Instructors

Peter Browne was born in Dublin in 1953 and commenced playing traditional music at the age of 6. He learned music from three of the great pipers of modern times; Séamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome and Willie Clancy and in his youth attended many of the major traditional music events of the time with his family and frequently visited Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, home of Willie Clancy and Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, Co Kerry staying in the home of Denis Murphy the famous Sliabh Luachra fiddle player. In the early 1970’s he played with the groups Raftery and 1691 – a forerunner of The Bothy Band and later spent two periods playing on both pipes and flute with The Bothy Band. He made two albums of music and song in the 1980’s together with Philip King on the Gael-Linn label – Rince Gréagach and Seacht Nóiméad Déag chun a Seacht. His work as a session musician included contributing to recordings by Paul Brady, Maura O’ Connell, Mary Black, Mick Hanley, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Scullion and Cór Chúil Aodha and he has also been part of various ventures in modern experimental music, playing works by Bill Whelan, Michael Holahan, Roger Doyle and Paddy Meegan. He featured as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra and with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on their 1998 tour of North America and in the series Music in the Classroom. He was the soloist with the Ulster Orchestra in a performance in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on St Patrick’s Day 2001 of The Brendan Voyage by Shaun Davey and has played the same work with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. He has twice been the winner of the Oireachtas uilleann-piping in 1994 and 1998 and also won the prize for slow-air playing in both those years. He worked for over 40 years in RTÉ Radio One with a special interest in traditional music and his weekly programme The Rolling Wave enjoyed a large listenership in Ireland and abroad. He also presented and produced programmes such as Sounds Traditional, Áirneán, Céilí House and in the late 1970s presented The Long Note. 

Brian McNamara hails from County Leitrim, a musically rich rural region of Ireland which has produced notable musicians past and present and which has been prominently associated with the preservation and performance of Irish Traditional Music. Introduced to the uilleann pipes in 1979, Brian has become renowned nationally and internationally for his unique musical style and repertoire. As a winner of multiple All-Ireland titles at Junior and Senior level during the 1980s, he became a regular member of concert tour groups and has travelled extensively as a solo performer and tutor.

Brian is noted for playing both ‘concert’- pitched and ‘flat’- pitched pipes as evidenced on his recordings. He is grateful to his instrument makers, particularly David Quinn and Benedict Koehler and Geoff Wooff, for crafting instruments that have enabled him to express and develop his personal musical style, which is regarded as unique and clearly identifiable. It has been described as a beautifully sweet, articulate, controlled, staccato yet flowing, underpinned by definite phrasing and strong rhythm.

Brian has recorded multiple CDs including Leitrim’s Hidden Treasure, recorded with his family in 1998,. This recording brought to prominence the rich musical legacy and repertoire of the south Leitrim and adjoining country areas, including the uilleann piping tradition. This milestone CD was followed by a number of solo recordings, including A Piper’s Dream (2000) and Fort of the Jewels (2004). In 2007 Brian recorded a duet album with concertina player Tim Collins entitled Reed Only.

Brian has travelled the world as a performer and tutor of the uilleann pipes. In his formative years, Brian competed successfully in Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann at junior and senior level and toured as a member of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. He subsequently became a regular tutor at all of the most prominent schools of music and pipers’ gatherings in Ireland and the USA. Guest international appearances have taken him across the world, including to Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and continental Europe. He has also accompanied dignitaries including former President Mary McAleese on International visits. Brian presently lives in Summerhill, County Meath, with his wife and two daughters and continues to pursue his chosen professional career as an educator.