About Me

Welsh harpist Rhiain Awel Dyer is currently working and living in Croydon and enjoys teaching the harp and piano to both children and adults. Rhiain has a wealth of educational and pastoral experience, having more recently been teaching in Canterbury and working since 2019 for CATS College, and prior to that she spent two years working at The Purcell School for Young Musicians where she received lessons from Charlotte Seale and assisted with orchestral sectionals and harp ensemble rehearsals with the Purcell harp students. Rhiain also worked in a range of departments at the school including assisting the students with practice, working at the school’s music library, working with the Outreach department organising tours, assisting the Academic Music Department and working in the boarding house.

In 2017, Rhiain graduated with a Masters degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she studied with international harpist Caryl Thomas after having graduating with honours from the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Eira Lynn Jones and received the RNCM scholarship. Previously she received lessons at the William Mathias Music Centre in Caernarfon with Elinor Bennett where she won the award for Best Pupil. Born in Mynytho at the heart of the Llŷn Peninsula, Rhiain holds a DipABRSM and an LRSM diploma and has enjoyed many successes in Welsh Eisteddfodau and festivals including first prize in harp competitions at the National Eisteddfod and the National Cerdd Dant Festival. She was also a finalist in the Pencerdd Gwalia festival in 2013 that remembered the centenary of the death of Welsh harpist John Thomas. Rhiain also received the Welch Fusiliers prize for the best performance of a piece by a Welsh composer at RWCMD.

Rhiain was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and was the orchestra’s principal harpist for two years. In 2013 she had the privilege of travelling to Germany with the orchestra and performing in prestigious venues such as the Konzerthaus in Berlin as part of the Young Euro Classics Festival and Brandenburg Cathedral. In October 2014, Rhiain was one of a few young musicians from the National Youth Orchestra chosen to play alongside the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a Halloween themed concert in St. David’s Hall, Cardiff.

Rhiain had the great opportunity of appearing on BBC Wales’ TV programme Connie Fisher’s Musical Map of Wales in 2011; performing on the show and talking about her studies at the William Mathias Music Centre. Another memorable experience was performing a duet on early Erard harps with former Royal Harpist Catrin Finch at the 2012 Caernarfon Harp Festival concert. Rhiain performed her own recital at the 2015 Caernarfon Harp Festival in April and also gave a performance at the festival’s evening concert. In November 2016 Rhiain performed Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro at the Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall and performed Paul Patterson’s Spiders Web at the same venue; and in Holywell Harps Ltd., London in March 2017. Performing with the RWCMD harp ensemble and Catrin Finch at the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong was another incredible experience for the young harpist and she was honoured to have had the opportunity to represent Wales and RWCMD at the Congress’ handover ceremony. As well as teaching and performing as a soloist, Rhiain also enjoys creating music with others and is one half of harp duo Dwyres alongside her sister Elfair Grug. Dwyres are proud to have been a part of Osian Ellis’ 90th birthday celebration concert at Pontio Bangor alongside Bryn Terfel and Hannah Stone which was broadcasted on Radio Cymru.