William Kennedy Piping Festival
The 28th edition of the William Kennedy Piping Festival will take place in Armagh City over the weekend of 17-20 November 2022. After the uncertainty of recent years, the festival is delighted to present a full programme of concerts, sessions, workshops, and lectures right across the city, and looks forward to welcoming visitors and friends – new and old – to the ecclesiastical capital once again.
Programme highlights include an exciting new project entitled ‘inB’ which features Scottish pipers Brìghde Chaimbeul and Fin Moore along with uilleann pipers Louise Mulcahy and Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn. Former Moving Hearts and Riverdance piper Declan Masterson will make his first visit to the festival, while local legends Jarlath Henderson and Cillian Vallely make welcome visits home – the latter performing a specially commissioned new body of work along with the world-famous Fidelio Trio. The international dimension of the festival is further enhanced by 12-piece Portuguese band Orquestra de Foles, the Trio Lampetròn from Italy, Joey Abarta from the USA, and Scottish pipers Rory Campbell and Alana MacInnes.
Other acts confirmed include the Dunne family – Mickey, Niamh and Bríd – from county Limerick; Paddi Benson, Grace Lemon and James Patrick Gavin from London; Aaron O’Hagan and Luke Ward from Belfast; and local highland piper Brendan Murphy. The Festival also features the intensive Mark Donnelly Piping Academy.
Further information here and booking links are on the programme page. The William Kennedy Piping Festival is organised by Armagh Pipers Club with funding assistance from Armagh City, Banbridge, and Craigavon Borough Council, and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Interested in registering for classes?
Armagh Pipers Club is in its 57th year of teaching Irish traditional music! Throughout that time our aim has always been to deliver high-quality, low-cost instruction in a caring, supportive and safe environment, focussing on enjoyment rather than competition. We teach accordion, banjo, concertina, fiddle, flute, harp, session playing, singing, tin whistle and of course the uilleann pipes. We have always sought to keep our classes affordable – and though we can’t do it for the sixpences and shillings of the early days, our fees have been held at the same level for the past eight years.
Term 1 runs from September to Christmas, Term 2 from January to Easter, and Term 3 from Easter to mid-June. Terms 1 and 2 each cost £100 for one student, £175 for two from the same household, £225 for three and £275 for four or more. We do not usually charge for Term 3. To sign up, just fill in this online form and then go here to pay by whichever way suits you best.
For all class dates and other Pipers Club events for 2022-23, click here.
About the Club
Armagh Pipers Club is an independent traditional music teaching organisation based in Armagh City. It provides around 1,000 lessons per year, at various levels, for eight instruments and singing. It also runs an annual international festival of pipe-based music. For more information click here…
Classes : Books & CDs : Festival
We are grateful for the support of our principal funders:
