Esme Lewis Explained

Esme Lewis
Birth Place:Caerau, Maesteg, U.K.
Other Names:Esmé Lewis Morgan
Occupation:Singer, composer, record producer, educator

Esme Lewis, sometimes written as Esmé Lewis, was a Welsh singer. She was a member of the BBC Welsh Singers, and was regularly seen on the television program Gwlad y Gân from 1958 to 1964.

Early life and education

Lewis was born in Caerau, Maesteg.[1] She was performing music from early childhood. She won a Glamorgan Vocal Scholarship to further her musical studies, and graduated from University College, Cardiff, with honours.[2] [3]

Career

Lewis won her first prize for singing as a three-year-old, and was first heard on BBC at the age of 8. She won a gold medal at the National Eisteddfod, for a duet with Aldwyn Humphreys.[4] She was a soprano singer, and played guitar, harp and lute, while performing traditional and popular songs in both Welsh and English.[5] [6] She performed at the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. She was a frequent singer on the ITV program Gwlad y Gân from 1958 to 1964. In 1961, she presented an episode of Sprigyn o Rosmari, a BBC television series about Welsh folk music.[7] In 1976, she appeared on The Folk Club, on BBC Wales.[8] "I spend so much time entertaining other people that I hardly ever have time to get entertained myself," she told an interviewer in 1959.[9]

Lewis toured with other British and Irish folk musicians in Australia and New Zealand in 1966.[10] In the 1970s she was a senior lecturer at Cardiff College of Education, and toured in the United States as a soloist with a Welsh men's choir.[11] [12] She also composed songs and produced records.

Recordings

Personal life

Lewis married scholar, who died in 1966.[14] Her second husband was Dr. John Bradley Jones.

Notes and References

  1. News: 1974-11-29 . Star of Caerau . 2024-03-29 . The Glamorgan Gazette . 7 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: 1982-03-25 . Honours for five persons . 2024-03-29 . The Glamorgan Gazette . 10 . Newspapers.com.
  3. News: 1974-02-22 . Awards for nurses trained at Maesteg hospital . 2024-03-29 . The Glamorgan Gazette . Newspapers.com. 8.
  4. Web site: 2007-10-03 . Ann's finally got to be head girl! . 2024-03-29 . Wales Online . en.
  5. https://www.discogs.com/artist/1906535-Esme-Lewis Esme Lewis
  6. News: 1967-10-13 . An evening of musical magnificence . 2024-03-29 . Pontypridd and Llantrisant Observer . 9 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: 1961-03-08 . Folk Music . 2024-03-29 . Daily Post (Merseyside ed.) . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: 1976-02-26 . Folk club singer . 2024-03-29 . The Glamorgan Gazette . 10 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 1959-11-18 . Folk-singer won her first prize at 3! . 2024-03-29 . Western Mail . Newspapers.com. 4.
  10. News: 1966-03-11 . Esme Lewis in Folk-Song Festival . 2024-03-29 . The Glamorgan Gazette . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Oliva . Mark . 1975-03-06 . Wide concert variety available in Reno Sunday . 2024-03-29 . Reno Gazette-Journal . 15 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: 1975-03-05 . Choir will sing here . 2024-03-29 . The Times Standard . 8 . Newspapers.com.
  13. Plant . David . 2017 . Resources in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library: The Pat Shaw Archive . Folk Music Journal . 11 . 2 . 43 . 44987621 . 0531-9684.
  14. Web site: Jones . John Graham . Morgan, Iwan James (1904 - 1966), extra-mural tutor and politician . 2024-03-29 . Dictionary of Welsh Biography.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Esme Lewis".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.