Culture

Welsh legends take centre stage as BBC Proms comes to north Wales

26 Aug 2026 2 minute read

BBC Proms. Image by p_a_h is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Nation.Cymru Staff

Welsh legend and folklore will take centre stage as the BBC Proms comes to Mold for the first time this weekend.

The BBC Proms is the world’s biggest classical music festival, presenting eight weeks of world-class music from a vast array of leading orchestras, conductors and soloists from the UK and around the world.

A live concert edition of the popular Radio 3 series of the same name, BBC Proms: Words and Music will be hosted by Huw Stephens, as well as acclaimed Welsh actors Owen Teale and Sian Reese-Williams.

The special live concert at Theatr Clwyd in Mold on 29 August will combine music, literature and storytelling, with performances from some of Wales’ leading actors and musicians.

Performances will include multi-instrumentalist Cerys Hafana and Sinfonia Cymru under the direction of conductor Iwan Davies.

The programme combines music with prose and poetry, including a newly commissioned poem by the National Poet of Wales, Hanan Issa, entitled ‘Un Tro’ (One Time), creating an imaginative journey into the tales of The Mabinogion.

The programme is as follows:

Simmy Singh: Tynged for string orchestra (BBC Commission: world premiere)
Dvorak, arr. Tony Burke: Rusalka – Song to the Moon
Gareth Glyn: ‘Four Miniatures from Book of Hergest’ – 1. ‘Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed’
Cerys Hafana, arr. Patrick Rimes: Wife of Usher’s Well
Cerys Hafana, arr. Patrick Rimes: Tragwyddoldeb
Morfydd Owen: Threnody on the passing of Branwen
Wagner, arr. Tony Burke: Forest Murmurs
Joseph Parry, arr. David Roche: Divine Breath (Awen) (from Ceridwen)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition – The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yaga)
Donald Grant: The Witch of Leanachan
Calan, arr. Patrick Rimes: Tale of Two Dragons

Tickets start at £8, continuing founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original ambition of bringing the best classical music to the widest possible audience

More information and tickets can be found here.

The performance will be British Sign Language interpreted by Hannah Wilson, and it will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds along with the other Proms.

Additionally, 27 Proms programmes will be on TV and BBC iPlayer, ensuring all licence fee payers can access the Proms.

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