Singer and multi-instrumentalist who composes music for theatre, film, TV, and radio.
Lleuwen Steffan (also known as Tafod Arian) is originally from Wales, but now resides in Brittany.
She is an innovative Welsh singer and multi-instrumentalist who composes music for theatre, film, TV, and radio. Most notably, she writes songs rooted in the Celtic language of her homeland.
In her latest project, ‘The Lost Welsh Folk Hymns’, she breathes new life into old traditional Welsh hymns and sermons that had been forgotten. Lleuwen Steffan was working in a museum archive when she came across recordings of Welsh-language hymns she had never heard before. It turned out that these recordings were made by a historian and folklore expert who, starting in 1964, traveled around Wales collecting rhymes, riddles, poems, and folk hymns. Many of these hymns date back to the 18th century and were passed down through generations. However, they were excluded from hymnals because they were deemed inappropriate by the selection committees of the time. Many of the songs addressed topics such as alcohol abuse, mental illness, and the darker aspects of the psyche.
On a tour of 50 chapels across Wales, Lleuwen Steffan now performs these rediscovered hymns, bringing them back home to the places where they originated. During the concerts, she sings alongside descendants of the hymn singers from the original recordings, whom she has tracked down.
She will also be performing as part of the new songwriter circle focusing on music created and performed in minority languages.
