The Pipes The Pipes

Visual Art/Music

2015 - 2016

Produced by Siobhán O’Malley in association with The Dock as part of The Dock's 10th-anniversary celebrations and devised by Donal Dineen The Pipes, The Pipes paid homage to the singular magic of the Uilleann Pipes.

The live performance featured the playing of exceptional pipers Padraig McGovern, Leonard Barry, Maitiu O Casaide, and John Tuohy. Three pipers played live while Donal Dineen and French visual/video artist Lionel Palun responded to the playing with live painting and vision mixing.

That audio-visual story that emerged was as mesmerising as this unique instrument’s sound as it filled out the room. It's an all-encompassing sound with which there is no arguing as virtuoso players explore the intricacies of the machine as well as illustrate the sheer power it unleashes at full throttle.

The piping trio played with considerable energy, passion, and grace, and as the sounds they conjured filled the air, visual artists were on hand to interpret the mesmerising sound waves and accentuate the musical flow.

The result was a tantalising coalescence of art forms. Surrendering to the river of sound was to be the one and only option.

The Pipes, The Pipes premiered at The Dock in January 2015 and went on to perform sellout shows in Dublin and Paris to critical audience acclaim, featuring as one of St. Patrick’s Festival, Dublin highlights on RTÉ.

The tour was funded by the Arts Councils of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“…An intense, high-energy blast of ensemble piping and a visual adventure that involves exploration, experimentation and risk-taking.”– Journal of Music, 2015

Performance pictures

Curators Note

"I'd like to showcase the Uilleann Pipes in a way that will capture the majesty of this extraordinary instrument. There is something unique in their sound that has deep-rooted cultural significance, yet it often seems that they are notable only in their absence from the mainstream media. They wield such power sonically, and their sound is so engaging and all-encompassing that I think it’s a real shame we aren’t exposed to them more often. We could do with understanding and respecting these machines a bit better. They ought to be celebrated as one of the cornerstones of our identity. What I love most is the sheer breadth of their tonal range, along with the immense power they wield. The complicated and thriving craft of making them is a story often told, but we’ll be concentrating on the art of playing them for this show. We have assembled masterful pipers in Maitiú O Casaide, Padraig McGovern, and Leonard Barry, who represent different traditions hailing from Dublin, Leitrim, and Kerry respectively. We examine those different traditional strands as well as choose music to perform that hints at the international significance of this glorious instrument. The stars of the show are the pipes themselves. It’s a great opportunity to feel the full force of their magical sound with a trio of pipers playing at full tilt. We also devise a moving picture show to accompany the music, featuring painting and live visual art from Lionel Palun and myself." Donal Dineen

About the Artist(s)

Maitiú Ó Casaide - Piper

TG4 Young Musician Of The Year 2015, Maitiú Ó Casaide, is a piper with an impeccable musical pedigree. He is from the third generation of the famed, musical Ó Casaide family. The countless family sessions growing up nurtured his love of traditional music and the Irish language. He is a founding member of The Bonny Men, who released their second album, Moyne Road in 2015, following their acclaimed debut, The Bonny Men(2011). Maitiú has performed with Fabulous Beast Dance Theatres’ show Rian, a fusion of contemporary dance and traditional Irish music. Musicians from Rian released a debut album, RÉ, in 2014 and continue to tour as a band. Maitiú also occasionally plays with the family band, Na Casaidigh. He is a twice-winner of the Oireachtas na Gaeilge pipes competition.

Leonard Barry - Piper

Leonard Barry has been described as one of Ireland’s “best pipers, be it solo, duet or group playing”(The Irish Times) and was awarded Male Musician of the Year 2015 at Live Ireland Awards. His interest in uilleann piping began upon hearing Paddy Keenan and Liam O’Flynn in The Bothy Band and Planxty. He has performed and toured internationally with his own band, New Road, and with various other ensembles at festivals such as Celtic Connections, Hong Kong Folk Festival, Skagen Festival, and Shetland Folk Festival. He has previously released two CD’s, Mind the Pipes(2002) and New Road (2013). His latest CD, Stone Walls & Street Lights, was released in June with his band New Road, whose other members are Rick Epping, Andy Morrow, and Seamie O’Dowd.

Padraig McGovern - Piper

Padraig McGovern has been described as an “instrumental master at the top of his tradition” (Irish Music Magazine) in response to his recent acclaimed recording, 'Forgotten Gems', with accordionist Peter Carberry. He was taught by master piper P.J. Flood and developed his music as a member of the Ceolas Ceili Band. He has since performed and recorded with some of Ireland’s top musicians and bands such as Lúnasa, Dervish, Téada, Donal Lunny, John Carty, and Seamus Begley and has performed at festivals such as Celtic Connections, Masters of Tradition, Return to Camden, and the William Kennedy Piping Festival. His recent collaboration with Leitrim Equation 4 (Eleanor Shanley, Dave Sheridan, John McCartin & Dónal Lunny) has been described by The Irish World as 'musicality in its purest form, creating an emotional evocation of County Leitrim.'

John Tuohy - Piper

John Tuohy is from a family of piping enthusiasts and has been playing the uilleann pipes for the past 18 years, both as a solo musician and in various groups. From Kilkenny, John was taught predominantly by the great Waterford piper, Tommy Kearney but received many lessons from Joe Doyle, Nollaig MacCárthaigh, Pat Mitchell and Mick O’Brien, amongst others. He has been a regular participant at the Willie Clancy Summer School and the many piping tionóls over the past 25 years. His father organises the annual Tionól Tommy Kearney piping weekend in Kilkenny every November. In 2008, John worked at Na Píobairí Uilleann, an experience that fostered his love of uilleann pipe-making, which is a hobby that he enjoys immensely. He has a particular interest in the work of the classic makers from the 1800s such as Coyne, Kenna and Egan.

John Crudden – Lighting Design

John received a HND in performance studies from Colaiste Dhulaigh and works as a freelance lighting technician and designer. Previous design credits include Luck Just Kissed You Hello (Hotfortheatre, Galway International Arts Festival & Dublin Theatre Festival); Alas Awake (Seán Mac Erlaine, International Literature Festival Dublin); Lessness (The Emergency Room & Galway International Arts Festival); String Theory Festival (Bottlenote and IMC); Macalla 1916 (Comhaltas); Our Island (Mirari Productions, Dublin Fringe Festival 2015). Previous credits include La Traviata and Shortworks (Wexford Opera Festival 2013-2015), How These Desperate Men Talk (Eatmynoise and Corcadorca ), Far Away From Me (The Ark). John has worked extensively with Hotfortheatre over the past few years, touring nationally and internationally with the company.

Lionel Palun – Visual Art Director

Lionel Palun's background is in physics and nanotechnology but changed his career direction following an encounter with contemporary dance and the work of La Cie Pascoli. Primarily, he wanted to explore the connection between screen image and performing arts. Aside from mastering the professional tools of digital imagery and multi-media, Lionel has developed his own software programme for creating and diffusing images. It is a tool for video production, performance, and improvisation. He has been professionally engaged in live shows since 2001 and is currently focusing on a series of improvised duos that explore relationships between images and dance, theatre, music, lighting and film. He has worked with the digital image in various contexts such as videoed improvised performances with artists such as Christophe Cardoen and Riojim; video creations with directors, choreographers, musicians and collectives such as Yann Lheureux and Muriel Piqué at the CCN de Montpellier; video installations with Nuit Blanche of Metz, La Condition Publique, Roubaix; and workshops with Opera de Lyon, amongst others. Previous Irish performances include the French Cork Film Festival (2011 & 2012) with Solar Bears and Guillermo Carrion, Projet D.I. with Delphine Dolce and Etienne Jaumet, and Donal Dineen’s Art of Music 3 at The Dock, Carrick on Shannon (2013). He is currently an associate artist on the European-Japan Festival research project.

Siobhán O Malley - Producer

Siobhán O Malley, former Director of The Dock, had been the driving force behind The Dock’s consistently strong vision for artistic and innovative excellence during her 10-year tenure at Carrick-on-Shannon’s unique creative hub. She commissioned The Pipes, The Pipes for The Dock’s 10th-anniversary programme, 2015. She also commissioned a Quebec-Irish dance/music collaboration with Zogma Danse, Montreal and new music by contemporary composer Jonathan Nangle for Ireland’s leading contemporary music ensemble, Crash Ensemble. This commission incorporated a visual element to accompany the music, in addition to a gallery show exploring the interplay between music and visual installation. She previously produced Wish You Were Here, directed by Andy Crook, for The Dock/IT Sligo at Dublin Fringe Festival, 2010 and a dance weekend, European Pathways, at The Dock in partnership with Steptext Dance, Bremen and Irish Modern Dance Theatre in 2013. An adjudicator at Dublin Fringe Festival 2008, she has also sat on selection/judging panels for music initiatives such as Eurosong and Music Network and on the board of The Leitrim Design House. In addition to The Pipes, The Pipes, she is co-producing the dance show, SokaloRemix, with Zogma Danse and producing Sraith Oileán Acla, with Irish harpist Laoise Kelly and Scottish composer/musician Allan McDonald, a commission for harp, pipes and traditional ensemble, to premiere as part of the first Achill International Harp Festival, October 2016.

Donal Dineen – Curator/Director

Donal Dineen is a pioneering DJ, music curator and visual artist based in Dublin. He began his broadcasting career in the 90’s with the music TV show No Disco on RTE 2 and went on to present late-night music shows on Today FM, Here Comes The Night & The Small Hours. He currently presents a world music programme on Dublin station, TXFM. He won a Hot Press Award in 2001, a PPI silver medal for Music Broadcaster of the Year in 2010, and the Digital Socket Broadcaster of the Year Award in 2011. He has directed music videos for Donato Wharton, Lisa Hannigan, Katie Kim, This is How We Fly, and Niwel Tsumbu, and in 2014 made two music videos: 'Gulls' and 'Beautiful Agony' for David Gray’s album The Mutineers, in association with Myles O Reilly and Lionel Palun. He has curated several ‘Art of Music’ initiatives exploring the relationship between art and music since 2012, at The National Gallery, Dublin, St. Canices Cathedral, Kilkenny and Phase One Festival at The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon. His short film, Street Feelings, was shown at The Hugh Lane Gallery as part of the 2014 St. Patrick’s Festival, Dublin. He currently teaches radio, documentary & photography at Dundalk Institute of Technology. He writes a weekly music column, 'Sunken Treasures' in The Irish Times.