ALAW (pronounced like "allow", with the accent on the first syllable) means "tune" in the Welsh language. We are a family-run company managed by experienced professional musicians, specialising mainly in music for brass, harp and educational materials, although we are expanding our horizons. We ensure that our output is subjected to close scrutiny: all the items in our catalogue have been performed by working musicians or by our students. Above all, we know that we can give you an excellent opportunity to play music normally unavailable to brass players, while harpists can enjoy a hugely increased repertoire, including a wide range of folk tunes. Please contact us if you have any good, tested arrangements which you feel should be published.

Valerie Aldrich-Smith was born in Crickhowell, Powys, Wales. She received a B.Mus. from Birmingham University and completed her harp studies with Ann Griffiths at the Welsh College of Music and Drama gaining the Advanced Diploma for performance.

Currently she is principal harpist with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, a post she has held for 20 years. During this time she has taught privately, in schools, at the WCMD and University of Cardiff as well as tutoring on harp courses for Telynau Morgannwg and Coleg Telyn Cymru; it is through her teaching that she has begun to compose and arrange music for the harp. Valerie has been actively involved with the educational outreach of the BBCNOW leading workshops in ensemble and orchestral playing specifically for the harp. The main part of this work involves visiting schools to encourage students of mixed musical ability to compose, perform and appraise their own work thus fulfilling the National Curriculum for music studies in the UK.

Tony Bremner was born in Sydney in 1939, he studied piano at the NSW Conservatorium and moved to London in 1961. In 1968 he joined the Glyndebourne chorus as a tenor and remained there for ten years, until he changed to counter-tenor, when his first audition, at Covent Garden, landed him the job of understudy to James Bowman. Engagements throughout Europe ensued, including Reimann's Lear in Mannheim and Krefeld. At the same time as singing he was working with Christopher Palmer, the distinguished orchestrator for many of the Hollywood greats, first as his copyist but later as his assistant and ghost-writer, and began composing. His Harp Concerto was premiered in Brisbane in 1981, and in 1984 he wrote his first film score, Kindred Sprits, for which he received an award. Two other films followed: A Halo for Athuan and The Everlasting Secret Family. His jolly cantata In the Shrubbery, with texts from a gardening book, was premiered by The Song Company at the Sydney Opera House in 1991, and in the same year he composed the music for BBC Radio 3's Don Quixote (Paul Scofield and Bob Hoskins). In 2000 he won the Gregynog Composer of the Year prize with his Three Divine Poems of John Donne for chorus and piano. He has also conducted new recordings of classic film scores, including Lawrence of Arabia and The Big Country with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons with the Australian Philharmonic. His three films scores and In the Shrubbery have been released on CDs.

Eric Crees joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1973 as co-principal trombone. In the year 2000 he joined the Orchestra of the Royal Opera house, Covent Garden as principal trombone. Eric is professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and is one of the most distinguished conductors and arrangers of brass music. Musical Director of the London Symphony Orchestra Brass, he has worked with some of the finest brass ensembles and brass bands. Eric is in great demand internationally, both as a conductor and coach, and has worked with major professional and youth orchestras in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, France, USA and Japan. As an educationalist he was strongly involved in the LSO's Education Department as well as the Performance and Communication Dept. at the Guildhall School; Eric has directed many educational projects, including one based in London, Paris and Vienna alongside Pierre Boulez.

Haldon Evans, a  trumpeter and lecturer at Swansea College, is a busy freelancer in the South Wales area. He studied composition at University College, Cardiff,   where he obtained a B.Mus. degree, then continuing his studies with Alun Hoddinot as a postgraduate student, gaining a M.Mus. Detailed research into the compositional techniques of Béla Bartok promted him  to explore the possibilities inherent in Welsh folk music. He is a highly gifted  arranger for brass.

 

Gillian Green hails from North Wales and was one of the first music students to enter Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester and furthered her music studies at University College, Cardiff; she is in great demand for concerts and functions throughout the U.K. In addition to performing, she has tutored many promising young harpists and many of her students have been awarded top prizes at the national music festivals.
Gill is co-director of the Glamorgan Harp Guild and the administrator of Coleg Telyn Cymru (The Welsh Harp College).  In 1990 she was appointed as the Director of Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now! scheme in Wales for which she has organised over two thousand performances.
Gillian Green is co-director of Telynau Morgannwg (The Glamorgan Harp Guild) and the administrator of Coleg Telyn Cymru (The Welsh Harp College).  She has been a member of the music panel of the Arts Council of Wales since 1996.

Meinir Heulyn has been principal harp with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera for thirty years and is co-ordinator of the harp department and professor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. She is recognised as one of Britain's foremost professional harpists and harp teachers as well as a leading authority on folk music and its traditions. Meinir is is a co-founder of Telynau Morgannwg (The Glamorgan Harp Guild) and Coleg Telyn Cymru (The Welsh Harp College), where she helps organise harp courses attracting teachers and students from many countries. Inspired by young people, Meinir Heulyn has published several volumes of music for the harp, taking Welsh music all over the world. Currently she is in the midst of producing her immensely popular series, "Famous Music for the Harp". Meinir is a director of ALAW.

Skaila Kanga was born in India and started learning the piano at the age of five. Her interest in the harp began at 17 years of age when she was given the opportunity to study with Tina Bonifacio, Sir Thomas Beecham's harpist in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She began her career with the BBC Concert Orchestra and soon went on to freelance with many regional and all the major London orchestras under such eminent conductors as Boult, Kempe, Haitink,   Barenboim and Klemperer. At this time she also worked extensively with Pierre Boulez in the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Skaila's solo career has included many performances of concertos and broadcasts at the same time as her flourishing work in the sphere of records, films and television - playing for artists such as Sinatra, Streisand, Elton John. In 1977 Tommy Reilly and Skaila Kanga formed a duo for harmonica and harp, performing in concert and on television throughout Britain, Europe and South America. Recently, Skaila has given composers' workshops at the City University as well as at the Royal Academy of Music, where she is Head of the harp department. In her work with the Nash Ensemble, which spans over twenty years, Skaila has received widespread critical acclaim.

Brian Raby studied with Denis Wick, was principal trombone with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera for over twenty years  and was Musical Director of the Welsh Brass Consort. Presently he is co-principal trombone with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Brian has coached at numerous youth orchestra courses, including the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, the Wiltshire Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales. He is a prolific arranger for brass and his work has received the highest critical acclaim. Brian is heavily involved in the typesetting, production and internet side of the business and is a director of ALAW.

Caryl Roese studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and at the University of Wales, Cardiff, where she gained a M.Ed. degree. With much world-wide travel and teaching experience behind her, Caryl is the Head of Music at the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, Cyncoed, Cardiff, where she specialises in training students to become music teachers in both primary and secondary schools. Her main concern has always been to broaden children's musical minds at an early age and to give every child an opportunity of making music with as much fun as possible. Caryl Roese's two books "Tôn Gron - A Pocketful of Rounds" and "Music for Topics and Projects" are living proof of this principle.

Jane Stewart studied music at Birmingham University, England, and since graduating has taught and composed extensively. Her experience teaching pupils of all ages has made her very aware of the problems they face when first learning an instrument. Jane has worked with small instrumental groups where she has encountered first hand the challenge of ensemble playing - quite a different matter from playing the parts on their own! As an accompanist Jane understands the problems involved in playing all orchestral and band instruments and has witnessed her own son learning to play the trumpet!!: while she was aware of the early technical difficulties, she soon discovered a disappointing shortage of fun ensemble music for the beginner. Her compositions and arrangements are written to encourage learners to play and listen at the same time.

Robert Swain was born in Cardiff in 1947. He studied composition with Alun Hoddinott and analysis of 20th century music with Arnold Whittall at University College of Wales, Cardiff. He has held a number of teaching and lecturing posts during his career and was appointed HM Inspector for Education and Training (Wales) in 1989. Although most of his professional life has been involved with music in education, he has always been active as an experienced and talented composer, arranger and performer.
Commissions received over the last three decades include a BBC European Music Year Commission, performed at the BBC Wales St.David's Festival, the Swansea Festival, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival as well as at most London Venues. Artists performing his works include the Dartington and Endellion String Quartets, The Fires of London (under Peter Maxwell Davies), the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, the London 20th Century Ensemble and the Welsh Brass Consort. Almost all the world premieres were broadcast by BBC Radio 3.
Robert Swain has considerable experience in the commercial music world where he has composed incidental music for radio, television and live theatre, including works for music theatre for children.

 

Katey Thomas studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and has played with many of Britain’s professional orchestras. She met Meinir Heulyn while working for Welsh National Opera and over many years of personal and professional friendship they have worked together on many occasions as a flute and harp duo. She teaches the flute at Bath Spa University College and plays regularly for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Garsington Opera and Glyndebourne Touring Opera and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Katherine Thomas was born in Pontypridd, South Wales. She began her harp studies with Alwenna Roberts and then Meinir Heulyn. In 1991 she was awarded the Blue Riband in the National Eisteddfod of Wales and in 1992 she won the Nansi Richards Memorial Scholarship. Katherine continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where she was taught by David Watkins. Following graduation in 1996 she was awarded scholarships by both the Welsh Arts Council and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, which enabled her to continue her studies abroad with Edward Witsenburg in Holland. In 1995 Katherine was awarded a fellowship to attend the Aspen Music Festival, Colorado, USA, where she worked with Nancy Allen, Principal Harp of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. During her four years at Aspen, Katherine had the opportunity to work with eminent conductors from America and Europe. At the festival, she gave the premiere of several new chamber works for harp, including compositions by Sydney Hodkinson and Bernard Rands. Katherine returned to Aspen to teach during the summer of 2000. Back in Europe, she is pursuing a busy freelance career and frequently performs with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Welsh National Opera.