Medal y Cyfansoddwr is a collaboration between Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, Tŷ Cerdd and the Welsh Music Guild. It’s an artist development pathway in which three selected composers will create new work for performance at the National Eisteddfod. One of the composers will be awarded Medal y Cyfansoddwr (Composer’s Medal) at the final ceremony of the event in August.
THEME
The Medal y Cyfansoddwr theme this year is the poetry of Waldo Williams, one of Wales’s most celebrated poets of the 20th Century – and a son of the Garreg Las, the home of the 2026 Eisteddfod.
Medal y Cyfansoddwr – Lleisiau Waldo is a pathway offering three composers a paid opportunity to write two short choral pieces, one for SATB and one for youth/children’s choir (SA), both setting text by Waldo Williams.
The three selected composers will work with composer mentor Nathan James Dearden, choral director Caleb Mock and an SATB choir brought together specially for this pathway. Applications are welcomed from music-creators from across Wales and across genres.
PROCESS
Workshops and one-to-one mentoring will take place in the months leading up to the Garreg Las National Eisteddfod, where their resulting works will be performed at the final day of the National Eisteddfod on Saturday 8 August 2025. One of the three composers will be awarded the Medal y Cyfansoddwr and a £750 prize.
The process for the two pieces will be distinct:
For the SATB setting, the three composers will workshop with composer mentor Nathan James Dearden, choral director Caleb Mock, and an SATB choir brought together specially for this pathway. The SATB work will set Waldo Williams’s seminal poem ‘Plentyn y Ddaear’.
For the children’s choir (SA) piece, composers will work independently, with some online mentoring/contact-time from Nathan James Dearden. The poem to set for the children’s choir will be ‘Y Ci Coch’
Each artist will receive £600 for their participation in a combination of in-person workshops and online contact. Travel expenses (within Wales) will be covered for any artists needing to travel to the workshops (Cardiff) and performance (Pembrokeshire).
The judging panel for this year’s Medal y Cyfansoddwr consists of Tim Rhys-Evans, head judge (conductor), Robert Fokkens (composer), and Branwen Haf (artist).
All three artists will also be offered the opportunity for their completed works to be published by Tŷ Cerdd.
Deadline for applications: 10:00 on Wednesday 7 January 2025
The Welsh Music Guild expresses its unequivocal opposition to the proposed closure of Cardiff University School of Music. This institution has been a cornerstone of musical excellence in Wales since 1883, fostering generations of composers, performers, and scholars who continue to contribute significantly to both national and international musical landscapes.
Since our founding, the Welsh Music Guild has been proud of its long-established relationship with Cardiff University School of Music (formerly University College, Cardiff). Together, we have consistently upheld the primary goal of promoting the public education, understanding, and appreciation of the music of Welsh composers, and music creators of any nationality residing in Wales. It is vitally important that we not only maintain, but further advance, this vital academic and creative centre for Wales.
The School of Music not only continues to nurture emerging talent. It also plays an integral role in the cultural fabric of Wales: promoting our nation’s rich musical heritage through promoting and recording Welsh composers such as Morfydd Owen to Eloise Gynn, and cultivating a truly diverse, unique, and international community of music makers and thinkers in the heart of our Capital City. Bolstered by the expansion of its iconic purpose-built building under the direction of composer Professor Alun Hoddinott CBE, and becoming the largest university music faculty in Europe in the 1980s, the School of Music has attracted some of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries’ most recognised and innovatory music creators as part of its faculty and invited composers, including Benjamin Britten OM CH, David Wynne, Randall Thompson, Olivier Messiaen, Professor William Mathias CBE, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies CH CBE, Henri Dutilleux, John McCabe CBE, John Ogdon, Michael F. Robinson, Professor Hilary Tann, Jonathan Harvey, Norman Kay, Dame Judith Weir, Rhian Samuel, Sir George Benjamin CBE, Professor Arlene Sierra, Dr Robert Fokkens, and Dr Pedro Faria Gomes, to name only a few.
Osian Ellis (centre) with Benjamin Britten (left), and Peter Pears. Photograph: Richard Williams/Wales Harp Festival at New Hall (University College, Cardiff)
The Welsh Music Guild finds it deeply concerning that such an esteemed institution is at risk of closure. The loss of this department would be a devastating blow to Wales’s cultural infrastructure, jeopardising opportunities for future musicians and diminishing our nation’s standing as a centre for musical excellence.
Cardiff’s delicate cultural ecosystem thrives on the symbiotic presence of two world-leading institutions: the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD), our national conservatoire dedicated to training performers, actors, and theatre technicians; and Cardiff University’s School of Music, the academic hub for music scholarship, composition, and innovation. These institutions offer distinct yet interdependent contributions vital to the city’s artistic and intellectual vibrancy.
Since 1955, the Welsh Music Guild has recognised a wealth of Cardiff University graduates in their annual awards, all of whom have been leaders in the creative industries and ambassadors for Welsh musical excellence on this international stage (in alphabetical order): Dr Gareth Churchill, Dr Nathan James Dearden, Tim Rhys Evans MBE, Dr Jordan Hirst, Professor Alun Hoddinott CBE, Brian Hughes, Dr Gareth Olubunmi Hughes, Owain Arwel Hughes CBE, Sir Karl Jenkins CBE, Sarah Lianne Lewis, Andrew Matthews-Owen, John Metcalf MBE, Christopher Painter, Gail Pearson, Dr David John Roche, John Hugh Thomas OBE, Mark Thomas, Grace Williams, Huw Tregelles Williams, Dr Jeremy Huw Williams BEM, and Dr Jerry Yue Zhuo.
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (left) and Professor Alun Hoddinott CBE (right) at the opening of University College Cardiff School of Music (now Cardiff University); 1971
At a time when the arts face increasing challenges, it is imperative that we uphold and protect our musical institutions rather than dismantle them. The proposed closure contradicts Cardiff University’s stated commitment to the arts and undermines Wales’s reputation as a nation that values and nurtures its cultural heritage. The economic rationale for such a decision must be questioned, as the long-term repercussions will far outweigh any short-term financial savings.
We urge Cardiff University’s leadership to reconsider this decision and engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders, including students, faculty, alumni, and the wider artistic community, to explore alternative solutions that will ensure the sustainability of the School of Music. Furthermore, we call upon the Welsh Government to intervene and support the preservation of this vital institution.
The Welsh Music Guild stands with those campaigning against this closure. We reaffirm our commitment to advocating for the protection and promotion of Wales’s musical institutions, its future success, and call on all who value the arts to join us in opposing this deeply regrettable proposal.
