Autumn Smallpipe & Fiddle Program 2013
The Celtic Arts Foundation is pleased to present this workshop for the third consecutive year! For the first time we are also offering a fiddle component! The workshop will be at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, WA on October 3-7th, 2013. The weekend will feature top piping instructors; EJ Jones, of Asheville, NC and Fred Morrison of Bishopton, Scotland, and fiddle instructor Andrea Beaton of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Obsessed Smallpipe and Borderpipe player (and CAF Executive Director) Skye Richendrfer met EJ at the Piper’s Gathering in Killington, VT in August of 2010. EJ was an instructor and featured performer at the Gathering, and impressed all of those attending with his approach to Smallpipe playing and overall musicianship. He got his start on Highland Pipes in Houston with the St. Thomas Episcopal School, under the instruction of Michael Cusack. In the early 1990s, EJ co-founded the trad group “Clandestine,” a band that stays in great demand to this day. EJ remains an active competitive professional Highland piper, and also keeps very busy making Scottish Smallpipes in his workshop in Asheville, NC. Here is a link to EJ’s website.
EJ will by joined by one of our favorite performers and instructors from the Celtic Arts Winter School program, Fred Morrison. A gold medal-winning Highland Piper, Fred is widely regarded as one of the top bellows-blown Reelpipe players in the world. His music is steeped in the traditions of his South Uist heritage, but influenced by diverse and surprising sources such as bluegrass to name one. Highland pipes, Uileann pipes, low whistles, Smallpipes or Reelpipes – Fred can do it all, and his teaching approach is energetic, patient and most of all fun! Here’s a link to Fred’s website to learn more. Fred and EJ will certainly help make this an incredible musical experience for all who can participate. Space is limited and there will be a cap of 25 students for this weekend workshop.
We are especially pleased to have one Cape Breton’s best-known fiddlers, Ms. Andrea Beaton (website) joining us for the first time as we expand our program to include a fiddle track. A mainstay at our Celtic Arts Winter School over the past several years, Andrea is a student favorite and an extremely accomplished touring musician and performer. The addition of this fiddle component at our Smallpipe workshop allows us to build on the unique foundation we’ve established of session musicians “learning to play nicely together.” The ceilidhs and evening sessions will be filled with fast paced tunes and fun. Don’t miss out – get your registration form early as space is limited!
Program Location – Seabeck
The Autumn Smallpipe Workshop is being held at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, Washington. Home to our winter school for years, we are excited to expose students to this beautiful piece of land on the kitsap peninsula. A link to the retreat center can be found here: Seabeck Conference Center
Be sure to get your registration in early, as this workshop is sure to fill up!
Small seminar class sizes are a hallmark of programs offered by the Celtic Arts Foundation. We’re very mindful of the benefits of having access to accomplished and experienced instructors. This year, we’ve arranged to have students arrive on Thursday evening, followed by a performance by both Fred and EJ in Seabeck. That gives us a complete and full day for instruction on Friday, and Saturday, and most of Sunday. 