Robin Huw Bowen is a Welsh triple harp player, known in Welsh as a performer of the telyn deires, and is recognised internationally as a leading exponent of the instrument. He is born in Liverpool, United Kingdom, and comes from a Welsh family originally from Anglesey.

Early life and education

Bowen learns the simpler Celtic harp at school, influenced by the Breton harper Alan Stivell. In 1979 he receives a degree in Welsh Language and Literature from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Career

He first encounters the more complex Welsh triple harp through Dafydd and Gwyndaf Roberts of the Welsh traditional music group Ar Log. Their playing traces back to instruction from Nansi Richards, who is described as one of the last traditional Welsh folk harpists of the previous generation and the last to play the Welsh triple harp in the correct traditional manner.

Bowen performs regularly as a soloist and also becomes a member of Mabsant in 1986. He later joins Cusan Tân and, from 1998, is part of Crasdant, a Welsh group described as a “super-group”. In 2004 he and four other triple harpists form Rhes Ganol, the first Welsh triple harp choir since the one at Llanover Court in the early twentieth century.

Research and publishing

Bowen works for many years at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. There he discovers old collections of Welsh tunes and harp arrangements, some of which are later published by the Library or through his own publishing company, Gwasg Teires. His research also draws on living sources, including the harpist Eldra Jarman, the great-granddaughter of John Roberts, also known as “Telynor Cymru”, who is identified as the last exponent of the true Welsh Gypsy harping tradition.

Recognition

He receives the Glyndŵr Award in 2000.