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| London Pro Arte Choir w. Tom Winpenny & George Cook |
On 27 June 2026, the London Pro Arte Choir (Mill Hill), cond. Tom Winpenny, included Rhian's Tair Cân Werin (Three Welsh Folksongs) on a concert of choral works including Flanders and Horowitz's 'Capt Noah and his Floating Zoo' with soloist George Cook. They sang nos 1 and 3 of the folksongs in Rhian's English translations and no 2 in Welsh: Bravo! A month earlier Cantorion Llandrindod, cond. Hilary Cox, had sung no 3 in their concert.
OF SWANS, SNAILS AND GEESE
This set of three songs to poems by May Sarton for baritone and piano has just been published by Ty Cerdd and will receive its first performance on 26th July, 2026, by Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside in Gloucester Cathedral at the Three Choirs Festival. It's a reworking of pieces for four solo voices and three electric guitars, premiered at the QEH in 1991 by Red Byrd and thereafter toured across the UK.
CWMDONKIN SONGS: VIDEOS & CD
Videos of the live performance of the three pieces of Cwmdonkin Songs performed by Matthew Hoch and Jonathan Levin at Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, MS, USA, have been placed on Youtube. (See #3, 'Solo Voice and Piano' for the links.) Also, the CD, Deaths and Entrances, with the same Cwmdonkin Songs, with performers Christopher O'Gorman, tenor, and David Pipe, piano (who gave the first performance), has just been released. (See 'Works on Recent CDs' below.)
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| Emma Abbate, RS, Peter Cigleris, Evva Mizerska |
The Angry Snail for clarinet, cello and piano is making its way onto disc. It was recorded by the Zemlinsky Trio (Peter Cigleris, clarinet, Evva Mizerska, cello, and Emma Abbate, piano), who commissioned it, at St Paul's School, Hammersmith, on 28 March 2026, for the SOMM label, with Siva Oke in charge of the production. The premiere of the work, also given by the Zemlinsky Trio, took place at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall (a splendid venue) on 18 January. The piece started life with quotations from 'Eine kleine Snailmusik', the 2nd song in Of Swans Snails and Geese.
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| RS and Llŷr |
On Saturday, 14 February, 2016, two of Rhian's pieces were played at this vibrant festival: at lunchtime, Ribbons and Streamers II for fl, va, hp, by a group led by Mared Emlyn, harp, and, in the evening concert, the piano piece, The Time of Singing of Birds, by Llŷr Williams. This piece was first performed by Russell Hirshfield in Danbury CT in 2015. The festival was held at Pontio, Bangor.
MAKING A CD WITH RUBY HUGHES
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| Ruby Hughes and USE |
In the 1st week of December, 2025, soprano Ruby Hughes and United Strings of Europe, director, Julian Azkoul, recorded a CD of music including three of Rhian's pieces, 'Naming the Flowers', 'My river runs to thee' and 'A Perfect View', as well as four arrangements by Rhian of lovely songs by Lili and Nadia Boulanger and Alma Mahler. So good to record with Ruby again after the Clytemnestra CD! This disc too will be issued by BIS.
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| Tailleferre Ensemble with RS |
QUARTET/QUINTET
Rhian's wind quintet, Songscapes, was premiered by the Tailleferre Ensemble at Leatherhead, Surrey, on 16 October, 2025, while the string quartet-in-residence at the RWCMD, the Vita Quartet, played 'Late Sun' from Threaded Light at the Cowbridge Festival on 16 September. Two excellent performances! Songscapes, which also exists in a version for piano solo, was published by Tŷ Cerdd in time for the quintet's performance.
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| RS at RWCMD (photo:kirsten mcternan) |
HONOUR
On 10th July 2025 an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama was bestowed on Rhian at a ceremony in the Dora Stoutzker Hall at the College in Cardiff. Tim Rhys-Evans, Director of Music, read the citation. Rhian is grateful for the honour and the warm welcome she received there - 20 miles from where she was born!
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| James and Anna at the Wigmore Hall |
WIGMORE HALL RECITAL
The Hare in the Moon was presented by James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook at the Wigmore Hall on 9th July. This is the first time (to Rhian's knowledge) the piece has been sung by a tenor, and it was wonderfully received by the Wigmore Hall audience: the whole concert was a huge success!
- Recent Publications (Scores)🔸Of Swans, Snails and Geese for baritone and piano, pub.Tŷ Cerdd, May 2026.🔸Songscapes, three pieces for wind quintet, pub. Tŷ Cerdd, Oct. 2025.
- 🔸Gwanwyn/Spring for harpsichord and string orchestra (baroque or modern), pub. Tŷ Cerdd, July 2025.
- Works on Recent CDs
- 🔸Cwmdonkin Songs, on Deaths and Entrances, issued by the Dylan Thomas Project on Prima Facie Records. The performers are Chris O'Gorman, tenor, and David Pipe, piano.
- 🔸Bitter-Sweet for violin and piano, on Listen!, a CD from the Kobayashi-Keith Duo, on Albany Records (USA).
- 🔸'Sarabande' from Isolation Suite, arr. for harpsichord, on Julian Perkins's CD, From Handel's Home (Delphian).
- 🔸Ad Lucem, a 3-movement work for solo organ, played by Tom Winpenny on the organ of St Alban's Cathedral: St Albans Experience (Willowhayne Records).
- 🔸LIttle Duos for oboe and cor anglais, played by Penelope Smith and Nicola Hands, on the Tailleferre Ensemble's CD, There are Things to be Said (UA).