Cerys Hafana

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Cerys Hafana
World Rhythms Cerys Hafana - WOMAD UK 2024 (53895848511).jpg
Hafana at WOMAD in 2024
Background information
Birth nameCerys Havana Hickman
Origin Machynlleth, Powys, UK
Genres Contemporary folk
Instrument(s) Triple harp, piano
Years activeSince 2019 (2019)
Website ceryshafana.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Cerys Havana Hickman, known professionally as Cerys Hafana, [1] is a multi-instrumentalist and composer [2] from Machynlleth, Wales. [3]

Contents

They are a member of AVANC (Ensemble Gwerin Ieuenctid Cymru (English: The Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales)). [4] [5]

In 2022, they released the album Edyf, based on songs found in the National Library of Wales. [6] The album was shortlisted for the 2022‍–‍2023 Welsh Music Prize [7] and the Welsh-language album of the year. [8] The Guardian named it one of the top ten folk albums of 2022. [9]

They contributed an essay to the 2022 anthology Welsh (Plural). [10] The essay was met with a controversial reception. [11]

Musical style and reception

Hafana describes their harp music as "sad Welsh harp pop" [12] [13] [14] and has produced merchandise featuring this phrase. [15]

Hafana summarized a method they use to source works to adapt during a performance at Showcase Scotland in 2023 [links added]: [16]

I spend a lot of time on the Welsh National Library's online ballads database, like any cool person with lots of friends. And I like going looking for, sort of old folk-songs and ballads and poems, that have pretty much died out, and aren't really sung today. The next [song] I'm gonna do is one of those; it was written by a guy called "Benjamin" in 1858, and it describes his experience of watching Comet Donati – which was the second brightest comet of the 19th-century, for those of you who didn't know – and it's like a 7-page epic about this comet; I've cut it down a bit.

Paul Carr and Robert Smith of the University of South Wales have described Hafana as "one of the most original voices in contemporary Welsh folk music." [17] Jude Rogers of The Guardian has described them as "a master of the Welsh triple harp" who "explores resonances from the past that connect with the modern day." [18]

Personal life

Hafana describes themself as queer, not fitting into the gender binary, [11] and uses they/them pronouns. [a]

Discography

All releases below have been available through Bandcamp. [20]

Studio albums

Studio EPs

Singles

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hafana has been using 'they/them' pronouns in their self published website biography since c.14 October 2024. [19] [ better source needed ]

References

  1. ↑ "Multi-instrumentalist awarded Ian McKellen award". Cambrian News. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2025. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  2. ↑ "Beti a'i Phobol: Cerys Hafana" [Beti And Her People: Cerys Hafana] (in Welsh). BBC. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "'It's learning to make sense of the mess of lines in front of you': Cerys Hafana on playing the Welsh triple harp". BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  4. ↑ "Ateb y Galw: Y delynores Cerys Hafana" [Answering the Demand: The harpist Cerys Hafana]. BBC Cymru (in Welsh). 25 October 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "The Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales". Trac Cymru: Music Traditions Wales. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  6. ↑ Way, Emma (25 August 2023). "'There're so many stereotypes about harp music – people are surprised by mine' – one to watch: Cerys Hafana". Buzz Magazine. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "Welsh Music Prize 2023 finalists revealed". Nation.Cymru. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Listen to the music: Welsh language album of the year shortlist announced". Nation.Cymru. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "Cerys Hafana". Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  10. ↑ Raymond, Gary (28 January 2023). "Cerys Hafana in Conversation". Wales Arts Review. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  11. 1 2 "'Do'n i byth yn ffitio mewn i'r bocs traddodiadol'" ['I never fit into the traditional box']. BBC Cymru (in Welsh). 28 July 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  12. 1 2 "Cerys Hafana announces new album, Difrisg". Nation.Cymru. 5 June 2025. Archived from the original on 5 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  13. ↑ Hafana, Cerys (16 September 2024). "Musical Road to Womex 2024 – Cerys Hafana" (Interview). Rhythm Passport. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  14. ↑ Hafana, Cerys (23 October 2024). "Five minutes with Cerys Hafana" (Interview). Interviewed by Steph Wilkinson. British Underground. Archived from the original on 28 July 2025. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  15. ↑ "'Sad Welsh Harp Pop' Baseball Cap". Cerys Hafana. Retrieved 28 July 2025– via Bandcamp.
  16. ↑ Comed 1858 - Cerys Hafana (yn fyw o / live from Showcase Scotland 2023). Arts Council of Wales. 10 February 2023 – via YouTube.
  17. ↑ Carr, Paul (17 April 2024). "Four rising Welsh music acts to pep up your playlist". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  18. ↑ Rogers, Jude (23 September 2022). "Cerys Hafana: Edyf review – using the Welsh triple harp to connect past and present". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  19. ↑ "Biography". Archived from the original on 14 October 2024.
  20. ↑ "Music: Cerys Hafana". Cerys Hafana. Retrieved 6 June 2025– via Bandcamp.
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