Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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6 5 22 20101217 22 ALMOST 100 EVENTS The 4-day William Kennedy Piping Festival comprised a total of almost 100 events includ- ing 22 Concert performances, 40 classes, dozens of recitals and sessions throughout each day, 2 full days of interactive schools events focussing on the Irish and Scottish Gaelic language links, 3 lectures, a film pre- mier, a wonderful and inclusive Piping Service in St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral and a major Art Exhibition featur- ing some of Ireland’s greatest living painters and sculptors. THE OPENING CONCERT PIPING CONNECTIONS brought together a mix- ture of Irish & Scottish piping traditions in a most unusual way through the performance of the innovative new group CANNTAIREACHD and their daring combination of highland and uilleann pipes backed up by cello and harp and vocal renditions of Piobaireachd. While the art of sung Piobaireachd is probably one of oldest art music forms in these islands it is rarely if ever heard and virtually never on stage. The group opened their performance with a 17th Century piece which translates from the Gaelic as ‘The Glen is mine’. This was a challenging piece and was led by the singing of Alana Henderson plus vocal accompaniment by three of the pipers. The instrumental sections included both highland and uilleann pipes and at one stage there was just the highland pipe drone backing the sung piobaireachd. This was a magical perform- ance lasting almost 11 minutes. Later in the programme Alana sang the hauntingly beauti- ful ‘Lament for the cleric’ accompanying her- self on cello. This piece was intended as a duet with her sister Laura who unfortunately was unable to be there due to unforeseen cir- cumstances so it was a tremendous undertak- ing for Alana who nonetheless carried it off with aplomb. Dr Angus MacDonald, one of the famous trio of piping brothers from Moidart, opened the second half with a blistering set of traditional and newly-composed tunes many of which have already passed into the repertoire of both Irish and Scottish musicians. This has been a great year for Dr Angus on the competition circuit winning many awards including the Clasp at the Argyle Gathering and the launch- ing of a very influential CD. CANNTAIREACHD played the final set and were invited back on stage for a rousing encore. HOOLEY AT THE HOTEL PIPING EXTRAVAGANZA This was really 14 separate concerts utilizing 3 stages within the Armagh City Hotel and was the result of serious logistical planning by Artistic Director Caoimhin Vallely. The concerts featured everything from the very Mikie Smyth Paul Eliasberg

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2011-02-24T00:00:00

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