Beacons Cymru is thrilled to continue its long-standing social partnership with Maes B and the Eisteddfod as it launches its new project: Amlen.
Translated into English as ‘envelope’, Amlen is a research & development project which aims to break down barriers for young Welsh-language (WL) speakers (18-25) pursuing careers in the music industry. The project will collect data through questionnaires, focus groups and interactive activities from all across Wales starting at the Eisteddfod! Amlen will collect empirical data, evidencing the needs of these young people at different stages in their careers, and deliver pilot activity in the near future. Not only will the findings inform Beacons Cymru’s WL strategy, policy and future provision; it will be readily available as a foothold via the Beacons Cymru website for any organisation that wishes to use and implement it.
Amlen will be heading to Caffi Maes B on Tuesday the 7th of August between 12:00-3:30pm to hold a Beacons Cymru Basecamp event. At a Basecamp event, young people are able to meet their local music industry heroes, connect with like-minded young professionals, and unlock exciting knowledge and new opportunities to help forge their creative career.
The industry conversation will expand on the exciting work of Amlen titled Agor yr Amlen (Opening the Envelope) where there will be a discussion between artist/actress Lily Beau (Y Golau/Y Sŵn), producer Alaw, Gwilym guitarist and photographer Rhys Grail, and musician Lewys about the key areas of Amlen’s research. Young creatives are encouraged to get involved with the poster creation workshop for the Maes B Battle of the Bands, and the event will be capped off with live performances from Forté Project alumni Skylrk, Elis Derby and Francis Rees.
Resources and interactive activities will remain at Caffi Maes B for the entire week of the Eisteddfod, and will aim to collect as much heuristic data as possible from the young people attending this flagship festival for Welsh culture.
Amlen lead project officer Glyn Rhys-James says: “I’m so excited that we’ve managed to secure this hugely important research opportunity at the Eisteddfod this year. The Welsh language music scene continues to grow and there’s no better place to dig deeper into this topic than at the Eisteddfod and Maes B, especially when it concerns young Welsh-language speakers looking to get a foot into the industry. A big thank you to both the Eisteddfod and Maes B for this opportunity!”
To follow along with the project’s journey, you can find them on Instagram @amlen.cymru, and for more information check out the page on the Beacons website at https://www.beacons.cymru/amlen. In addition to the research at the Eisteddfod, they’ll be holding focus groups for a variety of young Welsh-speaking music industry individuals, so be sure to stay tuned for more information on that.
Beacons Cymru is a pan-Wales organisation aiming to empower the next generation of young people aspiring to work in the music industry. Our vision is to provide all young people across Wales with access to the industry knowledge, opportunities, networks and skills necessary to carve sustainable careers and new business models in music.
Sign up to the Beacons Cymru newsletter at www.beacons.cymru and get the latest updates straight to your inbox about Amlen and all our other projects.
To learn more about the National Eisteddfod of Wales then please visit: http://eisteddfod.wales/
To learn more about Maes B then please visit: https://maesb.com