Robin Huw Bowen

Liverpool-born and Wales-based harper Robin Huw Bowen has turned the fully chromatic 18th-century Welsh triple, equipped with three rows of strings, into an instrument of striking beauty. A onetime member of the traditional Welsh ensemble Mabsant, he has since performed both as a soloist and in the duo Cusan Tan alongside Ann Morgan Jones on vocals and flute and Sue Jones supplying harmony vocals. The youngest of three brothers who all play the triple harp, Bowen learned from his elders Dafydd and Gwyndaf Roberts, who themselves performed with the traditional group ArLog. He further refined his technique through study with the influential gypsy harp player Nansi Richard. His first public platform arrived in 1986 when he joined Mabsant, remaining with the band for two years and taking part in the recording of its 1987 album Trwy'r Weiar. While supplementing his earnings by working at the Welsh National Library, Bowen gathered much of his repertoire from a rich store of ancient Welsh melodies. He later founded the press Gwasg Teires, known in English as Triple Harp Press, to issue these pieces, among them the collection Tro Llaw containing two hundred hornpipes.