A weekend of celebrations has been confirmed to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of Wales’ most famous Victorian musicians.
The life and work of John Roberts - Telynor Cymru, Harpist of Wales - a Welsh Romani, musician and impresario, will be marked with two days of performances, talks and events exploring his life and how he and his family, who lived in Newtown, Powys, became one of Wales’ best known musical acts of their day.
The celebrations are part of an extended season of the Gregynog Festival, Wales’ oldest music festival, taking place on 18-19 November at Gregynog Hall, Tregynon, Powys.
Roberts is known to have performed at Gregynog on a number of occasions for the Hanbury-Tracy family who owned the Hall during the mid-19th century, prior to the famous Davies sisters who founded the Festival.
Born to a Romani mother and a Welsh father in North Wales, Roberts lived in Newtown’s Frolic Street for much of his life and travelled around Wales and the Borders with his family band, performing as the Original Cambrian Minstrels.
Dr Rhian Davies, Artistic Director of the Gregynog Festival, said: “John Roberts remains a significant figure within Welsh culture as well as the history of Newtown. He was a fluent Romani speaker and passionate about his heritage, so our events reflect this, especially An Hour of Merriment of Mirth in the company of Peter Ingram, a Romani craftsman and storyteller who’s a direct descendant of Telynor Cymru.”
Roberts and his family performed on nine triple harps in front of Queen Victoria while she was visiting North Wales, and in 1848 he won the World Welsh Harp competition at Abergavenny as well as the harp prize at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff in the same year.
The weekend of celebrations at Gregynog features a Grand Concert of triple harps, including a performance on Telynor Cymru’s own harp by Robin Huw Bowen, today’s leading exponent of the instrument.
The harp was donated to the Radnorshire Museum at Llandrindod Wells some years ago, and has recently been restored to playing condition so that its beautiful sound can be heard again, thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Museum.
Descendants of Roberts will share their stories as part of the weekend, along with an illustrated talk on “The Romani in Welsh art” by Peter Lord, the leading cultural historian, and a free screening of the film “Eldra”, by kind permission of S4C and Teliesyn.
Dr Davies added: “Although Roberts was not born in Newtown, he put the town firmly on the musical map and remains one of our own. One day he could be performing with his family at the Bear Hotel in Broad Street, and the next in grand houses all over Wales and the borders. He was one of the most famous musicians in Victorian Wales and we’re delighted to be throwing him this 200th birthday party full of special events for the whole family to enjoy together.”
Full details and to book performances, talks and events celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Roberts, including a great value weekend rover ticket, can be found at www.gregynogfestival.org and 01686 207100.
Photo: Harpist Robin Huw Bowen who will be performing as part of the celebrations of John Roberts
