A PROJECT which brings music to nearly 90 people with learning disabilities in North Wales has won the very first award of its kind from the Bryn Terfel Foundation.<\/p>\n
Thanks to an ex-head teacher and the William Mathias Music Centre youngsters and adults with learning disabilities have become Hidden Talents (Doniau Cudd) and get free music sessions every week alongside trained musicians.<\/p>\n
Their last big performance was at the prestigious North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph Cathedral.<\/p>\n
Hidden Talents received the Bryn Terfel Foundation award for promoting the arts in social care.<\/p>\n
The award, made for the first time, came at a glittering black tie presentation night at Cardiff City Hall during the 11th<\/sup> Wales Care Awards, run in conjunction with Care Forum Wales.<\/p>\n Musician Arfon Wyn was headmaster at Beaumaris primary school, where he welcomed youngsters with learning disabilities \u201cwith open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n Ten years ago he met with former director of the William Mathias centre, Elinor Bennett Wigley and administrator Meinir Llwyd Roberts, now the director, to discuss his idea for integrated music sessions for people with learning disabilities with fellow musicians of the same age.<\/p>\n \u201cArfon came to us 10 years ago with his vision. He had been headmaster at a special school and felt that once they left the school environment there was a very limited opportunity to participate in music,\u201d said Meinir.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cWe were thrilled to receive the award, especially an award with Bryn Terfel\u2019s name on it!<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lovely occasion and fantastic for us. Arfon, myself and Elinor organised the first of the sessions 10 years ago this year and it\u2019s great to get that recognition.<\/p>\n \u201cArfon has dedicated such a lot of time over 10 years and has a wonderful way of leading the sessions and it\u2019s great for his work to be acknowledged in this way. We started in 2003 with a class of eight with learning disabilities and now we have three weekly sessions for adults in Caernarfon and in Prestatyn and Rhyl with Denbighshire Arts Service and Pwllheli once a month.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso a year ago we set up a junior version of Hidden Talents because we were getting requests from Gwynedd Social Services. Now we have about 85-90 people a week attending sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n Students from Bangor University and the William Mathias centre help out at the music sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cArfon is the main leader for all of them but other musicians work alongside Arfon. The original Caernarfon group which meets at Galeri Caernarfon has some of the same members as it did 10 years ago. We get funding from Arts Council for Wales and Gwynedd,\u201d said Meinir.<\/p>\n Arfon added: \u201cI took early retirement about 18 months ago to concentrate on the music and now we have a Hidden Talents 1 and 2 and a youth group. The performances are totally improvised; no performance is the same as the last one.<\/p>\n \u201cI start with a basic folk song because a lot of classical musicians have used folk music, it\u2019s not childish and it is uplifting. I have to make the arrangement in my head and see what happens. Singing is the most difficult thing for someone with learning disability so I make sure we get a good singer to give the performance integrity.<\/p>\n \u201cMeinir has been excellent in finding us funding. One of our biggest costs is taxis to get people to the venues.<\/p>\n \u201cWinning the award was an amazing surprise and well worth making the trip to Cardiff for.\u201d<\/p>\n Meinir said: \u201cWhen the group performs they have a marked effect on the people watching. They performed at Cardiff City Hall in June, at the Senedd in 2011.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the William Mathias Centre we were approached by the Alzheimer\u2019s Society about their Singing for the Brain programme and we provide tutors for that which has been very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n Arfon is also working on the Alzheimer\u2019s project. \u201cI am busier now than I ever was as a head teacher, but I\u2019m happier and it is less stressful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n