Dewi hails from Bethel, a small village in North Wales at the foot of
Snowdon and started to play the Cornet at the age of 7 with the Llanrug
Silver Band, quickly rising through the ranks from youth band to
Principal Cornet with the senior band. Dewi moved on to play Principal
Cornet with the Menai Bridge band for a couple of years, before moving
to Beaumaris Band where he held the position of Assistant Principal for 6
years. In 2004, he accepted the Assistant Principle position at the
Yorkshire Building Society Brass Band, and held this for just over 2
years before finally moving back over the border down to South Wales,
where he currently plays Principal Cornet with the Tredegar Town Band.
Dewi is currently considered to be one of the finest Principal Cornet
Players of his generation, and to support this claim, he has won
numerous “Best instrumentalist awards”, which include 4 at the Welsh
Regional Championships in Swansea (2008, 2010, 2013, 2016), the Ian
Williams memorial award at the Welsh Regional Championships in 2019, two
in the Grand Shield contest held in Blackpool (2009 & 2010) and the
“Best Soloist” award at the prestigious British Open Championships held
in Birmingham (2013). Dewi has also been awarded the Harry Mortimer
Best Principal Cornet Award at the Brass in Concert Competition at the
Sage, Gateshead in 2011, 2014 and in 2023, along with the Ian Williams
Memorial award for Best Cornet at the Welsh Regional Championships in
2019.
Dewi gained a BMus(hons) from the University of Wales Bangor in 2004,
where he was awarded the prize for the best “Solo Performance”. He went
on to do a PGCE, also at Bangor University, and is now working as a
Peripatetic Music Teacher with Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan
Music Service.
He has won numerous 1st prizes in various Eisteddfodau
throughout Wales as a soloist and is currently one of two “Official
Fanfare Trumpeters” for the Gorsedd y Beirdd within the National
Eisteddfod of Wales, a job that puts him in the spotlight on Welsh
television every year.
Dewi’s skills are sought after all over Europe as a player, with
numerous visits to Norway, Austria and Holland playing with some of
Europe’s finest Brass Bands at various contests, including the
Norwegian, Austrian and Dutch National Championships, the European Brass
Band Championships, and the World Championships.
Dewi’s musical highlights include playing with the YBS band at the
world famous Sydney Opera House, and being part of the historical 2010
year with Tredegar where they held the Grand Shield and the British Open
shields simultaneously.
Recently, together with the development team at Mercer & Barker,
Dewi is very excited to release their new mouthpiece range for Cornet,
and is delighted to play the MB4DG
