Musician who persuaded future King to bring back the title of Royal Harpist embarks on tour

Harpist Elinor Bennett, who hails from Llanidloes, is going on a 12-stop Wales-wide tour, The Dwylo ar Dannau'r Delyn or Hands on Harp Strings.

The concerts, masterclasses and workshops will take Elinor, the Artistic Director of the Wales International Harp Festival, to places where she has close personal connections.

They will include Llangadfan in Powys where she has close family links, Aberystwyth where she studied for a law degree at the town's university and Llanuwchllyn near Bala where she spent a large portion of her childhood.

The tour, which follows a launch concert for the festival at Bangor University's PJ Hall, will feature some her former students and colleagues.

As well as re-igniting interest in harp music following the Covid pandemic, the aim is to promote the fifth Wales International Harp Festival which will be staged at Galeri Caernarfon from April 5-11.

She will also be inviting harpists to take part in four competitions at the festival, with the aim of giving children and older harpists a platform to perform.

The closing date for applications for the competitions is January 2.

"At each location on the tour I will be joined by either a former pupil or someone I have worked with in the past.

“We hope local harp tutors and teachers will bring their pupils along."

"To close the event there will be a concert where I will play along with the guest tutor and perhaps with some of the youngsters if they wish. The concerts, of course, will be open to the public."

The Vining company from Cardiff, which sells Camac instrumentsis sponsoring the festival.

"Fewer children and young people are taking up the harp and the tour will create an interest in the harp and raise awareness of the festival itself," she said.

Tckets for the tour are available online at walesharpfestival.co.uk and some local shops but will also be available on the door.

Elinor said when she started learning to play the harp in 1954 when there were very few harpists.

Born at Llanidloes her family later moved to Llanuwchllyn near Bala in Merionethshire.

Her father bought her first harp when she was just seven years of age though she did not begin lessons for another four years as her legs were not long enough to reach the pedals.

She said: "My father was very musical, as were my mother and grandfather. After we moved to Llanuwchllyn my father joined the choir, Cor Godre’r Aran. In 1949 they went to London to sing at the Dorchester Hotel, and while in the city he bought a harp for £30 and brought it back to Llanuwchllyn on the London Underground and the train.

Years later, finding herself seated next to the then-Prince of Wales at a dinner, she told him of the tradition of a Royal harpist but which had not been filled for more than a century.

"He was interested and asked me to send him a proposal which I duly did. That led to the revival of the tradition with the first being Catrin Finch in 2000," said Elinor.