Transatlantic symphony from Wales joins Library of Congress 2026

Key Points

• Symffoni’r Môr Mawr – A Transatlantic Symphony, which is an orchestra piece lasting 15 minutes, was officially launched for Americans in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
• This music piece has been composed by Katie Jenkins who hails from Pontypridd and lives in New York. This piece has been recorded by Welsh and American artists including Sir Bryn Terfel and GRAMMY-winning pianist Chloe Flower.
• This score and its recording will be archived in the Music Division at the Library of Congress and will serve as Wales’ cultural gift for the 250th anniversary of independence of America.
• Heledd Fychan, who is a member of Welsh Government Culture and Sport Minister, attended the ceremony held on September 1 in the Coolidge Auditorium of the library along with Jenkins. An excerpt from the piece has been performed with U.S. Air Force Strings and singers of Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
• The symphony has three movements and lyrics in both Welsh and English languages. The subject of the symphony includes migration, heritage, and Welsh-American connection along with the influences of Welsh hymns and choirs.
• According to Nicholas Brown-Cáceres, the chief of the Library of Congress Music Division, the musical gift is

Wales (Wales Times) September 04, 2026 – A musical gift from Wales was presented to the American people at a special event at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the United States and celebrating the enduring relationship between Wales and America.

Welsh Government Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport Heledd Fychan joined Pontypridd-born, New York-based composer Katie Jenkins at the event, where Jenkins’ newly commissioned orchestral work Symffoni’r Môr Mawr – A Transatlantic Symphony was formally presented to the American people. Recorded with leading Welsh and American talent including Sir Bryn Terfel and GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Chloe Flower, the 15-minute composition was previewed at the event in a live performance featuring Flower, vocalists from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the U.S. Air Force Strings.

Following its presentation, the score of Symffoni’r Môr Mawr will join the Library of Congress’s extensive music collections, giving the work – and the Welsh-American story it tells – a permanent place within one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. Known as the Land of Song, Wales created the composition as a cultural gift to mark the USA250 celebrations.

Who composed the Welsh transatlantic symphony for USA250?

Symffoni’r Môr Mawr – A Transatlantic Symphony is a 15-minute orchestral work with voices by multi-award-winning composer Katie Jenkins. As reported by Nation.Cymru staff, Jenkins grew up in Pontypridd and now lives in New York, and she said the piece reflects “the two worlds that have shaped me – the calm and warmth of Wales, and the energy and excitement of New York”.

Speaking about the project, Katie Jenkins added: “Music has always been part of my life. I grew up in Pontypridd surrounded by it, with family who filled the house with music and piano playing, which inspired me from an early age.” She continued: “Symffoni’r Môr Mawr tells the story of the people who left Wales generations ago. I kept thinking about what that journey must have felt like – the sadness of leaving home, the uncertainty of not knowing what lay ahead, but also the hope and excitement of starting a new chapter.”

Which artists performed the Wales musical gift to America?

The project brings together a wider cast of Welsh and international talent, including National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Pendyrus Male Voice Choir, CF1 x Côr Ifor Bach and award-winning soprano Ellen Williams, alongside bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel and GRAMMY Award-winning American pianist Chloe Flower. The composition was recorded at BBC Hoddinott Hall at Wales Millennium Centre in uk/local/cardiff/">Cardiff in July, bringing together the Welsh and international artists and ensembles involved in the project.

At the Library of Congress event, an excerpt was first performed in the U.S. on September 1 in the Library’s historic Coolidge Auditorium, with the score now set to join the Library’s extensive music collections. The live preview featured Chloe Flower, vocalists from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the U.S. Air Force Strings.

What themes does Symffoni’r Môr Mawr explore?

Created in both Welsh and English, the work tells the story of Welsh people who travelled to America and the cultural traditions they carried with them, while exploring the connections between the two nations that have continued across generations. Across three movements, the work explores themes of migration, heritage, home and community, drawing on Welsh hymnody and choral traditions alongside contemporary orchestral and American musical influences.

The symphony unfolds across three movements. The first, “Caniad y Croesi” (“Music for a Voyage”), traces the journey of Welsh settlers as they set sail for a new life in America, evoking discovery and hope through a distinctly Welsh sound that weaves harp and brass band into a contemporary symphonic palette. The second, “Anweledig, eto’n annwyl” (“Invisible, Yet Loved”), is grounded in the historic ties between Wales and the United States and draws on Jenkins’ fieldwork in the Welsh Tract in Philadelphia. It features the Pendyrus Male Voice Choir and incorporates Welsh-language hymn lines from “Pigion o Hymnau”, one of the earliest Welsh-language hymnals printed in Utica, New York, in 1808, marking the first known Welsh-language setting of the text.

The third, “Gweu Tuag Adref” (“Weaving Home”), brings the story into the present with a libretto by Hanan Issa, national poet of Wales, inspired by the quilt and textiles collection at Amgueddfa Cymru, St Fagans. It features artists Ellen Williams and Sir Bryn Terfel alongside a female chorus formed through a collaboration between Côr CF1 and Côr Ifor Bach, with piano by American virtuoso Chloe Flower.

What did officials say about the Wales–USA cultural gift?

Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen said: “‘Symffoni’r Môr Mawr’ is a wonderful addition to our vast music collections. It was an honor to welcome the premiere of this piece on our Coolidge Auditorium stage.” He added: “This gift from Wales reflects the cultural bond between our two nations, and we are proud that this musical work will now be preserved here for the American people and researchers for generations to come.”

Nicholas Brown-Cáceres, chief of the Library’s Music Division, said: “This gift to the people of the United States is a poignant and fitting tribute to the musical traditions of Wales that have influenced American culture.” He continued: “Representing the magnificent choral and vocal traditions of Wales with a new work that elevates contemporary voices showcases our now shared cultural heritage, developed over 250 years of friendship.”

Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport, Heledd Fychan, said: “Symffoni’r Môr Mawr is a gift born of friendship, history and creativity, and to see it now join the collections of the Library of Congress is a fitting tribute to the deep and enduring ties between our two nations.” She added: “Wales has always been a nation of song, and this symphony carries that tradition across the Atlantic, honouring the Welsh men and women who built new lives in America while offering a croeso cynnes, a warm welcome, to the audiences discovering it today.”

Fychan continued: “As America celebrates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, I am delighted our nation’s contribution to this shared story will now have a permanent home in one of the world’s great cultural institutions. I hope it inspires many more creative partnerships between Wales and the United States for generations to come.”

Where will the symphony score be preserved?

Following its presentation, the score of Symffoni’r Môr Mawr will join the Library of Congress’s extensive music collections, giving the work – and the Welsh-American story it tells – a permanent place within one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States and extensive materials from around the world both on-site and online.

The recording now forms the musical centrepiece of Wales’ contribution to the USA250 celebrations. The project has been led by the Welsh Government’s North America office as part of Wales’ contribution to the USA250 celebrations.

What next for the transatlantic symphony after the presentation?

The presentation at the Library of Congress marks a significant moment in the project’s journey, which continues at the North American Festival of Wales from 2–4 September. The festival will share the story behind the composition with audiences and feature a performance of the work.

As reported by Nation.Cymru staff, the work was designed as Wales’ cultural gift to the people of the United States and was conceived as an ambitious composition that serves as a warm welcome, known in Welsh as a “croeso cynnes”, to American audiences and as a platform for future partnerships between the two nations.

Background of the development

The initiative forms part of a wider Welsh Government mission to the United States during the USA250 anniversary year. As reported by Business News Wales, Welsh Government Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport Heledd Fychan travelled to New York and Washington, D.C. on the first transatlantic visit by the new Welsh Government, using Wales’s cultural influence and creative strengths to build new opportunities for trade, investment and collaboration with the United States.

According to Public Sector Executive, the visit coincides with America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, offering an opportunity to highlight the historic ties between Wales and the US, while promoting Wales as a modern, innovative and attractive destination for American businesses. Developed as part of the USA250 celebrations, the initiative combines storytelling, technology and digital innovation to engage audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Wales.com explains that senior Welsh officials wanted to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence by offering the USA a gift that reflected Welsh culture and acknowledged the shared history between the two nations, and with Wales known as the Land of Song, it was decided a specially-written piece of music felt like a good fit.

Prediction: how this development can affect audiences

For audiences in Wales, the preservation of Symffoni’r Môr Mawr at the Library of Congress is likely to raise the international profile of Welsh contemporary composition and choral culture, potentially encouraging more cross-Atlantic commissions and collaborations involving Welsh artists, choirs and educational institutions. For American audiences, particularly those with Welsh heritage or interest in migration histories, the work offers a structured, accessible entry point into Welsh-language texts and hymn traditions within a modern orchestral framework, which could stimulate programming by US orchestras and choral societies. For cultural policymakers, the project demonstrates a model for using anniversary moments to embed new works in major research libraries, which may influence future gift strategies around music, archives and public programming on both sides of the Atlantic.