Paul Child to Lead Welsh National Anthem at the West Coast Eisteddfod: Welsh Festival of Arts in LA

AmeriCymru is immensely pleased and proud to announce that Paul Child, the man who leads the singing of the national anthem at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff before Six Nations matches and who is known as the "official voice of Welsh rugby" , will be appearing at the West Coast Eisteddfod: Welsh Festival of Arts in LA this year.  He will be leading the singing of the anthem and appearing at the Friday night opening concert. For most of our readers Paul will require no introduction but for anyone who is not familiar with the man and his work here is a brief biography from the BBC music site:-

"Best known for his involvement with Welsh rugby, Paul Child is Wales' biggest-selling independent artist.

In 2000, Paul Child self-financed the album Wales Forever as a tribute to David Alexander. Although the cost was just £2,500, it has gone on to become the biggest-selling independently-released album ever in Wales, selling over 100,000 copies around the world.

In 2003, he appeared on the World In Union album alongside fellow Welsh stars Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey to commemorate the Rugby World Cup. His rugby connection has continued with pre-match appearances at the Millennium Stadium. Each time he's sung before the match, Wales have registered a victory.

Released in February 2006, Bread Of Heaven is the official album of the Welsh Rugby Union.".....more.

Read our 2008 interview with Paul here:- Interview With Paul Child - Official singer of the Welsh Rugby Union

More on Friday nights concert here. Buy tickets here.

Paul Singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales

West Coast Eisteddfod - Barnsdall Arts Park, Los Angeles 2011

"Biggest Thing Since Sliced Laverbread"

Plans are already well advanced for neaxt year's West Coast Eisteddfod to be held at the Barnsdall Arts Park in Los Angeles in September. L.A. Event Coordinator Lorin Morgan-Richards has said that this will be, "the biggest thing since sliced laverbread" and organizers are planning to host a wealth of talent, some local and some international, at the three day event. With competitions in vocal performance, short story telling, poetry and stand-up comedy already confirmed and others to be announced it promises to be a worthy successor to this years Portland event some of which was preserved for posterity on the 'Night of The Living Bards' DVD.

The organizers who are actively seeking contestants for the 'live' and online competitions as well as vendors for the market area can be contacted via their email addresses at the bottom of this page. There follows a quote from the proposal and mission statement for the event:-

"The Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation (MLMEF) is requesting your presence and support for the West Coast Eisteddfod Festival to be held next year, 2011, in Los Angeles, CA, on September 23rd, 24th, and 25th at the Barnsdall Art Park (at 4800 Hollywood Blvd., CA). The West Coast Eisteddfod celebrates Welsh and Welsh American traditions in art, history, language, and oral and literary competition. We will hold an election of our first annual young adult representative and pay tribute to Welsh entrepreneurs and Welsh Americans. The expected attendance is 2,500 through the course of three days and will be open to the public. Our goal is to raise awareness about Welsh American identity and encourage continued growth between the United States and Wales.

The festival is to celebrate Welsh identity and expression. In doing so, it fosters positive self-esteem and creativity for the benefit of the greater community. The public will be encouraged to participate in these classes and competitions displayed in the Welsh tradition. Welsh Americans will benefit from learning about their culture through ongoing workshops and activities. The designated young adult representative will be evaluated on personality, talent, and community leadership. The appointed person will therein represent the West Coast Eisteddfod in the United States for one year as an upstanding role model, assisting in addressing issues important to the community and will help promote a meaningful association with Wales.

The West Coast Eisteddfod will be held at the Barnsdall Art Park, in Los Angeles, California. This location was chosen for its beautiful vista of Griffith Park, named after Griffith J. Griffith a Welsh philanthropist. The park sits atop a hill with a home built by Frank Lloyd Wright, an esteemed Welsh American architect, and is open for tours. Isolated from the urban sprawl, the Barnsdall Art Park is a quiet getaway with a historic theater amidst the Art Nouveau scenic grounds.

Los Angeles provides the best visibility for Wales through media outlets and presents it equally amongst other Celtic Nations. Additionally, it is the home of many notable Welsh figures including Patricia Arquette and Anthony Hopkins, as well as Welsh American film legends like Bettie Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Bob Hope, among others. In 1926, Los Angeles was the place for an Eisteddfod where local authors presented one-act plays to the public. To hold such an event in Los Angeles would bring back a historical Welsh tradition.

The MLMEF will be acting in accord to our non-profit status; volunteers directed by the Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation and its members will run the event. All revenue will go towards funding future events and paying expenses incurred.

The Meriweather Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation is an Oregon non-profit corporation recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) 3 public charity. MLMEF was organized to raise public awareness of Welsh heritage in North America, to celebrate American-Welsh culture and preserve its works and to foster and encourage art and creativity in the Welsh tradition."

The full schedule will be available soon. Watch this space for details..

Foundation contact: Ceri Shaw americymru@gmail.com

The Left Coast Eisteddfod Portland, Oregon - Tickets on Sale Sat March 7th

TICKETS ON SALE HERE

View our promotional slideshow below.

For further news updates subscribe to our RSS feed HERE.

So far confirmed to attend are:- Chris Needs, Bruce Anderson, Niall Griffiths, Oceans Apart David Western. Other announcements will follow. There is every chance, should our funding situation continue to improve, that we will book a second and possibly a third day It was our original intention to stage a three day event and we are exploring various sponsorship options with interested parties at the moment.

The Tickets are now on sale from Ticketmaster at this url"- Left Coast Eiesteddfod Tickets There will be a Welsh market/tradeshow with vendor spaces during the day and seminars/appearances by lovespoon carver David Western and authors Niall Griffiths and Penny Simpson in Lola's Room and performers appearing in the ballroom in the evening.

The winners of all our online Eisteddfod competitions will be announced at the event. The Short Story Competition is being judged by Lloyd Jones and Peter Thabit Jones is judging the Poetry Competition. Judges for the other competitions have yet to be announced. David Western will announce the winner of the Left Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon he is creating and auctioning for the event.

We're working out additional presentations and possibly appearances and events at other locations near the Crystal Ballroom: book signings and other events. We'd really love to hear from anyone about events they'd like to see at this, any ideas anyone to make it even bigger and better.

We want to thank all our members and contributors for helping us get to this point and giving us an opportunity to promote Wales and modern Welsh culture in the western USA. We really hope we see a lot of you here and plan a special event for AmeriCymru members.

If you would like to sponsor the Eisteddfod or any of the individual online competitions please email americymru@gmail.com for details . Here is a list of our current sponsors.

The Fron Male Voice Choir Homepage

New York Public Library presents - Welsh Music Series for Wales Week & Owen Sheers and Paul Watkins in Discussion

Welsh Music Series for Wales Week, March 1-8

From the page:- "As part of Wales Week, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is presenting a week-long series, Music of Wales: Screenings from Welsh Television that includes programs of opera, jazz, popular music, and rock. Opening March 1 with a 2006 recital by the bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, the series also features a documentary about Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, The Merry Widow performed by the Welsh Opera, a concert by popular stylist Shirley Bassey, a documentary on the international hit singer Petula Clark, a jazz concert by Liane Carroll, and a rock concert by John Cale, among others. All of these videos will be having their American premieres. The programs have been donated by BBC Wales and by S4C (the rock concert) to the Library's archival collections."....MORE.

Wales Week: Owen Sheers and Paul Watkins in Discussion Thursday, March 5, 6:30

From the page:- "In celebration of Wales Week, renowned Welsh authors Owen Sheers and Paul Watkins will be in discussion together at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library on March 5. On Saturday, March 7 poets Samuel Menashe and Jon Curley visit the Jefferson Market Branch to share their work and discuss their craft. The Library presents more than 20,000 free public programs throughout its 87 branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island annually, complementing its broad collections and other services.....MORE.

An Interview with Niall Griffiths

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN MOVED TO

THE WELSH AMERICAN BOOKSTORE

TO READ 'AN INTERVIEW WITH 

NIALL GRIFFITHS' CLICK HERE

Welsh-American "American Idol" Contestant Needs Our Help!

'Emily Wynne-Hughes' the Welsh-American "American Idol" contestant got booted off a bit unfairly the other week and is being considered for a second chance, but needs fans to write in on her behalf.

Email American Idol at: idolpr@fox.com and tell them you want 'Emily Wynne-Hughes' back on for this season. Her dad's from Wales, we have to look after our own;)

Go Betty Go - Go Away

Go Betty Go - C'mon

Press Release From WelshArtNow - A Dedicated Arts Magazine For Wales - Issue One Available.

ISSUED BY WelshArtNow publishing.

WelshArtNow - ISSN 977-1757 56900-3

"We are pleased to announce the publication of issue 1 of WelshArtNow (WAN). WAN is the new quarterly art magazine that discusses art with a Welsh connection. Wales can now claim to have its own dedicated art magazine. WAN is A4 sized and contains 48 pages, printed in full colour on high quality art paper. WAN will ride on the crest of positive change and the sense of optimism that defines modern Wales; there would not seem a better time to launch a new and dynamic cultural arts magazine. Welsh art, now has its own platform and can take centre stage. A wide range of art is featured, ranging from cartoons to gallery art; there will even be an art ‘centre fold’ each issue! As far as we are concerned it’s all art and is interesting in its own way. It would seem to make perfect sense to feature different types of art side by side. Although about ‘now’ the magazine is interested in the rich and varied history of Wales and its people. Apart from talking about art the magazine will feature lots of original art specific to a magazine format (think of it as a gallery within a magazine)
.

WAN is a friendly lively read, our ambition is to ‘open’ up art to a much wider range of people. We believe that the key to this is quite simply the need to talk about art. WAN is a talk shop for art; many voices expressing a range of opinions. Traditionally art magazines are seen as being hard going/ inaccessible, intended only for those already familiar with the discourse of art. Why should it be that way? We would like to see people talking about art in the same way as they might of a TV program or a piece of music.

So in summary an art magazine containing a good varied mix of art that is concerned with the ‘here’ and ‘now’ and is delivered with a bit of kick. The magazine has already generated an enormous amount of interest here in Wales and is already stocked in over 30 outlets and growing. This week is our grand launch, this Wednesday we will be in conversation with Nicola Hayward Thomas of BBC radio – details of this broad cast will be published on our website at www.welshartnow.co.uk. WAN is pleased to announce that Borders Bookshops will be a supplier of the magazine. So out with the old and in with new- WAN - a new bold experiment in arts publishing."

For further details contact

Jackie Allman

editor@welshartnow.co.uk

01633 675029