Welshed
It is rare, conceivably unique, for a Brit- ish conductor to reach the finals of an in- ternational competition as prestigious as the Guido Cantelli .Conductors' Prize, which is being held this month at La Scala, Milan. Since young Mr Owain Arwel Hughes has done so, you might imagine that the usually very nationalistically- minded Welsh Arts Council would give him eager assistance.
Hughes imagined so, too. Indeed, he was led to do so when he met the director and musical director of the WAC. They seemed to want only his assurance that he was not being financed from any other quarter, an assurance he was well able to give, for his application to the Sir David James Found- ation had been turned down on the grounds that he is not at present resident in Wales. But last week, the WAC informed Hughes by letter that they were, after all, unable to help. Doubtless they had a better use for their funds, such as the subsidising of Pye Records in recording symphonies by Welsh composers. So Hughes has to find £200-odd for his fare and expenses, while also missing three weeks' work while in Milan, and another four weeks' while he studies the eight difficult scores he has to conduct.
Let us wish him well on behalf of every- one except the Welsh Arts Council.
WILL WASPE
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