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Childvision’s piping star Amy takes centre stage

Childvision’s piping star Amy takes centre stage at Ireland 100 Festival in Washington

Na Píobairí Uilleann performing at Ireland 100Festival in Washington DC

TEENAGE uilleann piper Amy Campbell takes centre stage for IRELAND 100 at The Kennedy Centre in Washington DC today. Amy, 16, who is totally blind and a student at Pobailscoil Rosmini on the campus of Childvision in Dublin, will perform as part of the Festival Opening Performance today.

Amy Campbell at the Kennedy Center Washington

Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts & Culture, IRELAND 100 is a major festival highlighting Irish culture and its relationship to America. Amy will be joined by Gay McKeon and Emmett Gill from Na Píobiarí Uilleann (NPU) who provide weekly lessons on the Irish uilleann pipes to students at Childvision.

As part of the Festival, Amy will also perform at a number of other functions and NPU will provide opportunities for young people with disabilities in Washington DC to try out this uniquely Irish instrument.

Speaking in advance of the concert, NPU CEO, Gay McKeon said “There is a long association with blind people and Irish traditional music, most notably with the Harp and the uilleann pipes. The first ever recording of Irish traditional music, made in 1899, was of blind uilleann piper, Micí ‘Cumba’ Ó Súilleabháin and it is wonderful that terrific young players like Amy have the opportunity to showcase their talent on such a prestigious stage.”

Artist-in-Residence, Fiona Shaw, directs the performance in Washington which will features artists from Ireland and the United States who will be joined on stage by the National Symphony Orchestra and the audience will include many honoured guests from Ireland and America.

As part of the 1916 commemoration, special significance is being placed on the role of Proclamation signatory Eamonn Ceannt who was a founding member of the Dublin Pipers Club, the precursor to Na Píobairí Uilleann. As well as a piper himself, Ceannt was a powerful advocate for the instrument and championed tuition, pipemaking and the preservation of Ireland’s uilleann piping heritage.

Press release on behalf of NPU, May 17, 2016