Gareth Westacott
Gareth was born and raised in Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent
Although his first instrument was his brother's guitar when he wasn't around, some time later (around the age of 17) Gareth was much taken by the sound of the mandolin when he first heard it played by Phil 'Bach' Edwards of the Welsh band Ac Eraill. He went out and bought one and that became for many years his primary instrument.
While at Trinity College, Carmarthen, Gareth played both mandolin and guitar in college band Yr Odyn Galch . When their student days came to an end several of them (those from Ynys Mon) went on to form Cilmeri and Pedwar yn y Bar (Tudur Huws Jones, Huw Roberts and Tudur Morgan).
Throughout the 80's and 90's Gareth's playing was mainly confined to playing in pub sessions with guitarist Dafydd Saer and fiddle player Robert Evans. Like many Welsh musicians bent on building a revival of much neglected tradional Welsh tunes, he was inspired by the success of Irish musicians in reviving their traditional music, and subsequently spent over a year in Ireland playing in sessions there, notably with Cork-based fiddler Seamus Creagh.
In 1988 he set about learning to play the Mirecourt violin his grandfather, Morris Peris Jones, had brought back from the trenches of Passendale and Arras. It was given to him by a starving Belgian in exchange for some tins of beans, corned beef, biscuits and chocolate. The violin suffered heavy bombardment and was mustard-gassed twice, which has left it with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a stammer, a nervous tic and a nasty cough. Gareth had lessons with French violinist / cellist Monique Samuel (née Pichon) who, in the 1930's had studied at the Paris Conservatoire. Later he was taught by Simon Weinmann of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales who had himself been a student of Max Rostal, the renowned Austrian violin pedagogue. For many years through the 90's Gareth lead the traditional Welsh music 'session' at the Mochyn Du and Cayo Arms public houses in Cardiff, and was fiddle tutor at various workshops, including those organised by Clera and the Fiddle Festival of Wales in Pembroke at which he also served as an adjudicator in the final.
In 2001 he formed the duo Toreth with Guto Dafis on melodeon. In 2006 they teamed up with ace Irish musicians Josephine Marsh (melodeon) and Declan Corey (mandolin), and toured extensively in Ireland and Wales. Toreth also played at the prestigious Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, as well as at festivals in Estonia and Brittany (including the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper and the Festival Interceltique in Lorient) as well as at most of the major festivals in England.
Gareth has researched the many old Welsh hymn tunes which had originally been traditional 'folk' tunes, and the reclaiming of these tunes from their 19th century religious setting became the basis for several tracks on their CD, 'Toreth' (released on Fflach Tradd: CD265H).
In 2014 he was one of the featured musicians in the TV series Ffwrnes Gerdd.