Welsh National Opera’s Three Letters is a new, collaborative community song-cycle which aims to tackle societal stigma around HIV in support of Cardiff’s ambitious journey towards achieving zero HIV transmissions by 2030.
Designed and delivered in collaboration with Fast Track Cardiff, Three Letters draws inspiration from the AIDS Quilt Songbook project which began in America in 1992. The project seeks to raise public awareness of the contemporary realities of HIV, through the creation of a new set of songs which explore the stories of individuals living with HIV today.

The initial phase of the project began in September 2021 with a creative workshop day for over 160 Year 10 students at Cardiff West Community High School, which included sessions with writer and activist Mercy Shibemba, playwright and actor Nathaniel J Hall (It’s A Sin, First Time), and representatives from Fast Track Cardiff. A smaller group of students from the school have subsequently collaborated with Mercy, composer Michael Betteridge, and singer Siân Cameron, to create the first song of WNO’s Three Letters songbook: We learn, we know, we understand.
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Casgliad o ganeuon newydd gan Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru yw Tair Llythyren a gafodd eu cyd greu o fewn y gymuned i geisio mynd i’r afael â stigma cymdeithasol ynghylch HIV er mwyn cefnogi Caerdydd i gyflawni’r targed o ddim drosglwyddiadau HIV erbyn 2030. 
Dyfeisiwyd a darparwyd Tair Llythyren ar y cyd â Fast Track Cardiff, a chafodd ei ysbrydoli gan brosiect AIDS Quilt Songbook a ddechreuodd yn America yn 1992. Mae’r prosiect yn ceisio codi ymwybyddiaeth ymhlith y cyhoedd o fywyd gyda HIV yn y byd cyfoes, drwy greu set newydd o ganeuon sy’n edrych ar storiâu unigolion sy’n byw â’r feirws heddiw. 
Dechreuwyd cam cyntaf y prosiect ym mis Medi 2021, drwy gynnal gweithdy creadigol gyda thros 160 o ddisgyblion blwyddyn 10 Ysgol Uwchradd Gymunedol Gorllewin Caerdydd. Cafwyd sesiynau gyda’r awdur a’r ymgyrchydd Mercy Shibemba, y dramodydd a’r actor Nathaniel J Hall (It’s A Sin, First Time), a chynrychiolwyr o Fast Track Cardiff. Yn dilyn hyn, mae grŵp llai o fyfyrwyr o’r ysgol wedi cydweithio â Mercy, y cyfansoddwr Michael Betteridge a’r gantores Siân Cameron, i greu’r gân gyntaf ar gyfer llyfr caneuon Tair Llythyr WNO: We learn, we know, we understand. 

Geiriau | Lyrics
The virus HIV
Born with it or passed on via STD
Or by many other routes

Tables make it untransmittable because U equals U
Undetectable, untransmittable
Take a test
Let’s stop this virus spreading

The days of feeling trapped are gone
Times have changed, acceptance is here
Make your own world, tell your story
Make your own world…

Opening the letter was the hardest thing
It’s the stigma that made it feel as if it were a sin
I felt instant shame
Didn’t have a clue who to blame
I feared what my family would say
Would they still think of me the same?
I felt uncomfortable in my own body
As if my innocence had been ripped away

Live a full life with it,
Because you want to, and you can
End the stigma, that’s what kills
We learn, we know
We understand

Same person
Different routine
Test blood
Count cells
Still living
Still breathing
Same person
Different routine

The days of feeling trapped are gone
Times have changed acceptance is here
Make your own world, tell your story
Make your own world
We learn, we know
We understand

Live a full life with it.

Tair Llythyren | Three Letters: We Learn, We Know, We Understand

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Welsh National Opera transforms lives through the power of opera. We are passionate about opera and want to share this passion with as many people as possible. We do this with award winning performances of fully staged opera and concerts which combine a sense of adventure with the highest possible quality. We keep our performance accessible through affordable ticket prices. Beyond the theatre we connect with people through our community and education work and digital projects. /
Mae Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru yn trawsffurfio bywydau trwy bŵer opera. Rydym yn angerddol am opera ac eisiau rhannu’r angerdd yma gyda chymaint o bobl ag sydd bosib. Rydym yn gwneud hwn gyda pherfformiadau gwobrwyol o operâu llwyfan-llawn a chyngherddau sy’n clymu antur gyda’r ansawdd gorau posib. Rydym yn cadw ein perfformiadau yn hygyrch drwy docynnau fforddiadwy. Tu hwnt i’r theatr, rydym yn cysylltu â phobl trwy ein gwaith cymuned a phrosiectau digidol.

Tair Llythyren | Three Letters: We Learn, We Know, We Understand

Welsh National Opera | Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru

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