www.facebook.com/napiobairiuilleann

A traditional music recital on the first Tuesday of every month

The Cobblestone, 77 North King Street, Dublin 7.

Tuesday  6th August  2013

TG4 Young Musician of the Year Dónal McCague will feature in August’s Session with the Pipers recital in its cosy backroom setting in The Cobblestone pub in Smithfield. Dónal McCague released his début album, Bits’n’Pieces, in 2011 aged only 21. He is from a musical family in Scotstown, Co. Monaghan. His music teachers have included Laura Beagon, Deirdre and Michael Rooney, Pat McCabe, Edel Connolly and Phelim Ó Raghallaigh. In 2005, at the age of 15, he played at the Frankie Gavin International Fiddle Festival in Galway 2005 and in the National Concert Hall Dublin on St Patrick’s Day 2006. He was part of an All-Ireland winning Scór na nÓg instrumental group for Scotstown in 2006. He has recorded for the TV programmes Geantraí on TG4 and the RTÉ Fleadh Programme, as well for national and local radio. He has toured Europe with the Irish dance troupes Ragús and Celtic Legends. He was runner up in both the Fiddler of Dooney competition at Sligo Live and in Fiddler of Oriel, Monaghan. McCague cites his main influences as Tommy Peoples, Séamus Quinn, Brian Rooney, Cathal Hayden, Seán Keane and Frankie Gavin.

Na Píobairí Uilleann will also welcome Pat Mitchell to the stage. Uilleann piper, teacher, researcher, publisher and writer, Pat began playing pipes at the age of 21. Founder member and long-time officer of Na Píobairí Uilleann, he is now a patron of the organisation. He is widely acknowledged for his pioneering research, lectures and publications on uilleann piping performance, repertoire and style, most notably his valuable contributions on the music of Willie Clancy (1976, 2nd edition 1993), Patsy Touhey (with Jackie Small) (1986) and Séamus Ennis (2007).  He has also contributed articles to An Píobaire, Dal gCais and the Sean Reid Society Journal along with entries on piping and transcription topics for the new edition of Fintan Vallely’s Companion to Traditional Irish Music (2010). He supplied extensive notes for CDs by Peadar O’Loughlin, Ronan Browne and, most recently, the RTÉ double CD of Willie Clancy. In 2012 he re-created the once widely known descriptive piece Mairseáil Alasdrom, delivered a “Notes and Narratives” talk on its musical and historical context and performed the piece to some acclaim at the “Ace and Deuce of Piping” concert that year.

Also to take to the stage will be renowned accordion and melodeon player Bobby Gardiner. Bobby was reared in a house in which traditional music was loved and played. Around 1956 he played with the Kilfenora Céilí Band prior to joining the Malachy Sweeney Band from County Armagh as a professional musician, travelling the length and breadth of Ireland.

Bobby immigrated to the USA in 1960 and in 1962 he recorded ‘Memories of Clare’. This LP record was lively, spontaneous and highly acclaimed. Bobby returned to Ireland in 1970 and returned to playing music around the country. Bobby has been associated with the music department of University College Cork for over twenty-five years as an accordion tutor in Irish traditional music. He has also been involved with music classes in both County Waterford and South Tipperary and is a regular in the Bru Boru concerts in Cashel, during the summer season.

About Na Píobairí Uilleann

Na Píobairí Uilleann (NPU), the Society of Uilleann Pipers was founded in 1968 by pipers with the aim of protecting a threatened art form. Now, forty five years later, NPU is a thriving arts organisation with thousands of members, dedicated to servicing the aims and needs of uilleann pipers worldwide. It is the ambition of NPU to establish the music of the uilleann pipes as a major art form around the world in the 21st century. Since unveiling its restored Georgian premises at 15 Henrietta St, Dublin in January 2007, NPU has been busy catering for the expanding demand for regular tuition as well as releasing a number of significant publications and recordings. With demand for pipes considerably exceeding supply, a dedicated Training Centre - PipeCraft - has been established to deliver training in the very highly skilled craft of uilleann pipemaking. NPU’s commitment to tuition, both on a weekly basis at its premises and internationally, continues to grow, along with its public performance programme.

NPU also maintains a significant online presence. Source, our web-based piping and traditional music resource, makes available our accumulated training, tutorial and archive materials to lovers of Irish music around the world.

Na Píobairí Uilleann’s primary funding agencies include the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, The Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíonn and Dublin City Council.

Admission: €12/€8

Na Píobairí Uilleann, 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, Ireland

W: www.pipers.ie E:info@pipers.ie P:00353(0)1 8730093

www.facebook.com/napiobairiuilleann

www.twitter.com/Napiobairi