Cerys Matthews

Cerys Matthews broke onto the scene as part of the Britpop band Catatonia in the 90s, the band known for their lyricism and shimmering guitar pop. On splitting in 2001, she has continued to write songs and explore music, literature and sound. Over the past 17 years, she has programmed and hosted award-winning radio shows across the BBC, and won the Prix Italia and Prix Europa in 2022. Known for her imaginative lyric and melody writing, as well as her distinctive voice, Cerys has often collaborated — duetting with Tom Jones, Larry Adler, Bryn Terfel, Tom Paley, Terry Hall and Serafina Steer, and working with artists such as Lemn Sissay, Arun Ghosh, Tunde Jegede, Iwan Rheon, Space, Manic Street Preachers, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ma.MOyo, Liz Berry, Hidden Orchestra, Guy Chambers, and the Treorchy and Gwalia Male Voice Choirs. Alongside writing and performing original music, Cerys has always enjoyed covering traditional songs from across the globe, and setting poems and texts to music. Her version of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas, which she wrote alongside Mason Neely, became a musical performed in Minneapolis in both 2023 and 2024. Her music for an Under Milk Wood ballet is due for release in 2026.