Born in Rhymney, Iestyn Harding studied the trombone with Simon Wills and Eric Crees at the Guildhall School of Music. Whilst employed by Caerphilly Music Service, he continued his studies, eventually being awarded a PhD by Bristol University.
Iestyn’s music has been performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Cory Band, COMA, Endymion, Four Counties Youth Orchestra, IXION, Okeanos, the Schubert Ensemble, the Rhymney Silurian Male Choir, Welsh Sinfonia and most recently, Abergavenny Symphony Orchestra.
A prize winner of the British Trombone Society Composition Competition (2012), Iestyn’s music was also selected in the top three entries of the Cory Band Composition Prize (2016).
Abergavenny Symphony Orchestra has played several pieces written by Iestyn:
- Song at the Year’s Turning (November 2022)
- Sur le Bout des Doights (June 2022)
- I Saw Three Ships (2017 children’s concert)
- Hunting Lions and Silly Old Baboon (2016 children’s concert)
The composition of Song at the Year’s Turning was made possible with funding from Tŷ Cerdd’s 2018/19 CoDI Buddies scheme which partnered Welsh composers with non-professional music makers to create new works and forge links between creators and local communities. Now renamed ‘Adopt a Music Creator’, it is one part of CoDI — Tŷ Cerdd’s multi-faceted programme for Welsh and Wales-based music-creators. (For more information visit tycerdd.org)
