14th WKPF - About

Armagh Pipers Club
14 Victoria Street
Armagh BT61 9DT
Northern Ireland

15th William Kennedy Piping Festival 12^th - 16^th November 2008, Armagh City

About

The William Kennedy Piping Festival celebrates the life and work of William Kennedy, the 18th century piper, pipe maker and inventor who was born in 1768 near Banbridge and died in 1834 in Tandragee, County Armagh. 2003 we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Festival and invited a representative selection of some of the best pipers and groups in the world to mark the occasion. This Festival, originally conceived to bring together pipers from different countries and traditions, was the first of its kind anywhere in Northern Europe. To date the event has brought pipers from Spain, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Belarus, Canada, USA, England, Scotland, and Wales as well as the cream of Irish pipers to Armagh.

The festival is organised by Armagh pipers Club which was founded in 1966 and has been to the forefront of traditional music not just on a local scale but worldwide through our publications and teaching programme over all those years. In 2003 alone, pipers from Armagh have taken classes at Piping Festivals as far apart as the United States and New Zealand. The 8th Festival saw a major exhibition entitled "Pipes, Pipers and Paintings" - an exploration of a musical tradition, take place in Armagh County Museum. This exhibition featured pipes and paintings from major museum and private collections throughout Ireland and the UK. We were delighted to hear that it has recently won a Diversity 21 exhibition award.

Triple Pipes

The William Kennedy Piping Festival has been a voyage of discovery that began with the inaugural festival in 1994. This voyage began in a most unexpected way when Hamish Moore produced 3 pipes of varying lengths out of his pipe case during an illustrated talk in the auditorium at St Patrick’s Trian.

As he began to explain these strange pipes I suddenly made an intuitive connection and looked at the Armagh Pipers Club badge which I had designed almost 25 years previously. Hamish was telling us that these pipes were inspired by a carved panel on the 8th Century High Cross (Cross of St Martin) on the Isle of Iona situated just off the Isle of Mull on the West coast of Scotland. He further explained that a similar Triple Pipe instrument called the Launeddas was played to this day in Sardinia.

The Armagh Pipers Club badge was based on a carved panel on the 9th Century High Cross at Clonmacnoise which Brendan Breathnach had drawn my attention to sometime in the late 1960’s at one of the early Na Piobairi Uilleann gatherings. It immediately became clear to me at this stage that our Festival (founded on the well documented shared cultural inheritance of Ireland and Scotland reflected in gaelic song, scots ballads, instrumental music particularly piping and fiddling and the various dance traditions of both countries) was never going to be the same again.

The immediate link between the High Crosses was easy enough to explain - the link was St Colmcille known in Scotland by his latin name St Columba. What was not so easy or comfortable but exciting was the Sardinian link. What was this all about?

After a lot of research we finally tracked down a Sardinian Launeddas player by the name of Luigi Lai. We invited him to Armagh not really knowing what his music was about. However Luigi’s arrival was a milestone occasion in the history of the William Kennedy Piping Festival. This unassuming man produced a series of canes from his box and proceeded to play for 14 minutes non stop. When he finished there was a standing ovation that equalled the length of the piece he played. Luigi has returned on two further occasions and both times stole the show again.

This year we will have the opportunity to further explore the amazing world of triple pipes and the Irish/Sardinian connection through the lecture by Barnaby Browne entitled ‘Reintroducing the Triple Pipes to Irish Music’. This will take place in conjunction with Armagh Philosophical Society in the Armagh County Museum on Thursday 17th November.

2005 Festival

The Festival is really a voyage of discovery of the wonderful world of piping and each year has revealed new and exciting aspects of this universal instrument. This year we showcase familiar aspects of piping with the popular pipe band concert featuring two Grade 1 pipe bands Scottish Power from Scotland Ballinderry Bridge from nearer home. We also have two concerts featuring solo highland piping and solo uilleann piping. Then we feature various Irish & Scottish groups and combined Irish/Scottish groups like the Jarlath Henderson & Ross Ainslie Band. We have the amazing Italian group Archè already well know here from previous visits with their own special slant on Zampogna/Ciaramella playing. This year we introduce for the first time piping from Sweden with Olle Gallmo playing the Swedish Sackpipa. Also visiting for the first time is Petko Stefanov from Bulgaria who is only the second Bulgarian piper to play in Armagh.

The Irish/Spanish link has now been a fundamental part of the festival going back to the visit in 1996 by Galician piper Anxo Lorenzo. In successive years we have heard piping from Galicia, from Mallorca and from Asturias. The Tejedor family are renowned not only in Asturias but throughout Spain and have collaborated with various Irish musicians including Michael McGoldrick also a frequent visitor to Armagh.

However what promises to be the show stopper this year comes from the African continent - the Algerian group Marzoug. Marzoug are already well known in France through their innovative collaborations with Breton musician Patrick Molard but this is their first visit to Ireland.

The William Kennedy Piping Festival has explored all the related art forms since 1994 and this year is no exception with a very broad based programme outside of the featured concerts. This include such diverse events as Linda McCann’s model making workshops; Lá na Gaelscoileanna at Cultra; two days of schools performances; two academic lectures; CD Launches; sessions; festival club; workshops for singing-dancing-instrumental playing; reed making classes and lots of free performances including 3 days of lunchtime concerts and lots of informal sessions around the town.

Armagh City is a unique place steeped in history and mythology, set in some of the most beautiful countrysides in Ireland. Armagh has preserved much of its centuries old character and today has some of the most beautiful 18th century buildings in Ireland. Armagh also has unparalleled modern facilities such as the new Armagh City Hotel, the Armagh Multi Media Access centre and The Market Place Arts Centre where many of the concerts will take place. Guests to the festival have a wide choice of accommodation which also includes a modern purpose built International Youth Hostel and all the festival venues are within easy walking distance.

Brian Vallely
Director, 12th WKFP

home • e-mail Armagh Pipers Club links Trad @ the Trian WKPF about• william kennedy• recordings• previous years• accommodation• contact• Armagh Pipers Club 14 Victoria Street Armagh BT61 9DT Northern Ireland	15th William Kennedy Piping Festival 12^th - 16^th November 2008, Armagh City
	About
	The William Kennedy Piping Festival celebrates the life and work of William Kennedy, the 18th century piper, pipe maker and inventor who was born in 1768 near Banbridge and died in 1834 in Tandragee, County Armagh. 2003 we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Festival and invited a representative selection of some of the best pipers and groups in the world to mark the occasion. This Festival, originally conceived to bring together pipers from different countries and traditions, was the first of its kind anywhere in Northern Europe. To date the event has brought pipers from Spain, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Belarus, Canada, USA, England, Scotland, and Wales as well as the cream of Irish pipers to Armagh. The festival is organised by Armagh pipers Club which was founded in 1966 and has been to the forefront of traditional music not just on a local scale but worldwide through our publications and teaching programme over all those years. In 2003 alone, pipers from Armagh have taken classes at Piping Festivals as far apart as the United States and New Zealand. The 8th Festival saw a major exhibition entitled "Pipes, Pipers and Paintings" - an exploration of a musical tradition, take place in Armagh County Museum. This exhibition featured pipes and paintings from major museum and private collections throughout Ireland and the UK. We were delighted to hear that it has recently won a Diversity 21 exhibition award. Triple Pipes The William Kennedy Piping Festival has been a voyage of discovery that began with the inaugural festival in 1994. This voyage began in a most unexpected way when Hamish Moore produced 3 pipes of varying lengths out of his pipe case during an illustrated talk in the auditorium at St Patrick’s Trian. As he began to explain these strange pipes I suddenly made an intuitive connection and looked at the Armagh Pipers Club badge which I had designed almost 25 years previously. Hamish was telling us that these pipes were inspired by a carved panel on the 8th Century High Cross (Cross of St Martin) on the Isle of Iona situated just off the Isle of Mull on the West coast of Scotland. He further explained that a similar Triple Pipe instrument called the Launeddas was played to this day in Sardinia. The Armagh Pipers Club badge was based on a carved panel on the 9th Century High Cross at Clonmacnoise which Brendan Breathnach had drawn my attention to sometime in the late 1960’s at one of the early Na Piobairi Uilleann gatherings. It immediately became clear to me at this stage that our Festival (founded on the well documented shared cultural inheritance of Ireland and Scotland reflected in gaelic song, scots ballads, instrumental music particularly piping and fiddling and the various dance traditions of both countries) was never going to be the same again. The immediate link between the High Crosses was easy enough to explain - the link was St Colmcille known in Scotland by his latin name St Columba. What was not so easy or comfortable but exciting was the Sardinian link. What was this all about? After a lot of research we finally tracked down a Sardinian Launeddas player by the name of Luigi Lai. We invited him to Armagh not really knowing what his music was about. However Luigi’s arrival was a milestone occasion in the history of the William Kennedy Piping Festival. This unassuming man produced a series of canes from his box and proceeded to play for 14 minutes non stop. When he finished there was a standing ovation that equalled the length of the piece he played. Luigi has returned on two further occasions and both times stole the show again. This year we will have the opportunity to further explore the amazing world of triple pipes and the Irish/Sardinian connection through the lecture by Barnaby Browne entitled ‘Reintroducing the Triple Pipes to Irish Music’. This will take place in conjunction with Armagh Philosophical Society in the Armagh County Museum on Thursday 17th November. 2005 Festival The Festival is really a voyage of discovery of the wonderful world of piping and each year has revealed new and exciting aspects of this universal instrument. This year we showcase familiar aspects of piping with the popular pipe band concert featuring two Grade 1 pipe bands Scottish Power from Scotland Ballinderry Bridge from nearer home. We also have two concerts featuring solo highland piping and solo uilleann piping. Then we feature various Irish & Scottish groups and combined Irish/Scottish groups like the Jarlath Henderson & Ross Ainslie Band. We have the amazing Italian group Archè already well know here from previous visits with their own special slant on Zampogna/Ciaramella playing. This year we introduce for the first time piping from Sweden with Olle Gallmo playing the Swedish Sackpipa. Also visiting for the first time is Petko Stefanov from Bulgaria who is only the second Bulgarian piper to play in Armagh. The Irish/Spanish link has now been a fundamental part of the festival going back to the visit in 1996 by Galician piper Anxo Lorenzo. In successive years we have heard piping from Galicia, from Mallorca and from Asturias. The Tejedor family are renowned not only in Asturias but throughout Spain and have collaborated with various Irish musicians including Michael McGoldrick also a frequent visitor to Armagh. However what promises to be the show stopper this year comes from the African continent - the Algerian group Marzoug. Marzoug are already well known in France through their innovative collaborations with Breton musician Patrick Molard but this is their first visit to Ireland. The William Kennedy Piping Festival has explored all the related art forms since 1994 and this year is no exception with a very broad based programme outside of the featured concerts. This include such diverse events as Linda McCann’s model making workshops; Lá na Gaelscoileanna at Cultra; two days of schools performances; two academic lectures; CD Launches; sessions; festival club; workshops for singing-dancing-instrumental playing; reed making classes and lots of free performances including 3 days of lunchtime concerts and lots of informal sessions around the town. Armagh City is a unique place steeped in history and mythology, set in some of the most beautiful countrysides in Ireland. Armagh has preserved much of its centuries old character and today has some of the most beautiful 18th century buildings in Ireland. Armagh also has unparalleled modern facilities such as the new Armagh City Hotel, the Armagh Multi Media Access centre and The Market Place Arts Centre where many of the concerts will take place. Guests to the festival have a wide choice of accommodation which also includes a modern purpose built International Youth Hostel and all the festival venues are within easy walking distance. Brian Vallely Director, 12th WKFP