I am planning to host an Irish whistle festival in Oregon next summer. Pretty much a year from now. We have 3 great whistle makers in Oregon who I'm sure will attend (although nothing is concrete yet). I would love to have as many makers as possible represented, as well as great music by some premier whistle players, great workshops, vendors, food and such. Shooting for the last weekend in August as a tentative date.

Please give me ideas for a name for the festival, possible musicians to invite, and spread the word! More details will be provided soon!

Nick,
Your event sounds awesome! Perhaps you could call it "FIPPLEFEST"? You might consider seeking some sponsorships, Guinness comes to mind immediately. It would be great if you could draw some top whistle players such as Joanni Madden, Pete Purvis, etc. It would certainly be a great venue for makers to showcase their whistles. It would also be a great venue to introduce people to the great music made on the whistle. Good luck with this very worthwhile endeavor.

Cayden

Who?

It's interesting that while there are many very excellent whistle players in irish traditional music, there aren't many who are known as whistle players. The only American one that springs to mind at the moment is Kathleen Conneely (besides the obvious Joannie Madden). There are of course the obvious Irish ones, Mary Bergin and Sean Ryan. But every other whistle player I can think of (including Joannie) plays another instrument, often flute. I know it's often true in Ireland, and it is also true here, that people often start on whistle before moving to other things. My fiancee is a fantastic whistle player, as is her brother, but they're both much better known for fiddle and box respectively. But you'd be hard pressed to find better whistle players...

Another thought: after attending Gay McKoen's lecture at the CIAW about Uilleann Pipe clubs, I was talking about how and why there aren't Irish Fiddle clubs, Irish Flute clubs, Irish Whistle clubs, etc. The flute one especially is a bit interesting. Flute is a lot more similar to pipes in that there aren't a ton of makers, the instrument isn't available in stores (and definitely no Flute Shops like there are Violin Shops), and wooden flute players are pretty few and far. Good luck with this, it's an interesting idea, sort of a whistle-tionol. It will be interesting to see how it gets on.

NicoMoreno,
Pete Purvis is a great whistle player and a member of Gaelic Storm. Like you mentioned, in addition to whistle, Pete plays Highland and Uillean pipes. Pete is from Ottawa, Canada.

Cayden

Nick, I'd highly recommend Seamus Egan who plays with Solas which is a great Celtic band and have been to Oregon a number of times. Granted Seamus plays a lot of other instruments too (guitar, Irish flute, etc...) but is fabulous on whistle.

Good luck with this festival.
Ronaldo

here's the web page for the festival (not much there yet)

http://www.ethnicwind.com/#!whistle-festival/c4s2

I've contacted Joannie Madden, and Colin Farrell (not the actor) so far, awaiting their responses.
Seamus Egan would be AWESOME!!! I'll see what I can do.

BTW - Dale if you read this C&F Should really be one of our sponsors don't you think?!

Oh man, that's tempting. We've been meaning to go visit family on the "left coast" for years, so this might be the excuse that gets us to do it. Please keep us posted.

Way cool... essential in a way... would be to get Joe McKenna, the guy who developed and popularised the Low Whistle

http://www.irishmusicreview.com/mckenna.htm

first attempt at artwork for the show... feel free to share your artwork for the festival

Isn't it just a little weird to be using the image of Kokopelli for an "Irish Whistle Festival"? Seems incongruous to me. From a number of different points of view.

seems reasonable from here...


'course it's in Oregon, innit?

Do Oregon people generally associate Irish people with Native American culture? Or confuse primitive flutes with whistles? Perhaps they associate Irish people with worshipping non-Christian Gods? I mean, I'm sure some do - Wicca, that sort of thing, although probably more popular in England than in Ireland - but Kokopelli seems a stretch somehow.

I dunno ... maybe it's just me ...

Not the greatest review however.... "monumentally dull" ??

Best wishes.

Steve

Yes, I've read that review before. Written by me ol' pal Geoff Wallis. Not pulling punches in a way that only he can do.

Or you could go with Ekkhart Malotki's thesis that Kokopelli was not a flute/whistle player at all—that his name was mistakenly ascribed to the petroglyphs of the hunch-backed flute player found in the Southwestern US states ("Kokopelli: The Making of an Icon", Univ. Nebraska Press, 2000).

Maybe a silhouette of Micho Russell—less recognizable but more ITM.

Just sayin'

Steve