S4C to premiere Sir Bryn Terfel duet celebrating Wales and Japan

A special performance of the Japanese children’s song Furusato will be premiered on S4C today (Saturday 31 May) in their coverage of the Eisteddfod yr Urdd featuring one of the world’s greatest singers, Sir Bryn Terfel, in a duet with young Welsh baritone and Urdd Ambassador Owain Rowlands.

The performance was commissioned by a Tîm Cymru Partnership comprising Welsh Government, the Urdd, Wales Arts International, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) as part of the Year of Wales and Japan 2025, and first performed to a captivated audience on a celebratory Wales Day at Osaka Expo in April.

Eluned Haf, Head of Wales Arts International said: “Songs play an important and joyful role in bringing people together in this year of Wales and Japan.

“This stunning collaboration between the well known Sir Bryn Terfel and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Urdd Youth Ambassador Owain Rowlands, singing the popular Japanese song Furasato is to mark our respect for Japan’s music traditions.

“We hope this premiere during the Urdd Youth Eisteddfod will inspire young singers in Wales and Japan to discover and enjoy our respective languages and cultures.”

“Beloved” 

In Japan, Sir Bryn sang in both Japanese and Welsh in a recording on screen, accompanied by the harpist Hannah Stone, while Owain sang live in both languages.

Sir Bryn said: “Singing Furusato in both Welsh and Japanese was a deeply moving experience. I have performed in Japan on numerous occasions and I always appreciate the warmth and depth of feeling and that special connection that one has with the Japanese audiences.”

He added: “This song, so beloved in Japan, carries with it a sense of longing that feels very close to our own hiraeth, a yearning for home, for belonging. Music has a unique power to bridge cultures, and it was a pleasure to share Furusato with a new generation of voices and a nation that understands the emotional power of song as deeply as we do in Wales.”

Furusato was written in 1914 and is hugely popular in Japan, taught in schools throughout the country. The special arrangement used this year was scored by Welsh composer Richard Vaughan, with Welsh translation by Osian Llewelyn Edwards.

“Massive hero” 

Owain graduated this year from the RWCMD and will soon join Welsh National Opera. In Japan he collaborated with RWCMD Director of Music and renowned conductor, Tim Rhy-Evans, in leading a mass singalong of both Furusato and Calon Lân with delighted Japanese visitors to Wales Day at Expo, bringing to life the warm cultural connections between the two nations.

Sir Bryn is building a new foundation at the RWCMD to support future generations of performing artists with an ambition to build a £5m Cronfa.

Owain has already made several international appearances, including in Alabama with the Yr Urdd choir, and he was a finalist in the prestigious Sir Bryn Terfel Scholarship competition. The Urdd’s Llysgenhadon Ifanc 2024 partnership with RWCMD was one of the highlights of the year for Owain, travelling to Japan and performing with Sir Bryn.

Owain said: “As a young Welsh baritone, Bryn’s a massive hero of mine, so of course it was a dream come true to sing with him and I found it very inspiring to work with him. Hopefully it won’t be the last time.”

Furusato was performed by the Urdd to mark St. David’s Day at the famous Japanese Himeji Castle, twinned with our own Conwy Castle, where local harpist Dylan Cernyw played the song on the same day.

The celebratory year began with launches in Tokyo and Cardiff, where First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan delivered a rendition of Japanese national anthem Kimigayo, in response to Japan’s Ambassador to the UK, Hiroshi Suzuki, who went viral with his version of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

Find out more about Wales and Japan here.