Elinor Bennett

Elinor Bennett, Baroness Wigley, OBE (born 17 April 1943) is a Welsh harpist who has an international reputation as a soloist, master instructor, and founded the Harp College of Wales.

Biography Bennett was born in 1943 in Llanidloes, Wales. When she was six, her family moved into a house known as Gwyndy on the White Hall estate of Owen Morgan Edwards at Llanuwchllyn near Bala. She was a student at the local primary school and then attended the Bala Girls' Grammar School. Her father bought Bennett her first harp when she was six, though she did not begin lessons until age 11. Upon graduation from high school, Bennett studied law at University College Wales, Aberystwyth and after completing a Bachelor of Laws, She has recorded twelve solo albums, and is one of the organisers of the Wales International Harp Festival. She founded the Coleg Telyn Cymru (Harp College of Wales) and is known for her instruction. Her students have included Catrin Finch, who later married her son Hywel.

In 1996, Bennett was made an Honorary Fellow at her alma mater in Aberystwyth; and in 2002 she received the White Robe of the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the festival's highest honour. and in 2006, she was honoured for her service to Wales with her music, receiving the Order of the British Empire. She published Tannau Tynion, her autobiography in 2011.