March Trad at the Trian will focus on the music of Scotland with special guests singer Ann Martin who taught at Feis an Earraigh last year, and harper, Ingrid Henderson.

The Annual Concert will take place in the Marketplace Theatre on Sunday March 14th at 3p.m.

Spring exams usually take place between mid-March and mid-April. Pupils entered for these exams should select their performance and repertoire pieces as soon as possible and ensure that they practise half an hour to an hour every day. Entries for Summer exams should be in by April 12th 2010.

For a quick overview of what's on this term, have a look at the programme with all classes, concerts and more.

The Club's seventh Annual Burns Night took place at the Pearse Óg Club House on Sunday 24th January. Burns Night has become an institution in the Pipers Club over the past few years and this year we had great songs, music and dancing with a packed house.

Term 1 was busy and very exciting with plenty of musical activity throughout the four months. An important step in the Club’s progress was the appointment of Gráinne Crothers as our new Development Officer and she has been working hard to secure funding for the many projects which the Club has on hand.

One major result of Grainne’s endeavors was the awarding of a Heritage Lottery grant to develop the Dave Williams Piping Workshop under the direction of Eamonn Curran. The workshop was launched in October and Eamonn is currently making pipes in the Workshop which is located in St. Patrick’s Trian.

We have hosted four concerts in the Trad at the Trian Series with singers Jim McFarland, Gerry O’Reilly, Geraldine Bradley and Gabriel McArdle, and instrumentalists Barry Kerr, Séamie O’Dowd, Jim McGrath and Enda Scahill, all of whom held workshops following the concerts.

The William Kennedy Piping Festival brought many amazing musicians to Armagh from the USA, Brittany, Portugal, Scotland, Hungary, The Netherlands and the Basque Country as well as from all over Ireland. With concerts, sessions, lectures, workshops and schools’ performances there was something for everyone and the event continues to be a major tourist attraction for Armagh. Our pupils and teachers kept the session scene going throughout the weekend; the fiddle, accordion and pipe teachers had the amazing experience of performing alongside the great composer and pianist Mícheál Ó Súilleabhain and the Carolan Orchestra in the piece Francesca Walks; some pupils and teachers played and sang at the Pipers Service in St. Patrick’s C. Of I. Cathedral while many more availed of the opportunity to attend some of the 24 workshops and the Irish-Scottish Project.

The Winter Session of LCM exams took place in December with a 100% pass rate.

December also featured two other events - our inaugural Fancy Dress Session and a Christmas Celebration in the Palace Chapel. The Fancy Dress Session was one of the best events we ever organised - congratulations to everyone who participated - you had such imaginative ideas!

Pupils were invited to play at a number of events during the term. These included the Hallowe’een Crafts event in the County Museum where two groups of younger pupils entertained the visitors; the Gathering for Africa in Armagh City Hotel, and the Charity Fund-raising Concert in the Carrickdale Hotel. Conor Mallon and Ciaran Breen represented the Club at the 25th Anniversary Concert of the Feisean in Inverness. The Mulholland family and Ciaran Hanna with their group Cinnte reached the finals of BBC2’s Young Traditional Musician competition.

Burns Night has become an institution in the Pipers Club over the past few years and this year we had great songs, music and dancing with a packed house.

The Club is indebted to all the parents, teachers and pupils who volunteered their help during the Piping Festival, and during the bag-packing fund-raiser in Sainsbury’s. Without the help of our members and supporters the Club really couldn’t function.

The 16th William Kennedy Piping Festival was a multi-facetted event bringing together pipers and musical genres from all over the world to celebrate the universal experience of music that knows no boundaries and unites people in the common bond of music.
Read the full review here

22^nd of November the 16^th William Kennedy Piping Festival was launched in St Patrick's Trian. During the same event the Pipe Making Workshop was opened.

Have a look at the pictures

The uilleann pipes making workshop under the direction of Eamonn Curran is now in operation and we are taking orders for practise sets, half sets and full sets. During the year there will be a series of workshops in various aspects of pipe making, instrument maintenance, reed making etc and information about these classes will be sent out later.

Brian and Eithne Valley founded the Armagh Pipers' Club over forty years ago and have been involved in the musical education of thousands of children including many who have gone on to establish themselves among Ireland's foremost traditional musicians. They started producing tutor books in 1972 - the first of their kind. We now have these iconic books for sale online for the first time.

We would encourage pupils (including those who play other instruments already) to consider taking up the harp as we will have two new harp teachers this year and are really keen to develop harp-playing in the Club.

We are indebted to Father Donaghy, headmaster of St. Patrick's Grammar School for allowing us to hold our classes in the school. We expect all our pupils to respect the premises and leave classrooms tidy. The Assembly Hall is available for older pupils to do their homework, or parents to wait for their children.

The monthly Family Session takes place in Pearse Óg club house.

Trad at the Trian is held in the Auditorium of St Patrick's Trian in English St.

Sunday 15^th March 2009

The 43rd Armagh Pipers Club Annual Concert took place Sunday 15th March 2009 in The Market Place Theatre.

The concert featured groups drawn from the current club enrolment of 250 pupils of all ages including the beginners singing class aged from 3 to 7 years of age right up to members of the adult fiddle and uilleann pipes classes.

The 34 tutors who take the classes each week have been working with groups drawn from all the classes since Christmas and have put together a very diverse programme of both instrumental and vocal arrangements utilizing the huge range of instruments taught.
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• all the teachers who come along every week to share their love of traditional music with you.


• Maura Mallon and Kathy Kiernan who ensure the smooth running of classes and sessions.


• all the parents who volunteered their help during WKPF to look after our guests, do airport runs, manage the CD shop and art exhibitions, organise raffles, supervise workshops etc.


• Fr. Donaghy for the use of St. Patrick's Grammar School, and Eugene McKinney, who looks after us in the school on Monday nights.


• Pearse Óg GFC for the use of their club house for our family sessions.

LCM Graded Examinations in traditional of music take place three times during the year, in Winter, Spring and Summer and APC pupils have been taking these exams since 1999. The graded exams provide an objective measure of their progress and are generally taken every two years. Marks achieved in the higher grades are accepted by UCAS towards university entrance. This year we hope to prepare some of our advanced students for ALCM in Traditional Music Teaching.

Armagh Pipers Club is not affiliated to any organization, but has links with various music groups in Ireland and abroad. These include Feis an Earraigh on the Isle of Skye, with whom we have had an ongoing exchange for many years, Open House Festival in Belfast, "Piping Live" in Glasgow and Malahide Festival of Piping in Co. Dublin.

FEIS AN EARRAIGHL
We look forward to continuing our links with young musicians from the Isle of Skye during the coming year. The Scottish musicians will visit Armagh for the William Kennedy Piping Festival in November while a group from APC will travel to Skye in the Spring for Feis an Earraigh.

Armagh Pipers Club is a registered charity. 'Colmcille' supports our ongoing exchange with Feis an Earraigh on the Isle of Skye, and also Gaelic Singing workshops. Armagh City and District Council provides grant aid towards the WKPF.