Gwenno Saunders has been working as a professional musician and producer for over 25 years and has
released 2 EPs, 4 solo full-length albums, and 2 full-length albums with the indie-pop group The Pipettes.
As a songwriter and producer she has won numerous prizes including The Welsh Music Prize 2015 for her
debut solo album Y Dydd Olaf and has been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize 2022 for her third album
Tresor. In 2019 she created a new score for Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle for Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
(Welsh National Theatre) and was commissioned to create a new live score for the Cornish film BAIT
(directed by Mark Jenkin) which was performed at the BFI Southbank in March 2020 and was scheduled to
be performed at SXSW Film Festival, Austin TX in March 2020 before the COVID pandemic. Gwenno is also
a festival curator, CAM 15 + 18 and Festival of Voice, both with the Wales Millennium Centre.
Prior to her solo work, Gwenno was a principal dancer in Lord of the Dance and a chorus line dancer in
Riverdance, the former of which led to her taking on the lead role at the New York New York Hotel & Casino
in Las Vegas between 1998-2000. She has also toured extensively with both throughout Europe and the UK.
In 2001 Gwenno released her first Welsh, Cornish and English language EP ‘Mor Hud’ (Magical Sea) on
Welsh record label ‘Recordiau SAIN’ followed by ‘Vodya’ (Leaving) in 2002, again in her three spoken
languages. She won the popular vote at the Liet International song contest in the Netherlands in 2003 for her
song ‘Vodya’.
In 2004 Gwenno joined Brighton, England indie-pop band The Pipettes as a singer. The band released their debut album ‘We are the Pipettes’ in the UK, Europe, the US, Japan and Australia and toured extensively, playing SXSW Music Festival, Austin TX in 2006 prior to releasing their debut album on US label Cherrytree/
Interscope. The band had a top 10 album in the charts in Japan and a #2 single chart placement.
In 2016 Gwenno released her debut Welsh language solo album ‘Y Dydd Olaf’ (The Final Day) on Heavenly Recordings. She played SXSW Music Festival, Austin TX and embarked on a promotional tour of the East Coast of the US in 2016 and played the Moogfest in Durham, N. Carolina the same year. In 2018 Gwenno released her second, Cornish language solo album ‘Le Kov’ (The Place of Memory) on Heavenly Recordings. She toured Europe and the UK supporting Suede, Manic Street Preachers, and Ben Howard.
In 2022 Gwenno released her third album, in Cornish and Welsh ‘Tresor’ (Treasure) on Heavenly Recordings which was shortlisted for that year’s Mercury Music Prize. In 2025 Gwenno released her fourth solo album, in English, Cornish, and Welsh ‘Utopia’ on Heavenly Recordings.
Support from Patricia Morgan
Patricia was a key member of the Welsh experimental band Datblygu from 1984-1995 and was reunited in 2012 for a new EP and later in 2020 for their latest release Cwm Gwagle, which reached #2 in the Quietus List of 2020’s Best of Weird Britain. She has also performed on electronics with Rhodri Davies on various experimental projects.
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