Do you play the big pipes and would like a shot at the small pipes?

From the Isle of Skye, Brìghde Chaimbeul plays Scottish smallpipes. Her acclaimed album, The Reeling was recorded live without overdubs in the historic East Church in Cromarty, on the Black Isle.

Winner of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, and 2017 Scots Trad Music Awards ‘Up and Coming’ nominee, Skye musician and piper Brìghde Chaimbeul is one of Scotland’s fastest rising stars. A native Gaelic speaker, her style is rooted in her indigenous language and culture, but draws inspiration from a variety of piping traditions such as from Cape Breton, Eastern Europe and Ireland.

Brìghde launched her debut album on River Lea Records ‘The Reeling’ at a special concert at Celtic Connections 2019. The record is inspired by old tunes from gaelic song and canntaireachd traditions, as well as global piping traditions that have been of significant influence to Brìghde’s music. It is performed entirely on smallpipes in C, and features acclaimed fiddler Aidan O Rourke (Lau), the legendary Rona MacDonald Lightfoot of South Uist, and the amazing Radie Peat (Lankum) on concertina.

Working closely with Aidan O’Rourke, Brìghde has devised a completely new way of arranging for pipe music that emphasises the rich textural drones of the smallpipes; the constancy of sound that creates a trance-like quality in the tunes.

The Winter Weekend’s team of tutors is made up of internationally renowned performers with proven track records as teachers and educationalists. The primary means of teaching and learning will be ‘by ear’ with an emphasis in the less experienced classes of assisting pupils to develop oral/aural skills in addition to instrumental competency and developing core repertoire.

All classes are designed for intermediate to advanced (minimum 2 years instrument experience - Bagpipes, Uilleann Pipes, Whistle, Flute) adults and children over 6 years of age, with the exception of the Traditional Singing Classes (no experience required) and Whistle & Sing.

Smallpipes are available to hire for this workshop. Please contact Ian Burrows - 07740 175747