Eisteddfod winner Alaw is praised for her work

THE winner of the 2021 Eisteddfod T Composition Prize was a familiar face on the Urdd Eisteddfod stage.

In a special ceremony broadcast live from the Urdd Residential Centre in Llangrannog, in the company of judge and renowned harpist Catrin Finch, it was revealed that Alaw Grug Evans from Pontyberem is this year’s Eisteddfod T composition prize winner.

She won the composition prize title for composing a piece of music of no longer than three minutes in duration on any theme.

According to the judge Catrin Finch, she was impressed by the top three compositions and described the ensemble by Alaw under the pseudonym ‘Siarad Mân’ as “inspirational”, “intelligent” and “beautiful”.

A former pupil of Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin in Carmarthen, Alaw is 19 years old and is in her first year studying music at The Queen’s College, University of Oxford.

Meanwhile, Sioned Medi Howells from New Inn, Pencader, Carmarthenshire, was the 2021 Eisteddfod T prose prize winner, and, according to author and judge Caryl Lewis, her work “left the reader wanting more”.

About to complete her final year studying a midwifery course at Swansea University, Sioned is being kept busy during her placement on the maternity ward at Singleton Hospital. It has been a very productive and successful year for Sioned, having also won both the chair and crown competitions at the 2021 Carmarthenshire YFC Virtual Eisteddfod.

She was presented with a specially created award by sculptor Ann Catrin Evans.