, Sioned Webb and Arfon Gwilym, have been trailblazers for the genre, both as a band and as individual artists.

James said: “Welsh folk is definitely not seen as niche music anymore and it is a very exciting time for the scene right now and festivals such as the North Wales International Music Festival are essential in giving Welsh folk music a wider profile, particularly to younger and new audiences.”

Both James and Webb have a long connection with the festival, having been taught at Bangor University by the festival’s founder Professor William Mathias.

James added: “When the three of us play together, the items have a more traditional flavour with harps and folk singing, but Sioned and I like to experiment with two pianos, so the festival audience can expect a really interesting cross-section of vibrant Welsh folk music.”

Denbighshire Free Press:

VRï members Patrick Rimes, Jordan Price Williams and Aneirin Jones. Picture: Trigger Happy Creative

Joining the trio are VRï, a young three-piece 'Welsh Chamber folk music' band who recently scooped the Best Album gong at the Wales Folk Awards 2019, with their debut album Tŷ Ein Tadauas well as the best traditional song for Ffoles Llantrisant, which has also been nominated in the best traditional track category at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Brining an intergenerational dimensional to this fantastic pairing, James formerly taught fiddle VRi player Patrick Rimes of Bethesda the piano when he was a teenager.

Rimes said: “VRï is not straight up ‘diddly aye’ folk, we see it more as chamber-folk – it just happens that the repertoire is from the canon of traditional Welsh music rather than Handel or Mozart.

“This is exactly the kind of festival we want to be doing as it is our natural audience and we are really excited about performing. We like to experiment with our music as part of the vibrant, varied and exciting Welsh folk scene today - and this is exactly what we hope people get out of the concert at St Asaph Cathedral on September 27.”

Tickets start at £10 and are available from Cathedral Frames in St Asaph, by calling 01745 582929 or via nwimf.com.