A Pwllheli harpist has been named the winner of a top doctoral scholarship.

Gwenan Gibbard is the winner of the Doctoral Scholarship by the National Library of Wales to study the contributions of Dr Meredydd Evans and Phyllis Kinney to Welsh folk music.

Gwenan Gibbard, a native of Pwllheli, is well known in the Welsh folk music scene as a harpist and singer, performer, composer, and adjudicator and accompanist at a national level.

She has travelled extensively performing on her own and as part of music projects and has published three solo albums with Sain: Y Gwenith Gwynnaf (2006), Sidan Glas (2010), Cerdd Dannau (2013) and one EP: Y Gorwel Purple (2015).

She is a prominent figure in the Welsh Folk Song Society, and Cymdeithas Cerdd Dant Cymru, and is a conductor and coach of the Cor yr Heli who specialize in cerdd dant and folk singing.

The doctoral scholarship is a collaboration between the Welsh Music Archive, at the National Library of Wales, the School of Music and Media, Bangor University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

The aim of the PhD Scholarship (sponsored by Y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the National Library of Wales) will be to focus on specific aspects of collecting folk melodies in the second half of the 20th and 21st centuries in Wales.

Nia Mai Daniel, Welsh music archive program manager at the National Library of Wales, said: “I was pleased that there was so much interest in this scholarship, and that such a high caliber of applicants had applied. This reflects the national importance of the archives of Merêd and Phyllis Kinney. Congratulations to Gwenan Gibbard, we look forward to working with her over the coming years ”

See this week’s north editions for the full story, in shops and online now