2024 Gathering
We’ve pulled together a great roster of instructor performers for August 2024.
Registration for the event is now open!
Instruction, Workshops, Vendors, Event Schedule and More!
Events begin Friday afternoon, Aug 9 and continue through Sunday the 11th
with checkout after Monday breakfast
Our Instructors
Ian Crane (Scottish smallpipes, Border pipes) is a piper, vocalist, performer and former music educator. As a piper he’s performed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Kennedy Center, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as on tour to England and Ireland with baroque orchestra, Apollo’s Fire.
Ian holds degrees in music education and conducting. In 2022 he co-founded the Cleveland Celtic Ensemble and in March 2023 conducted the premiere of Irish-Born composer Eoin McQuinn's Ireland Journey.
Ian spent a lifetime competing on highland pipes both as a soloist and in bagpipe bands. These days he’s usually playing the other Scottish bagpipes – the Scottish smallpipes and Border pipes. His passion is creating interesting and unconventional arrangements of traditional music.
choirpiper.com
clevelandcelticensemble.com
Ian holds degrees in music education and conducting. In 2022 he co-founded the Cleveland Celtic Ensemble and in March 2023 conducted the premiere of Irish-Born composer Eoin McQuinn's Ireland Journey.
Ian spent a lifetime competing on highland pipes both as a soloist and in bagpipe bands. These days he’s usually playing the other Scottish bagpipes – the Scottish smallpipes and Border pipes. His passion is creating interesting and unconventional arrangements of traditional music.
choirpiper.com
clevelandcelticensemble.com
Ian Crane
Scottish Smallpipes & Border Pipes
Andy May is an experienced performer with over 30 years of piping under his belt. His piping style has been influenced by the playing of Roland Lofthouse, Adrian Schofield, and the recordings of Billy Pigg and Tom Clough. Having been a regular winner at piping competitions around Northumberland, Andy can now be found more frequently on the other side of the judges' table. Andy studied music at the University of York, honing his skills on the pipes and piano.
In 2002 Andy became a full-time musician and now splits his time between playing, making Northumbrian and Uilleann pipes, and teaching. Andy currently performs regularly with The Andy May Trio, Baltic Crossing, and Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies. Andy has been writing tunes for many years. Some of these have become session favorites, both in the UK and Scandinavia. His compositions have been recorded by Frigg, The Shee, The Kathryn Tickell Band and Methera, among others.
Andy May
Northumbrian Smallpipes
Colleen Shanks is an uilleann piper based in Co. Clare, Ireland. Originally from Michigan, she first found herself captivated by the sound of traditional Irish music when she heard a recording of The Chieftains at age 10. With an avid desire to learn and play what she heard, she acquired a tin whistle and began teaching herself the tunes from the cassette. She soon found herself immersed in Detroit's vibrant Irish music community.
In Ireland, Colleen attended the University of Limerick's Irish World Academy, where she earned a Master's degree in Irish Traditional Music Performance. Her area of study was uilleann piping, and during the course, she learned from some of the top exponents of the uilleann pipes, including Michael 'Blackie' O'Connell and Mickey Dunne. Currently, Colleen teaches and performs at piping events on both sides of the Atlantic, and makes hand-stitched pipe bags at home in Co. Clare.
In Ireland, Colleen attended the University of Limerick's Irish World Academy, where she earned a Master's degree in Irish Traditional Music Performance. Her area of study was uilleann piping, and during the course, she learned from some of the top exponents of the uilleann pipes, including Michael 'Blackie' O'Connell and Mickey Dunne. Currently, Colleen teaches and performs at piping events on both sides of the Atlantic, and makes hand-stitched pipe bags at home in Co. Clare.
Colleen Shanks
Uilleann Pipes
Chris Gray is a piper, percussionist, and painter based in Portland and Mount Desert Island, Maine. He holds degrees in music and art from Bowdoin College, University College Cork (MA in Ethnomusicology), and Maine College of Art (MFA). Chris has performed at events and venues throughout the US and Ireland, from the Acadian World Congress to the Cork Opera House. His holiday album, Nollaig Shona, is available for digital download. For more info about Chris’s music, artwork, and upcoming projects, visit www.mdipiper.com.
With 25 years of Irish flute teaching experience, Lesl Harker, an RIAM-certified Irish traditional music instructor, specialises in musical problem-solving, effective practice techniques, and capturing the pulse of the old East Galway Irish Traditional Music. Her collaboration with National Heritage Fellow Mike Rafferty lasted for 13 years, during which time she began teaching under his tutelage. After his passing, she began various projects to continue his legacy. From 2011-2023 she presented the Tunes and Tales of Old East Galway workshops and concert programs, many with piper Jerry O'Sullivan (some of which are available via her website iflute.weebly.com ). Lesl serves as a master for the PA, SC and NJ State Arts Councils' Apprenticeship programs, and teaches privately in person and virtually. Her goals are to help you become the best Irish traditional musician you can be.
Dan Houghton is a gifted Scottish, traditional musician who plays highland bagpipes, smallpipes and borderpipes, flute, guitar and cittern – though not all at the same time; he is also a singer of some note. Being the progeny of two Scottish dance teachers, both of whom were also folkies, he began his musical training several months before learning to breath air on his own. Since those far off and halcyon times he has come to have a profound impact on audiences throughout Britain, Ireland, The Continent, North America and The Antipodes as a solo bagpiper, a dance piper and a virtuosic, as well as versatile ensemble performer.
Dan Houghton
Scottish Smallpipes & Border Pipes
Heather MacLeod plays the penny whistle and sings. She is a retired public school music educator and received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education at the University of Maine. While she has been listening to Celtic and traditional music her whole life, Heather didn’t begin performing it until 2012 when she became a groupie for MacLir Ceilidh Band, based in eastern Maine. These days, Heather performs with Crow’s Nest Celtic Band and is an active participant with Byrnes’ Whimsy, the session group at Byrnes’ Irish Pub in Brunswick, Maine.
Heather MacLeod
Whistle & Voice
Workshops Information
Workshop Details
Ian Crane: Arranging for Celtic Ensemble
Pair your pipes with other Celtic or non-Celtic instruments. Ian discusses considerations, techniques, and tools to create your own ensemble arrangements. The course includes audio and printed examples.
Chris Gray: Galician Tunes on Scottish and Irish Pipes
Expand your repertoire with muiñeiras, xotas, and mazurkas, and explore the tonal and stylistic reaches of your pipes as we journey to Galicia.
This workshop will include songs sung entirely in Scots Gaidhlig as well as songs that incorporate both English and Gaidhlig or English and Irish (macaronic). We will discuss some of the typical pronunciation challenges encountered by non-native Gaidhlig speakers when singing in Gaidhlig. For those participants who are interested, Heather will provide– sheet music of all songs used in the workshop– a pronunciation “cheat sheet” for the Gaidhlig.
Note ** This workshop is not intended to teach the Gaidhlig language! **
Songs will be selected from the following:
AnFhideag Airgid (The Silver Whistle)– Traditional Scottish as arranged by Karen Matheson and Donald Shaw
Fear a ‘Bhata by Sine Nic Fhionnlaigh Oro
Se DoBheatha‘Bheilie- Traditional as arranged by Padraig Pearce
Puirt a Buel set- traditional Scottish mouth music
Suil a Ruin– Traditional Irish
Dan Houghton: Ceòl Mòr: Harp, Bagpipe and Voice
Colleen Shanks: Irish Hornpipes: Origins and Ornamentation
In this workshop we will look at the origin of Irish hornpipes, their place among the hornpipe dance tradition of the British Isles, and how specific ornamentation can be used to create and emphasize their unique rhythm. Although this workshop will be taught using uilleann pipes, all pipers are welcome to join and experiment with the concepts we’ll cover on their style of bagpipe.
Lesl Harker: The Legacy of Mike Rafferty
How to play, how to practice, how to get the "nyah" of our old East Galway music. Not instrument specific; all are welcome. The workshop will include an overview of Mike's musical upbringing and why his way of playing flute relates to the uilleann pipes, the influence of the Ballinakill Traditional Players and others.
Jeremy Kingsbury: The Music of John Sutherland, eighteenth century Irish Highland and Lowland piper
This workshop will discuss the Musical manuscript of a 1780s piper from Aberdeenshire, John Sutherland. We will discuss some of the revealing tunes and fingering charts from the manuscript and play through several of the tunes as fit comfortably on Lowland pipes, smallpipes and Uilleann Pipes.
Vendor Information
Jonathan Waldo Instrument Maker/ Artist
Jonathan trained at the Apprentice Shop in Spring Hill, TN and received his BFA degree in Historic Musical Stringed instrument making from Boston University. Jonathan has been making and repairing musical instruments for over 40 years. He has built guitars, lutes, and dulcimers, and has worked on ouds, mandolins, and buzuqs. He has worked with the Von Huene Workshop, maker of historic recorders and flutes, for over 35 years. Jonathan will be at the Pipers Gathering displaying some of his instruments and current projects. He will be offering basic set-ups for plucked stringed instruments at a cost of $90 plus the cost of strings. New nut or saddle will have additional parts and service charge. Advance registration required for instrument set-up at jfwluthier@jonathanwaldo.com, please include the type of instrument, and what type of strings you prefer.
