EnglishMusicians
Ensemble Renard
Ensemble Renard are a London-based wind quintet founded in 2018. The Ensemble give exciting and varied performances for audiences of all backgrounds. From Gershwin to Knussen, via Mozart, each piece they play demonstrates the versatility and talent of the ensemble. They include repertoire which rarely sees the light of day, and feature works especially written or arranged for the ensemble. This is their fifth visit to Llanfyllin.
Instagram: @ensemble_renard
Website: https://ensemblerenard.co.uk/
Creswick Quartet
The Creswick Quartet combine the experience of the Allegri, Schidlof and Ragazze Quartets, with Bradley Creswick's wisdom as former leader of the Northern Sinfonia and Philharmonia Orchestra. They have come together to share their love of the great chamber music repertoire and their seasoned understanding of ensemble playing.
They have previously played at Llanfyllin Music Festival bringing an unrivalled wealth of experience and musicianship, and are accustomed to the greatest concert halls of the world.
They are Bradley Creswick, 1st violin, Rafael Todes, 2nd violin, Graham Oppenheimer, viola, and Kirsten Jenson, cello.
Instagram: @creswickquartet
Dafydd Jones & Ieuan Jones
Tenor Dafydd Jones (right) and harpist Ieuan Jones perform together with a programme featuring Schubert’s Winterreise. Together, they offer a compelling musical partnership, combining voice and harp in a programme of depth and sensitivity.
Tenor Dafydd Jones is a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper Opernstudio, upcoming roles include Gefangener (Fidelio), and Dritter Knappe (Parsifal). Dafydd will also return to Garsington Opera this summer to sing Telemaco in John Caird’s production of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria.
Recent highlights include Remendado (Carmen), Dichter (Das Jagdgewehr), Un Payson (La Fille du régiment), and Guiseppe (La Traviata) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, as well as Albert Herring (Opera North), Fenton in Falstaff (Verbier Festival), and Clotarco in Armida (Bregenzer Festspiele).
A passionate performer of song, Dafydd won the 2024 Royal Overseas League Gold Medal and the 2023 Ferrier Loveday Song Prize and has been a young artist with Leeds Lieder Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, and the French Song Exchange programme at the Wigmore Hall. He is proud to be a Samling Artist.
Ieuan Jones (right) is an internationally acclaimed harpist whose performances have taken him to more than twenty‑five countries, earning standing ovations in venues from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and major festivals in Australia and Asia. His richly characterful playing—described in Spain as “Esplendoroso Jones”—is grounded in a lifetime of study, beginning at age six and continuing through the Royal College of Music, where he now serves as Professor of Harp.
While still a student he was appointed harpist to the House of Commons, a post he held for thirteen years, and he has performed extensively at major UK halls including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall and St David’s Hall. A holder of numerous prizes and honours, Ieuan’s varied programmes often include repertoire rarely heard on the harp, and he regularly appears on international competition panels worldwide. In 2016 he released a world‑first recording of Schubert’s piano works transcribed for harp and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music.
Dafydd Jones' Instagram: @dafyddjonestenor
Dafydd Jones' website: https://www.dafyddjonestenor.com/
Ieuan Jones' website: https://www.ieuanjones.co.uk/
Mayuchi Ono accompanied by Helen Cawthorne
Mayuchi Ono (right), the Overall Winner of the Gregynog Young Musician Competition 2025, studies cello with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Academy of Music, where she holds a scholarship. She studied with Lara Moore, Gemma Rosefield and Adrian Brendel, and continues to receive mentorship from Anthony Pleeth. She has received numerous awards, including the Hattori Foundation Junior Award, the J & A Beare Prize, and the British Music Society Prize, and was selected as an active participant at the Kronberg Academy Masterclass.
As a soloist, she has performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C. An active chamber musician, she has participated in Beare’s Chamber Music and regularly performs chamber repertoire alongside her solo appearances. She is also deeply engaged in Baroque cello under the guidance of Andrew Skidmore.
She has been generously supported by the St Clement Danes Educational Foundation, the Albert Cooper Trust and the Leverhulme Trust. She performs on an 1821 Ernst Liebich cello kindly loaned through the J & A Beare Cultural Trust and a Chanot & Chardon bow on loan from Anthony Pleeth.
Accompanying her will be Helen Cawthorne (right), a renowned pianist. Helen studied with the German pianist Annekäte Friedlander before entering the Royal Academy of Music, where she was awarded major prizes as a solo pianist, accompanist and chamber musician. Her subsequent career has reflected this diversity, and a special interest in working with singers and string players in the Romantic repertoire has been complemented by premières of over thirty newly commissioned works. Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room débuts came early in her career and she has returned many times to the Southbank Centre, most recently with the eight-hand piano ensemble Piano40, in their tenth appearance at the venue.
A long-standing working partnership with her husband, baritone John Barker, has included BBC broadcasts and recordings on the Sain and Regent Records labels.
Mayuchi Ono's Instagram: @mayucello_ono
Websites:
https://gregynogymc.co.uk/winners
https://www.ram.ac.uk/news/cellist-mayuchi-onos-journey-at-the-academy/
Helen Cawthorne's website: https://helencawthorne.com/
Narratio Quartet
On 12th July 2026, St Myllin's Church, Llanfyllin, will host a performance by the Narratio Quartet, an ensemble distinguished for their expressive and historically informed approach to the string quartet repertoire.
Founded in 2009, the Narratio Quartet takes their name from the art of rhetoric, reflecting their commitment to storytelling through music and to fostering a deep connection both within the ensemble and with their audience. The quartet are particularly renowned for their performances of Beethoven’s string quartets on period instruments, using gut strings and 19th-century bows to explore the sound world of the early nineteenth century.
Over the years, the ensemble have performed the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets multiple times and expanded their repertoire to include works by Brahms, Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn. Their performances are marked by a thoughtful, communicative style that brings fresh insight and immediacy to this rich body of chamber music.
Website: https://narratioquartet.nl/en/home_en/