Understand the State of Contemporary Bagpiping

Video Transcript

"NEIL HUBBARD: Even though the bagpipe is a very old instrument, there is currently big resurgence in its popularity and with the number of people who want to learn how to play. There are very active organizations in the Unites States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand that are teaching players and bringing young players up and creating a lot of excitement about the instrument. A lot of people might think that the music that's being written, that's written for the bagpipe is old, a hundred, 200, 300 years old; that not true. There are a number of very good composers currently writing new music for the bagpipe; Bruce Gandy from Canada, Michael Grey from Canada, Chris Armstrong from Scotland, and there are quite a few other players that are writing current music today. The bagpipe is something that helps people connect with their heritage and it's a fun instrument to play and there's again, as I said, a big resurgence and a growing number of people, more people than ever, learning how to play the bagpipes today."