Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994                   TAG: 9403040235
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE MUSIC OF WALES

Welsh-born Eluned Jones, a professor in the agriculture economics department at Virginia Tech, and Mari Morgan, a Welsh singer on tour in the United States, will present a concert on Thursday March 10 in celebration of St. David's Day. The evening presentation will include traditional Welsh folk music from the eighth and ninth centuries, modern compositions of contemporary pop and music of various Welsh composers through the ages.

The "penillon" is one of the most notable and uniquely Welsh forms of musical expression. In this unusual arrangement, a harpist plays one musical score while the singer performs a countermelody which is an entirely different piece of music, with poetry for words. Thus, three stand-alone components - the harp music, the singer's music and the poetry - are blended together to create a graceful harmony.

One of the most popular contemporary songs Jones and Morgan will sing is "Dwylo Dros Y Mor," or "Hands Across the Sea."

Jones, who came to Blacksburg five years ago, said in Wales "one grows up singing. It's an integral part of Welsh culture and pervades all of Welsh life." She has been involved with folk singing and dancing since she was a child in the valleys of southeast Wales.

In the United States, she has continued that tradition, performing occasionally at Welsh festivals. A surprising number of Welsh people moved to the United States, for mining and other opportunities. "James Monroe's wife was Welsh," she said.

Although she took classical piano lessons as a youngster, she first took voice lessons in Blacksburg from Craig Fields, associate professor of music and director of the Master Chorale, of which she is a member. According to Fields, Jones worked hard to find the right vocal range, and actually switched from an alto to a soprano.

Jones, 38, also dances, and she performed clog dancing at the Welsh Festival in Fredericksburg last year. Her wooden shoes tap the floor loudly and there's a lot of heel and toe action. Her dance differs from the quieter Appalachian clogging, which emphasizes the toe work and has little heel action.

Morgan, 28, is a resident of London, but she travels more as her singing and conducting career expands. She first came to the United States in 1992 after meeting a Chicago voice teacher, from whom she now takes lessons. She and Jones met last July at Welsh Heritage Week in Baltimore.

Morgan visited Blacksburg later in the summer, and she and Jones had an impromptu singing debut in the driveway at a party. Their voices went extremely well together, so they sang in a national "Gymanfa Ganu," a community hymn singing festival, in Pennsylvania in September.

On this visit, Morgan also is performing in California, and she and Jones will present a concert in Chicago in April. Proceeds from the Blacksburg concert will go toward establishing a Western Virginia chapter of the National Welsh-American Foundation.

"An Evening of Welsh Composers" will be held Thursday at 8 p.m. at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, Church and Eakin streets. Featured artists: Eluned Jones, soprano; Mari Morgan, mezzo-soprano; Beth Dechent, harpist; and James Bryant, pianist. Admission is $4 for adults; $3 for college students and senior citizens; and free for school-age children through high school.

For tickets or more information, call 552-5825.