Mark Llewelyn Evans

Mark Llewelyn Evans has spent his life using his voice - first on some of the world’s grandest opera stages, and now in classrooms, halls, and communities across Wales. A Welsh baritone trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio, Mark enjoyed a 25-year international performing career with major companies including Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera.

But while the applause of world-class opera houses was thrilling, Mark began to feel a growing pull towards something deeper. Behind every performance was a simple belief forming: creativity doesn’t belong to a select few - it belongs to everyone.

That belief became the foundation for his second career as a creative entrepreneur and the driving force behind ABC – ANY BODY CAN / AMDANI BLANT CYMRU, an award-winning movement empowering children to find their voice through music, storytelling, and imagination.

Where it all began

Like many entrepreneurial journeys, ABC didn’t start with a business plan or grand strategy - it started with honesty and passion. Mark needed extra work at the time, but more importantly, he felt a powerful urge to share his love of music, opera, and performance in a way that truly connected with young people.

After years of singing opera on major international stages, he kept asking himself an important question: How do you make classical music exciting, accessible, and truly relevant to children? Not worthy. Not intimidating. But alive, joyful, and unforgettable.

The answer lay not in changing children - but in changing the approach.

Giving children permission to be creative

Mark has always been inspired by young people - their honesty, boundless imagination, and the way they see the world before it becomes boxed in by “shoulds” and “can’ts.” Through his work, he witnessed something extraordinary time and time again: when children are given permission to be creative, everything changes.

Confidence grows. Voices emerge. Aspirations stretch further than anyone expected.

Children who rarely put their hand up suddenly shine. Those who believed “this isn’t for me” realise that it is. By combining humour, drama, song, and inclusive practice, ABC removes fear from classical music and replaces it with connection and joy. Opera becomes storytelling. Learning becomes laughter. And creativity becomes a place where every child belongs.

ABC’s mission is simple, bold, and radical: to ensure every child feels they belong, believes in themselves, and knows that ANY BODY CAN.

The freedom to be bold

For Mark, one of the most rewarding parts of being his own boss is freedom - freedom to be creative, to be a little bit mad, and to follow ideas that may not make sense on paper but feel absolutely right in the room with children.

That freedom has allowed ABC to be brave. To take risks. To dress up as barmy composers. To let curiosity lead and laughter guide learning. It means trusting instincts as both a performer and educator, responding in the moment to what children need - not what a rigid framework says they should need.

It’s this creative freedom that has allowed ABC to grow into something truly distinctive and deeply impactful.

Resilience behind the scenes

The journey hasn’t been easy. The greatest challenge Mark has faced is financial. Building and sustaining ABC has never been the simple route, and like many grassroots arts organisations, it has often operated without safety nets - relying on project funding, partnerships, and pure determination.

There have been moments when funding was uncertain, costs were rising, and walking away may have seemed like the sensible option. But Mark didn’t give up.

Now celebrating 10 years of ABC, its survival and success are rooted in resilience, belief, and a refusal to let something meaningful disappear simply because it was hard. Against the odds, ABC kept going - because the impact on children’s confidence, wellbeing, and sense of possibility was too important to lose.

A message for young people

Mark’s journey shows that careers don’t have to follow a straight line - and that creativity can be both a passion and a purpose. From international opera stages to empowering children across Wales, his story is proof that ideas driven by belief, courage, and care can grow into something transformational.

And perhaps the most powerful lesson of all?

Your voice matters.
Your ideas matter.
And - just like ABC says - ANY BODY CAN.