Mared Williams, known professionally as Mared, is a Welsh singer-songwriter from

Llannefydd Llannefydd is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It is located on the border with Denbighshire, between the Afon Aled and River Elwy, north west of Denbigh, south west of St Asaph, south of Abergele and south east of ...

, north

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. She won the 2021 Welsh Language Album Award and has won two

Y Selar Awards The Y Selar Awards () are awarded annually for the best Welsh language rock and pop music, by the Welsh language music magazine, ''Y Selar''. The awards ceremony is the only one particularly for Welsh language music. Background The awards were firs ...

Life

Although she considered studying law, Mared studied music at the University of Leeds until 2018 and then a master's in musical theatre performance at the Royal Academy Of Music. She had ensemble and understudy Eponine roles in ''Les Misérables'' in the West End in 2019. Mared joined the ''Welsh of the West End group'' during the covid pandemic that has performed in concerts including at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. In a Britain's Got Talent performance with the group, Mared's vocals impressed the judges, with Simon Cowell saying that the group's performance was "exceptional". In 2018, Mared won the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod’s ''International Voice of Musical Theatre.'' She then travelled to Australia to perform in the Gold Coast Eisteddfod's Musicale. In the same year, she came second in the "Can i Gymru" "song for Wales") competition, coming second with the song "Byw a Bod" ("living and being"). In 2020, Mared appeared in the "Dwylo Dros y Môr" ("hands across the sea") song which reached 15 on the iTunes chart. In 2021, Mared had re-joine the cast of Les Misérables (musical) in London's west end. Mared won the 2021 Albwm Cymraeg y Flwyddyn ("Welsh Language Album Awards") for the album, Y Drefn ("The Order"), with I KA CHING Records label, announced live on

BBC Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio network owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts on two stations across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and online. The main network broadcasts for hours a day from ...

. The album is bilingual and includes live sessions with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In response to her winning the award, Mared said “My heart is full! Thank you so much for making my year a thousand times better." “This album means the world to me and getting this response has been so special.” In 2021, Mared won Y Selar's Award for Seren y Sîn ("star of the scene") award. In the same year Mared performed in the Online covid version

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

, "Eisteddfod AmGen". She also appeared in an

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...

episode of "Curadur". In 2021, she also appeared in the launch of the online

Urdd National Eisteddfod The Urdd National Eisteddfod ( cy, Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Urdd Gobaith Cymru or ''Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd'') is an annual Welsh-language youth festival of literature, music and performing arts organised by Urdd Gobaith Cymru. Arguably Eur ...

, Esteddfod T. In the same year she appeared on Scott Quinnell's BBC Radio Wales Sunday programme to discuss her debut album. '“So I'm really proud that we can share the Welsh language and be able to create a different partnership here in New York.” In February 2023, Mared was announced as Y Selar's best solo artist of the year.

Personal life

As of 2022 Williams was dividing her time between Llannefydd and London.

Discography

Singles

Albums and EP

Theatre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mared Living people Welsh-language singers 21st-century Welsh women singers Welsh women singer-songwriters Welsh singer-songwriters Welsh-speaking musicians Year of birth missing (living people)