ONE of the major prizes for musicians at the National Eisteddfod is the Osborne Roberts Memorial Prize.

For three quarters of a century winning the Blue Ribband competition for soloists aged 19 and under 25 has been a starting point for some of the world's greatest singers.

Among the list of winners are Mary Lloyd Davies, Gwawr Edwards, Trystan Llyr Edwards, Steffan Lloyd Owen and Syr Bryn Terfel.

There is keen but friendly competition among the singers but there is no occasion like the one at the 1957 National Eisteddfod in Llangefni.

Menai Roberts, from Abergwyngregyn near Bangor, was the winner that year.

She had qualified to take part in the competition after winning the contralto solo at the Eisteddfod.

Another in the competition was her fiance, the baritone Graham Wyn Davies from Ammanford.

Menai was a student at Coleg y Normal, Bangor and Graham was a research student at Coleg y University, Bangor at the time.

They had both been to a dance in Bangor and Menai was going for the bus back to Aber.

While she was putting on her coat, Graham approached her and offered to walk her to the bus.

While waiting for the bus he asked her if she was going to see a movie at the cinema the following week.

They were married before Christmas 1959 and were together for 70 years.Menai, who is also a pianist and organist, started singing when he was 17 years old and while at college in Bangor he had lessons from the same singing tutor as Graham.

The medal is still at her house in Cardiff and she has fond memories of winning the Osborne Roberts.

She received a letter from Llanfairfechan Council congratulating her on her success.

According to a report in the North Wales Weekly News after her victory in Llangefni Menai told the reporter that she had a problem.

He had accepted a job at a primary school in Wythenshawe, Manchester but did he want to carry on singing?

"For now, I will stick to teaching but I certainly won't stop singing," she told the paper.

She was a teacher in Manchester and Straford-upon-Avon before moving to Cardiff in the late 1960s.

She left the class in 1974 and joined the Welsh National Opera.

Part of the chorus for years she travelled the world with the company.

She judged in many eisteddfodau too.

Thomas Osborne Roberts was well known during the early years of the 20th Century as a composer, accompanist, conductor, teacher and critic.

He was respected by prominent peers such as Vaughan Williams, Granville Bantock, David Vaughan Thomas and W S Gwynn Williams, and his legacy still includes several popular songs.

His second wife, Maggie Jones (better known by her stage name Leila Megàne), was an opera contralto who accompanied her on singing tours to Milan, New York and London.

Born in Chirk, Denbighshire his family moved to Ysbyty Ifan when he was 11 years old.

He followed his father, an accomplished musician himself, and trained to be a land surveyor. But soon he decided to leave this profession his time for music.

He began writing for the Pavilion Orchestra in Llandudno which performed a number of his early orchestral works.

Thomas Osborne Roberts was one of the judges who awarded the first ever musical award to Leila Megàne, for singing at the Anglesey eisteddfod in 1910 - their first meeting.

The two then went their separate ways before Leila Megàne invited him to accompany her on a tour of America in 1923.

They married the following year in New York and settled in Caernarfon.In the 1930s, he moved to London as a teacher and accompanist.

He was taken ill after judging at the Liverpool eisteddfod in 1948 and died a few days later.

He was buried at Ysbyty Ifan.

His name has been given, since 1951, to an award at the National Eisteddfod and with 2026 marking 75 years since the award was presented for the first time the Brifwyl will recognize this special milestone.

During the Pavilion competitions on Thursday, August 6 past winners will be presented on stage and then there will be a reception in The Studio.