£1000 Gethin Hughes memorial bursary prize to be awarded



An exciting £1,000 musical bursary prize will be awarded for the first time this month to honour the man known as Llanelli’s Mr Music, Gethin Hughes MBE.
It is the biggest prize of its kind on offer in Wales and the aim is to find the very best young musical talent in Carmarthenshire.
The prize is the brainchild of Cor Meibion Llanelli musical director Eifion Thomas, a close friend of the late Mr Hughes.
“Gethin was a great pal and a long-serving accompanist for Cor Meibion Llanelli,” said Mr Thomas.
“We travelled the world to concerts and festivals and Gethin was famous the world over for being a real character and a wonderful ambassador for Llanelli.
“Gethin made an outstanding contribution to music in Llanelli and in Wales. It is wonderfully fitting that we should honour his memory and celebrate his life with a musical bursary prize.
“Gethin cared very much about supporting and promoting youngsters on their musical careers. Hopefully, this new award will go a long way to encouraging, supporting and developing musical talent in Carmarthenshire.”
The bursary prize, sponsored by the Carmarthenshire-based Jenkins Bakery, will be presented at the Gethin Hughes Memorial Concert at Greenfield Chapel, Llanelli, on Saturday, October 19.
The winner of the bursary will be announced in next week’s Llanelli Star.
The bursary organisers, led by Mr Thomas, also include Cor Meibion Llanelli chorister Richard Christopher, Gethin’s second cousin. (Mr Thomas and Mr Christopher are pictured above)
Mr Christopher explained: “The aim is to perpetuate Gethin’s memory by making this an annual concert and to include a competition for young Carmarthenshire musicians. The prize will be a bursary of £1,000 to the winner to help them in their first year of music college.
Russell Jenkins, operations director of sponsors the Jenkins Bakery, said:“The death of Gethin Hughes robbed Llanelli and Wales of one of its best-loved musicians and characters.
"We are one of the oldest businesses in Llanelli and we have a long association with Gethin and his family. My grandfather was a deacon at Triniti Chapel. Triniti, of course, was very dear to Gethin’s heart. Gethin’s contribution to the musical life of Llanelli and Wales was immense.
"He died just a few days short of his 76th birthday after a wonderful musical career. The memorial bursary is a cause very dear to our hearts here at the Jenkins Bakery and we are happily supporting the plan with a £1,000 donation.”
The concert at Greenfield will feature the bursary winner, award-winning contralto Eleri Owen Edwards and Cor Meibion Llanelli.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell the guest speaker at Llanelli Rotary Club

Image
Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel. Mr Wardell gave an illuminating address, weaving comparisons between his job as a politician and his late father's job as a Tumble barber. It was an amusing, highly-entertaining and thought-provoking address. Mr Wardell, now 69, won the Gower constituency seat in a Parliamentary by-election in 1982. The Labour MP held the seat until his retirement in 1997. He now works as a public affairs consultant in Wales. Mr Wardell's Parliamentary term was largely in opposition to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government. But his did make a significant contribution by being the youngest MP to chair the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Mr Wardell recognised that in the 'fame stakes' he may have played second fiddle to his father, Jack, who was one of the UK's oldest barbers and who cut and styled hair for almost 80 years. Jac
Read more

'Class of 1980' from Burry Port enjoy reunion

Image
There was a big class reunion held in Burry Port at the weekend. Members of the Class of 1980 from Porth Tywyn (Burry Port junior) School got together at The Coasting Pilot pub. The reunion was organised by Christine Rees and same 22 members of the original class of 28 turn up to discuss their old schooldays. One ‘Class of 1980’ member was Burry Port businessman Owain Davies. He said: “We all have very happy memories of our time in school. We had a fantastic teacher in Mr Heddwyn Jones, who now lives in Four Roads. “We were very fortunate to have the same teacher for three years and we were a very happy class. Mr Jones was an inspiring teacher and we all got on every well and we are all still good friends. “Heather Thomas (now Heather Osmond) made it from Surrey, but she was trumped by Gail Morris, who flew in from Ohio in the United States for the reunion. “It was a fantastic evening at the Coasting Pilot with good food, good wine and good company. We even recreated the class
Read more

Lauryn Davey is making her mark in athletics - but needs sponsors

Image
Ammanford-based Lauryn Davey is making a major mark in the world of Welsh athletics. At just 16, she is the best all-round athlete of her age in Wales. She's chalking up Welsh championship victories and has been honoured by her club, the Carmarthen Harriers. Lauryn's been earmarked as a future international star, but knows the road to the big championships is difficult, demanding and expensive. Ammanford businessman and well-known comic entertainer Phil Evans has launched a campaign to get cash backers for Lauryn's athletics career. "Everyone in the area is hugely proud of her achievements in athletics to date," said Phil. "But we also want to see her go on and do bigger and better things. "Together with some friends, I am helping find ways of generating much-needed sponsorship cash for Lauryn. "She has massive potential to succeed on the international stage and I am sure a little bit of financial help will help to smooth her
Read more