Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

5

9 5 14 20131126 14 INTERNATIONAL UILLEANN PIPING DAY 2013 I UPD 2013 took place this year on October 19th. Building on the experiences of 2012 our approach in 2013 was threefold: retain the involvement of those groups/locations who had taken part in the previous 2 years, extend the streaming element of the day to more lo- cations, and finally ‘target’ some countries where the piping membership is strong but who hadn’t been involved to date. This year we had close to 40 events taking place. More than half were ‘repeats’ and included Japan, Australia, Denmark, UK, Ireland, Canada, US and Cuba. There were also additional locations in those countries, and we broke new ground with first time events in Rome, Brittany, Limerick, Skibereen and Quebec city. With increased encouragement from the organisers, more groups agreed to participate in the live stream- ing on the day, and NPUTV ran a programme of music for over 8 hours with live transmissions from Derry, Armagh, Galway, Brittany, Rome, Chicago and Dublin. The Dublin event also broadcast clips from other earlier events. There were log-ons to NPUTV on the day from 22 countries, including Mexico, Belgium, Finland and Israel. Here is some feedback from a number of events on the day: Preston About 40 seated people stayed for most of the event’s three hours. In addition, museum staff tal- lied some 95 casual footfalls who paused for five minutes or more to view the performance. Add to this an untold number of people passing through the Rotunda Café on the way to the library or IT facilities. So all in all, some good visibility for the pipes. The Powerpoint presentation on the overhead projector was rolling on constant loop during the three hours of music and received sev- eral favourable comments. Brittany Twelve pipers, from beginners to confirmed, Uil- leann pipes teachers, chairman of the Gan Ainm association (located in Brittany), a pipe maker, have participated in this informal meeting in the pub “Chez Tom” in Lesneven. A really nice event, followed by an all-instrument Irish session. Donegal Cumann Piobaireachta Tharlaigh Mhic Shuibhne in conjunction with An Grianán Theatre in Let- terkenny, County Donegal held an international Uilleann Piping Day event in the theatre during the evening of October 19th. The event included piping from Martin Crossin, piper and pipe- maker of Milford, Paul Harrigan, piper and pip- ing teacher of Ceol na Coille, Newmills, Letterkenny, Eoin Orr, piper of Milford and Caoimhín Mac Aoidh, piper of Ballyshannnon. The assembled audience of over 150 people gave a strong positive reaction to the performances throughout. Quebec In Quebec City, Canada, we held a concert on Saturday, October 19 to mark International Uil- leann Piping Day. Approximately 100 people at- tended. The concert was hosted by Irish Heritage Quebec, a non-profit organisation During the concert, we announced the creation of Uilleann Quebec, a club for both uilleann pipers and for those interested in the instrument. ‘A guy came up to me when we were playing, said he loved the music and asked if we would come back the following week to play. One of our group was a piper who hadn’t played out in years.’ – Feedback from event organiser in England

9

14

[Periodical]

2013-12-05T00:00:00

anonymous,guest,friend,member