GIG: Northumbrian Small Pipes

Andy May was introduced to the smallpipes by his father Stan, later learning from Roland Lofthouse and Adrian Schofield, and from studying the recordings of Billy Pigg and Tom Clough. Through the 90s Andy entered many piping competitions and studied music at the University of York with the pipes as his chosen instrument. Andy has been a full-time musician since 2002, with the Andy May Trio, UK/Finnish/Danish ensemble Baltic Crossing, and with North-East band Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies. Andy is a notable pipemaker, learning much from his father, and also Colin Ross, and teaches on the folk music degree course at Newcastle University.

Chris Ormston was given his first set of pipes on his 15th birthday and nine months later won the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society Junior Class. Within three years he had won every Open competition in the county. Early in his piping career he acquired a taste for the classic repertoire of the pipes, with a particular interest in the music of the Clough family. Chris has collaborated with the NPS Society in the publication of two collections: ‘The Clough Family of Newsham’ (2000) and ‘The Clough Family Tunebook’ (2012). In 2011 Chris was honoured to take possession of ‘Young’ Tom Clough’s pipes, a Reid set gifted to Tom by his grandfather.

Chris Evans was born and raised in Dorset. He won a music scholarship to Bryanston School, Blandford, and is a graduate of the University of Bristol with a Bachelor of Arts Joint Honours degree in German and Russian, and a Master of Arts in Medieval Studies, specialising in Late Medieval German. Chris started playing Northumbrian Smallpipes in 2001. He has won Open Classes at the Bellingham Show and the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society annual competitions and has gone on to perform as a soloist for HRH Duke of Edinburgh on Horse Guards Parade, and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is in demand as a tutor throughout the UK and US, and has been a regular tutor at Halsway since 2006.