A YOUNG singer thanked her tutor and mentor after she won one of the most prestigious awards at the National Eisteddfod.

For three quarters of a century now, staging the Blue Ribbon competition for soloists aged 19–25 has proven to be a key starting point for some of the most famous singers in Wales and the world including Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, Steffan Lloyd Owen and Syr Bryn Terfel.

The Osborne Roberts Memorial Award was awarded to Ffion Mair Thomas, from Crymych, Pembrokeshire.

Her tutor is Eilyr Thomas who was honored at the eisteddfod last year with the T H Parry Williams Medal award.

She said: "Her influence has been absolutely invaluable. She recognized my potential and tutored me from an early age. Thank you for everything."

Ffion has just completed her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London and is considering her next steps.

"This award will certainly help in my development as a singer," she added.

Thomas Osborne Roberts was a leading musical figure at the beginning of the 20th century.

A composer, accompanist, conductor, teacher and critic, he was respected by peers such as Vaughan Williams and WS Gwynn Williams, and many of his songs are still popular today.

His second wife, Maggie Jones – the well-known contralto Leila Megàne – was an international figure, performing in Milan, New York and London.

Osborne Roberts often accompanied his father who was an accomplished musician himself, before he trained to be a land surveyor.

But soon, he turned his back on the profession to devote himself completely to music.In the 1930s he moved to London as a teacher and accompanist.

He died shortly after judging at the 1948 Liverpool Eisteddfod and since 1951 his name has been known to generations of Welsh people through the Osborne Roberts Memorial Award.

To celebrate the occasion, former winners of the award were invited and 28 of them came to the stage.