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Barnaby Brown is dedicated to revealing the ancient artistic traditions of Scotland’s music. Born and based in Glasgow, he champions the classical music of the Highland bagpipe and leads the revival of its ancestor, the triplepipe. A regular guest of the Edinburgh International Festival and frequent facilitator of intercultural collaborations, Barnaby teaches ‘Composing & Arranging’, ‘Listening Skills’ and ‘Teaching Musics of the World’ at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
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Glasgow’s Barnaby Brown leads the modern revival of the northern triplepipe, the ‘organ’ of the Celtic Church and precursor of the bagpipe in Britain and Ireland. He also champions the art of canntaireachd, the mouth music of the Highland bagpipe, and plays pibroch on a reproduction of a chanter owned by the Blind Piper of Gairloch. Barnaby’s recent engagements include the Edinburgh International Festival, Spitalfields Festival and Celtic Connections. He teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and specializes in intercultural collaboration as a catalyst for musical renewal and innovation. www.barnabybrown.info
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Barnaby Brown is the first Highland piper to apply the principles of the early music movement to pibroch. He began measuring historic instruments with Julian Goodacre in 1998 and plays a reproduction of a chanter from c.1680. His historically-informed performance style led to three appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival and his interest in early piping prompted him to revive the northern triplepipe, the bagpipe’s predecessor in Britain and Ireland. His activities as an educator, performer and scholar have helped to revolutionise the way pipers approach the sources of pibroch (1760–1850).
Barnaby’s workshop speciality is canntaireachd, the mouth music of the Highland bagpipe: through singing, he helps people to grasp an esoteric repertoire forged in the 17th century. As well as leading a variety of modules at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Barnaby is a champion of intercultural collaboration, touring with his ensembles Swagatam, Band-Re, The 4 Pipers, and Coracle. Many of his publications are available at barnabybrown.info
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Born and raised in Glasgow, Barnaby Brown was principal flautist of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. While a student at Cambridge, he took up the baroque flute and sang with Gonville & Caius College Choir. In 1996, he was appointed Composer in Residence at St George’s School, Rome, and in 2000 won a Scotland’s Year of the Artist residency, composing polyphony for Gaelic choirs in Trotternish, Isle of Skye. He has recorded two CDs of Bulgarian music with Derek Bell and is editor of the Siubhal Series, bringing single malts of unwritten British music to a wider audience.
Barnaby is the first Highland piper to apply the principles of the early music movement to pibroch. He began measuring historic instruments with Julian Goodacre in 1998 and plays a reproduction of a chanter from c.1680, originally played by the Blind Piper of Gairloch. His historically-informed performance style led to three appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival and numerous invitations to festivals abroad. His recordings, articles and editions since 1998 have helped to revolutionise the way pipers approach the sources of pibroch (1760–1850), enriching the tradition beyond the legacy of the competition system.
His quest to revive the northern triplepipe, the bagpipe’s predecessor, led to six years in Sardinia and the formation of Band-Re with guitarist Gianluca Dessí. Their debut album, Strathosphere (April 2006), draws on an eclectic range of traditions to inspire original compositions and refresh historic Gaelic material. Since 2006, Barnaby has been a lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, teaching “Composing & Arranging”, “Listening Skills” and “Historical Studies” on the BA (Scottish Music) course, and “Teaching Musics of the World” on the BEd (Music) course.
Barnaby’s recent intercultural projects include reviving the silver pipes of Ur (c.2450 B.C.); composing works for gamelan and Highland pipes; developing the “Four Nations Piping Concert” with Mick O’ Brien, Pauline Cato and François Lazarevitch; performing with the Izmir State Orchestra; and co-directing the Scottish Government commission “Yatra” for the Edinburgh Mela, combining Japanese Taiko, Indian dhrupad, and Scottish traditions. His research interests include Scotland’s traditional grounds, historical intonation and canntaireachd – the ancient onomatopoeic teaching syllables of Gaelic piping.
