12th WILLIAM KENNEDY PIPING FESTIVAL
14th - 20th NOVEMBER 2005
ARMAGH
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Armagh Pipers’ Club proudly announce details of the 12th annual William Kennedy Piping Festival. Since 1994 the festival annually commemorates the extraordinary life of the blind 18th Century pipe maker from Tandragee, Co. Armagh. It remains one of the unmissable dates in the local, national and international festival diary.
The festival runs from the 14th – 20th November and the line-up yet again promises to bring the leading exponents of international piping traditions to the historic city of Armagh.
The festival opens on the 14th with a special concert from legendary group The Chieftains, in the Armagh City Hotel. The concert will be part of a special tour to celebrate the life and music of the late Derek Bell. They will be joined by Triona Marshall (harp), Yvonne McMahon (songs) and John and Nathan Pilatski (fiddle and dance) from the Ottawa Valley in Canada.
The highland pipes concert on Wednesday 16th in the Market Place Theatre will feature The Scottish Power Pipe Band and The Ballinderry Bridge Pipe Band. This concert has become a highlight of the festival in recent years, and with two top Grade 1 bands, this years concert is sure to be a big hit.
Another mix of Scottish and Irish culture, this time from the Gaelic traditions, takes place the following night when Hamish Moore’s Na Tri Seudan perform alongside the new and exciting duo of Tiarnan O Duinnchinn and Gerry O’Connor.
The William Kennedy Piping Festival’s international links are significantly strengthened this year with two world piping concerts to be held in Armagh’s Market Place Theatre on the Friday and Saturday night. The first night features Italian band Arche, Rory Campbell from Scotland, Swedish piper Olle Gallmo, James O’Grady from Luton and one of the hottest new Irish bands of the moment At First Light featuring John McSherry, Donal O’Connor, Tony Byrne and Francie McElduff.
Saturday’s concert includes performances from Petko Stefanov from Bulgaria, Asturian family group Tejedor, Simon McKerrell from Scotland, Limerick piper Mickey Dunne and for the first time in Ireland or the UK, the extraordinary Marzoug from Algeria.
Other concerts include a solo highland pipes concert on the 19th with Pipe Major Roddy MacLeod and Ross Ainslie from Scotland, along with local pipers Andrew Carlisle and Brendan Murphy. On the evening of the 20th there will be a solo uilleann pipes concert featuring Mickey Dunne, John McSherry, Eamonn Curran, Fergal French and Leonard Barry among others.
Fringe Festival events branch out all over Ireland with Hamish Moore’s Na Tri Seuden participating in La na nGaelscoileanna in The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra; Algerian group Marzourg will play Dublin’s O’Reilly Theatre on Friday 18th Nov and there will also be a concert in The Market House Arts Centre in Monaghan on Thursday 17th Nov.
There will be lunchtime sessions and afternoon concerts in the Market Place Theatre as well as more sessions, workshops and a range of schools’ activities in many venues in the Armagh area, and a festival club on the Friday and Saturday nights in the Charlemont Arms Hotel.
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Buy 3 or more tickets and get a 25% reduction
Family Deals on request.
Tel: +44 (0)28 37521821.
For more information you can contact us on:
tel & fax: +44 (0)28 3751 1248
e-mail: info@wkpf.org
Check our website for more details on all concerts and for information on accommodation and more:
or contact us by post:
14 Victoria Street
Armagh
BT61 9DT