Culture

Two acclaimed Welsh artists set to join forces for Cardiff Music City Festival

30 Sep 2026 3 minute read

Amelia Jones

A special evening bringing two acclaimed Welsh musicians together is coming to Cardiff as part of this year’s Music City Festival.

Welsh jazz pianist Joe Webb will return to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, where he previously studied, for a special Cardiff Music City Festival double bill with Cardiff-born musician Gwenno.

The event will take place in the Dora Stoutzker Hall on Thursday, October 8, with the evening curated and hosted by BBC broadcaster and long-time champion of Welsh music Bethan Elfyn. The show will bring together two artists working across very different musical styles, while sharing a strong connection to Wales.

Elfyn has spent decades working with music in Wales across network and local radio, as well as curating events, writing, presenting, DJing and producing. She has also been at the helm of the Horizons music project and said the event represented a particularly fitting opportunity to bring Webb back to the college where he studied.

She said: “Joe’s return to the Royal Welsh College is a lovely full-circle moment. Here is an artist raised in Wales, who studied in Cardiff and has gone on to become one of the most exciting names in British jazz. Then you have Gwenno, who has become one of Wales’ most celebrated musical voices. Two very different artists but both of them creating ambitious, distinctive work with Wales at its heart.”

Neath-raised Webb’s album Hamstrings & Hurricanes was shortlisted for the 2025 Mercury Prize, while he has also toured with Jamie Cullum and Jools Holland. Earlier this year, he released Neath Beat, an album which reflects on his experience of growing up in Wales, and launched it at the Royal Welsh College’s AmserJazzTime Festival.

Webb has previously described his musical influences to NME as ranging from Beethoven, Liszt and Duke Ellington to Oscar Peterson, Oasis and Welsh male voice choirs. His return to the college will therefore provide a homecoming of sorts for a musician whose latest work has looked back towards his Welsh roots.

Gwenno will perform alongside Webb as part of the double bill. The Cardiff-born Welsh-Cornish musician, singer-songwriter, sound artist and radio presenter is known for her multilingual work in Welsh, Cornish and English. Her album

Tresor earned a Mercury Prize nomination in 2022, while her latest record, Utopia, is her first album to be sung predominantly in English.

The album explores the experiences that have shaped Gwenno’s life, from growing up as a Cardiff schoolgirl to becoming a Las Vegas dancer, singing in an indie pop group, appearing in a Bollywood film and working in an East London pub before establishing herself as an acclaimed songwriter and Welsh Music Prize winner.

The Cardiff Music City Festival runs from October 2 to October 17 and brings together Sŵn Festival, Llais, the Welsh Music Prize and a wider programme of performances, talks, pop-ups, exhibitions and special events at venues across Cardiff.

The festival celebrates the role of music in bringing people together and is supported by Welsh Government and Cardiff Council.

Tickets for the Gwenno and Joe Webb double bill are on sale now through the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama here.

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