Transforming Communities

String Beats

Beatboxer, Violin

Dean Yhnell, Angharad Jenkins
Wales

Bio

Angharad Jenkins is a fiddle player and composer from Swansea. She began learning the violin at the age of six through the Suzuki method, and continued with her classical training (with Andrew Griffiths) until the age of 16, graduating with a first class honours from Oxford Brookes University in 2008. Returning to Swansea, she formed a duo with her mother, the harpist Delyth Jenkins. The release of their debut album Adnabod, in May 2013 on the fflach:tradd label generated great praise and critical acclaim, and was shortlisted for Welsh Album of the Year in 2014.

After making the leap into professional beatboxing in 2010, Dean Yhnell’s (a.k.a. Beat Technique) career and repertoire have blossomed. He has forged a unique performance style and stage presence, which were built on the stages and events of Glastonbury, the O2, Royal Ascot and Silverstone to name a few. Dean has become heavily involved in the beatbox battle scene, competing in the UK championships in 2014 before participating in the first ever Welsh Beatbox Championships in 2015 where he lost narrowly to the eventual winner in the semi-final stages.

Dean now spends the majority of his time teaching young people in schools and youth organisations the art of beatbox, rap, dj-ing and music production, improving their communication, literacy and confidence levels through his teaching style. He has achieved much success with disaffected young people who find school a challenge, enabling them to improve attendance, behaviour and motivation in all areas of the curriculum.

Beatboxer, Violin