Scottish Culture Online

ANCIENCE

Two instruments, harp and pipes, which have taken on different forms over the centuries played by four top traditional musicians from the four countries of the UK, who have teamed up with a contemporary, electronic musician.  Sounds and timbres produced with muscle and breath meet electronic impulses and computer technology to create music that is at the same time freshly minted and ancient.

The traditional musicians are Mary MacMaster (wire harp from Scotland), Gwenan Gibbard (Celtic harp, from Wales), Andy May (Northumbrian pipes, from England) and Tiarnan o Duinchann (uillean pipes, from Northern Ireland).  At the controls is Joe Acheson.  What they have in common is musical imagination, open minds and the urge to make something new.

This work was commissioned by Distil with Sidmouth Folk Festival, Trac, William Kennedy Piping Festival and Edinburgh International Harp Festival, and was made possible with funding through Beyond Borders from the PRS for Music Foundation, Creative Scotland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Wales and Colwinston Charitable Trust”.