YNYS
On an island during a harsh winter, Han meets the stranger Anna whilst walking on the beach one evening. Anna makes an unexpected offer to Han: to pretend to be her father. In her home on the hill, every evening, they re-enact the memories, but also create their own. Over time, uncertainties begin to emerge, and one of them must act, before the lie between them continues to grow. ‘Ynys’ is a Welsh language opera asking how we can overcome traumatic memories by bringing ourselves closer to them.
Ar ynys yn ystod gaeaf caled, mae Han yn cwrdd â’r dieithryn Anna tra’n cerdded ar y traeth un noson. Mae Anna yn gwneud cynnig annisgwyl i Han: i esgus bod yn dad iddi. Yn ei chartref ar y bryn, bob nos, maen nhw’n ail-greu’r atgofion, ond hefyd yn creu rhai eu hunain. Dros amser, mae’r ansicrwydd yn dechrau dod i’r amlwg, a rhaid i un ohonynt rhwystro’r celwydd rhyngddynt barhau i dyfu. Opera iaith Gymraeg yw ‘Ynys’ sy’n gofyn sut gellem goroesi atgofion heriol trwy tynnu ein hun yn nes atyn nhw.
CHRIS HARRIS librettist
Chris Harris is a writer and translator. He is the recipient of The Richard Carne Playwriting Award. His other plays include ‘Cariad yn Oes y Gin’ (Theatr Bara Caws) and ‘Golygfeydd o’r Pla Du’ (Theatrau Sir Gar). His works in development include: ”Gwen yr Arth Wen’ (Blackwood Miners’ Institute); ‘Y Boi Madfall’ (Theatr Iolo) and ‘Gwlad! Gwlad!’ (Awen, Eisteddfod). He also writes for radio and film: ‘Claddedigaeth Chwaer’ (S4C/BBC Wales), and short stories for the series ‘Tic Toc’ (BBC Sounds). ‘Ynys’ is his first opera.
SARAH LIANNE LEWIS composer
Sarah Lianne Lewis is a Welsh composer of bold and imaginative classical music. Described as ‘vivid’, ‘charming’, and ‘poignant’, her music is often about connection, climate change and the natural world, informed by a female disabled perspective.
Sarah was Composer Affiliate with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2020-24). Over the last few years, she has worked with a variety of performers, audiences and spaces; from textural orchestral works in concert halls, to contemplative chamber ensemble works in a late-night gin bar, to creating expansive storytelling soundscapes through silent disco headphones under the stars.
Recent commissions include a site-specific micro-opera in St Pancras Station for International Women’s Day (Royal Opera House, 2022), and an expansive soundscape for a full-length storytelling theatre production (Beyond Borders Storytelling Festival, 2021). Her most recent work ‘The Island of Never Too Late’ was co-commissioned by five French orchestras and the BBC NOW, and is a storytelling adventure for families, shown to sold-out audiences across France in 2023-24, and was premiered in the UK by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in July 2024.
ELEN LLOYD ROBERTS Anna
Welsh soprano Elen Lloyd Roberts studied for a music degree at Durham University before going on to complete an MA in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music.
Her operatic roles include Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Despina Così fan tutte, Zerlina Don Giovanni, Marzelline Fidelio, Galatea Acis and Galatea, and Drusilla L’Incoronazione di Poppea. In 2023, she performed the title role in Handel’s Semele with Eboracum Baroque, and joined the newly formed Utopia Choir under the baton of Teodor Currentzis to perform Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Peter Sellars’ production of Purcell’s The Indian Queen at the Salzburger Festspiele. This spring, she toured Wales with Mid Wales Opera, where she was a Witch and chorus member in their five-star production of Verdi’s Macbeth.
Elen was a finalist in the W. Towyn Roberts Scholarship Prize at the 2018 National Eisteddfod of Wales and has been a finalist in the MOCSA and Dunraven Young Welsh Singer of the Year competitions. She performs regularly as an oratorio soloist, most recently singing Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël and Elgar’s rarely performed The Apostles.
www.elenlloydrobertssoprano.com/
GWION THOMAS Han
Gwion Thomas was born in Swansea and graduated with Distinction at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he won many prizes. He is a busy opera and concert soloist , having sung Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Welsh National Opera; many roles with Scottish Opera; the protagonist in the premiere of A Night at the Chinese Opera by Judith Weir with Kent Opera; many roles, including Mr Punch in Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy with Music Theatre Wales; and also with them the role of Man in the Welsh Language opera Y Twr by Guto Puw.
His wide ranging career encompasses Monteverdi (title role in Orfeo with Kent Opera), oratorio (Elijah and Bach Passions) and involvement in many new opera projects, including the role of Huld in the premiere of The Trial by Phillip Glass with Music Theatre Wales. He is a member of the vocal ensemble Electric Voice Theatre.
He has given performances of the Schubert song-cycles and is also a visiting singing teacher at both the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Rugby School.
THOMAS ANG piano
Praised for his thoughtful and critical programming and excellent technique, Thomas Ang (he/him) is an experienced pianist with a vast repertoire. He has earned recognition as a specialist in the music of Kapustin and Medtner, and has a strong affinity for contemporary and experimental music, having played and conducted various first performances around the world. He continually works to unearth neglected and obscure gems, as well as championing music by minority composers. He is currently recording the complete piano works of Medtner, and the first three discs have received great praise.
In his daily life, Thomas works as a répétiteur for the Royal Ballet. He considers teaching and coaching to be important parts of his musical personality, and counts opera as another part of his foundation. He also accompanies and improvises for silent film. He is interested in the cross-pollination of classical music and other genres, and, in addition to a background in Chinese orchestral and folk musics, also occasionally plays jazz.
Thomas has edited music and made arrangements for Schott Music and Edition Peters, as well as being an orchestrator for various concert and opera works. He transcribes songs and symphonies for solo piano, keeps a pet rabbit, and plays video games in his spare time.
rough for opera 