Celtic piping in Australia & New Zealand

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

History

Uilleann pipers of C19

Solo piping and pipe bands

Inspiring tours/players in the 80s/90s: Kathryn Tickell, Battlefield Band, Dicky Deegan, Tattoos - Celtic Dreaming by Jennifer Clarke: Dougie Pincock played GHP alongside Joe Hayes playing didj at Adelaide Tattoo early 90s

In more recent years, various individuals, teachers, and community programs have fostered interest in piping in Australia and New Zealand. In the 1980s and 1990s, pipers met annually at Tallangatta, Victoria and Wagga Wagga, NSW for weekends of playing music, friendship, and conviviality. For nearly twenty years, starting in the mid-1990s, uilleann piping classes were held at Music Under the Mountains and Music Under the Southern Cross, organised by Celtic Southern Cross. The Victorian Irish Pipers Association (VIPA) was active in the late 1990s to early 2000s, holding semi-regular sessions for uilleann pipers. In the late 2000s, smallpipes were taught at the South West Coast Piper Drummer Dancer Weekends arranged by Warrnambool and District Pipes and Drums Inc. Since 2010, Northumbrian pipers tour New Zealand each summer, arranged by the New Zealand Northumbrian Pipers Society. The Lake School of Celtic Music Song and Dance in Koroit, Victoria, has held annual uilleann piping classes since 2000.

Contemporary piping scene

Matt Horsley - Book of Kells, electronics

Australian-composed tunes being played around the world, including at Pipe Band Championships

Players are ofen multi-instruments, and a number play both Irish and Scottish styles of bagpipes

Many Celtic pipers have come from a background of playing in highland style pipe bands

Main performance outlets are at folk festivals and Celtic folk style bands

Niche interest

Most players of Celtic pipes identify with Celtic heritage and ancestry

Busking, novelty factor eg Elmo, bad piper

AC/DC, Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham, Wiggles

Aussies overseas: Heath Richardson, Alisdair MacLaren, Murray Blair, Andy Davis

Pipe & Reed Making

Innovation technology in design and materials -

Geoff Ross & Colin Cains (& Iain Indian) synthetic drone reeds & bags

Blair digital chanters & digital tuners...cases?

Malcolm McLaren synthetic chanter reeds for various pipes

James Centre pipe maker

Grumpy Piper museum, Kent Fisher

Geoff Wooff - found the Harrington set

Linsey Pollak

Andy Rigby - dagpipes

Timbers & materials

Articles about Aust pipe-makers from 80s/90s