On 1 September 2026, we held a special event at the Library of Congress to formally present Wales’ gift to the people of the United States to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence: Symffoni’r Môr Mawr – A Transatlantic Symphony.
It has been a joy and a privilege to have developed this project from initial concept through to fruition. Composer Katie Jenkins and I met before Christmas and began formulating the idea of a piece of music which could tell the story of Wales’ relationship with America over more than 250 years, what it means today and looking to the future.
We have been incredibly fortunate that everyone we asked to be involved in the project said yes. Sir Bryn Terfel, Ellen Williams, Chloe Flower, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Pendyrus Male Voice Choir, Hanan Issa, Karen Ni Bhroin, Hoddinott Hall, the Library of Congress, the US Air Force Band and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama all threw themselves into the project with passion and energy that brought it to life.
On stage at the historic Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress, I felt an enormous sense of pride as we formally presented Symffoni’r Môr Mawr – A Transatlantic Symphony to Robert Newlen, Acting Librarian of Congress, following remarks by HM Ambassador to the United States, Sir Christian Turner.
It was an honour to be part of the official gifting moment alongside Welsh Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport, Heledd Fychan MS, and composer Katie Jenkins. A red vinyl edition of the recording, engraved with a Welsh dragon, was gifted along with the conductor’s annotated score, signed by all the artists who took part in the recording, to join the Library’s extensive music archive.
We wanted the project to be rooted in history and authenticity, so began by working with the Welsh Society of Philadelphia, the oldest Welsh community in the USA and founded almost 300 years ago.
Catrin Brace spent a day touring Katie around the chapels, Quaker meeting houses and historic homes of the Welsh Tract in Pennsylvania. This inspired the first movement, ‘Music for a Voyage’, reflecting on the bravery and sacrifices the earliest Welsh settlers made in leaving behind their communities to forge new ones.
Katie’s research also led to her uncovering Pigion o Hymnau, one of the earliest books to have been printed in the Welsh language in America in Utica, New York, in 1808. She selected a hymnal verse from ‘Anweledig, eto'n annwyl’, which translates as ‘Invisible, yet loved’, and set it to new music.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Hanan Issa explored the textiles archives of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales at St Fagans and drew on the imagery of patchwork and quilting for the libretto for the final movement, ‘Weaving Home’, a metaphor for the threads that continue to bind us over centuries and continents.
On 4 July, First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth announced the gift Wales would be giving to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, ‘penblwydd hapus America’. Later that month, we brought the artists together at Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff to record the symphony. It was a magical experience with a real sense of making history in the air.
The magic continued when Katie and I travelled to London for the recording to be mastered at Abbey Road Studios. We discovered that we were there on the same day and exact time, 8 August at 11:25am, that the Beatles were photographed for their legendary album cover in 1969.
But nothing could prepare me for the magic of seeing audiences hear the music for the first time.
The world premiere performance at the Library of Congress saw Chloe Flower reprising her piano solo, joined by singers from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and a string orchestra from the United States Air Force Band, conducted by Katie herself. It received a standing ovation and was a powerful reminder of how music can make international relationships feel immediate and human.
A few days later, at the North American Festival of Wales, I presented a documentary film about the project along with the full symphony recording. Members of the Welsh diaspora from across the USA, people for whom their Welsh heritage and roots run deep, were moved to tears by the music.
Together, the three movements trace a deeply human story: leaving home, carrying language and song across the ocean, building community in a new country and looking ahead with hope. It is a story rooted in history, but it also speaks powerfully to the Wales of today, creative, confident, outward looking and proud of its living language and culture.
Entrusted to the Library of Congress, Symffoni’r Môr Mawr will be preserved and shared as part of the cultural record of this anniversary. The sheet music is now available for choirs across Wales and America to continue to tell a story of friendship, creativity and connection between our two nations.
For more information, visit A Transatlantic Symphony on Wales.com.
Watch the full symphony on YouTube.
About the author
Charlie Thomas, Deputy Head of North America for the Welsh Government, is based in New York where she leads Wales’ trade, investment and cultural engagement across the United States and Canada.