A world-renowned soprano from Llanuwchllyn will headline a concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a Welsh music centre.

As well as being an internationally renowned soloist, Mary Lloyd-Davies has taught at Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (William Mathias Music Centre) since the very first day.

The music centre, which has bases in Caernarfon, Denbigh and Ruthin, now has more than 40 freelance tutors. It was founded two decades ago in Caernarfon by a group of music lovers to help Welsh musicians and singers reach their potential, with support from the Arts Council of Wales.

The concert will be held at Galeri in Caernarfon this Saturday (tomorrow), 7 September, when Mary will be joined by a galaxy of Welsh musical stars to mark the special milestone.

Among the other highlights will be performances by acclaimed harpist Elinor Bennett who has been instrumental in the centre’s success, and the hugely talented flautist, Rhiannon Mathias, the daughter of the eminent composer, Professor William Mathias, after whom the centre was named.

Despite enjoying a career that has taken her so some of the world’s most famous opera houses, Mary, who lives near Bala, has stayed close to her roots by tutoring vocal students at the centre.

She said: “I’ve been performing since around 1969 and have enjoyed a wonderful career. There have been some fabulous highlights and inevitably a few low points too.

“One particular highlight was performing at Milan’s La Scala Opera House in an opera entitled 1984 which is based on George Orwell’s famous book.

“I have also performed in Hansel and Gretel in San Francisco and Houston and in Strauss’ Elecktra at the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

“I made my Royal Opera House debut as the fortune teller in Arabella.

“I also spent 22 years with the Wales National Opera (WNO) doing lead roles in Fidelio, Macbeth, Elektra, Tosca, Ballo in Maschera, Tristan and Isolde.”

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