Cai is a trumpet player, composer and arranger hailing from Anglesey, North Wales. His work ranges from tuba solos to string quartets and have been performed across the globe (from the Gala Concert for the European Brass Band Championships to Glastonbury Festival). He has a particular passion for contemporary music and bridging the gap between the traditional and the new. He recently co-curated and orchestrated the ‘Gig Y Pafiliwn’ for the Welsh Pops Orchestra and BBC Radio Wales which combined a traditional orchestral set up with welsh language hip hop artists. His work can be found on all streaming services under the artist name Idaten and a number of his works for brass band are published with Prima Vista Musikk.
Cai Isfryn enjoys a varied performing career with chamber groups, classical and operatic orchestras, West End shows, as a session musician, soloist and conductor.
Having graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music (Bmus) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Mmus) his freelance orchestral experience includes the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, English National Ballet, Halle Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of India, London Contemporary Orchestra well as guest principal with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the Ensemble Cymru Chamber group.
He has performed with artists such as Sigur Rós, Bastille, Russell Watson, Luke Sital-Singh and The Sea and I. He toured with the ‘Miss Saigon’ UK production from 2017-19 and the ‘Wicked’ UK tour production from 2015 -17 before a run of Carousel (Regents Park Open Air Theatre) in 2020. He was the 1st trumpet player for the world premieres of both Only the Brave (WMC and Soho Theatre productions) and Flowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Theatre productions) and has deputised on a number of other touring and West End shows.
As a founding member of Old Dirty Brasstards, Cai has appeared at numerous festivals including Glastonbury and Latitude, and has enjoyed an O2 venue tour of the UK with one of the band’s critically acclaimed ‘album cover’ shows. Guest appearances with numerous brass groups include Oompah, Westminster, Riverside, Baker St and London Chamber Brass.
A former member of Black Dyke Band, he has also competed with Fodens, Cory, Zone One and Eikanger Brass Bands. As a soloist, Cai appeared on S4C’s ‘Noson Lawen’ program (video to be found on the audio page) and at St. John Smith Square and the Forge, Camden within a Meridian Quartet concert series.
Cai is endorsed by Bach and plays a Stradivarius model 37.