A NEW album spanning the career of internationally renowned harpist Osian Ellis has been released to celebrate his 90th birthday.

Osian, who lives in Pwllheli, is one of Wales’ musical giants.

The collection, to be released at the Wales International Harp Festival in April, encompasses over 60 years of performances recorded by him for several recording companies from the 1950s to the present day.

He is regarded not only as an international harpist of high acclaim but also as one of the most notable musicians of the 20th century.

Born in Flintshire and raised in Denbighshire, Osian started playing the harp at a young age, as a pupil of Alwena Roberts, ‘Telynores Iâl’.

At the age of 17 he was awarded the Joseph Parry Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and was later appointed Professor of Harp there, a post he held for over 30 years.

In 1960 he was appointed as Principal Harp of the London Symphony Orchestra, and the next 30 years would see him performing extensively with the orchestra and also as a soloist and chamber harpist with the renowned Melos Ensemble.

Many leading composers, including Benjamin Britten, William Mathias and Alun Hoddinott composed works especially for him.

This CD contains the highly acclaimed recording made by Osian Ellis and the Melos Ensemble in 1962 of Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro, one of the classics of the harp repertoire.

Here also is the 1960 recording of Handel’s Concerto No. 5 in F major, directed by Thurston Dart, which won the French Grand Prix du Disque award.

Amazingly, the last three songs on the CD were recorded a few days after Osian celebrated his 90th birthday in February 2018.

What a magnificent way to crown this wonderful collection by the ‘King of Harps’!