February 2025

Join us for perhaps the most vibrant gig of the year at Halsway Manor. More pipes and gurdies than you can shake a stick at!

Tutors of international reknown are coming to Halsway to lead the popular Pipes and Gurdies weekend. You can experience their magic at this concert performance. Our International tutor team includes gurdy players Ariel Ninas, Clémence Oppin and Jon Loomes and pipers Isabelle Blô and David Falkner. Ariel Ninas has been playing the hurdy-gurdy since 2001. In the last 20 years as part of different projects from the Oxford punk-rock-skiffle-acoustic band Inflatable Buddha to the free impro orchestra OMEGA (Galician Orchestra of Spontaneous Music); experimental electronic trio Ulobit (‘Vikingland 2016’, Audioatalia); or performing traditional repertoire in Tralo-Valo and Galician-Portuguese music with ‘Cantos de Cego de Galiza e Portugal’ (aCFolque, 2016) and ‘Do Natal aos Reis’ (aCFolque, 2019) and a solid solo career with different programs. His solo piece for contemporary dance work ’Habelas’ won a Injuve award for performing arts by the Spanish Culture Ministry. In 2018 he wins a prize in the hurdy-gurdy international competition for bands “Maitrês Sonneurs” at Le Son Continu (La Châtre, France). In 2020, Music award ‘Cultura de Galicia’ with aCentral Folque by the most prestigious and official institution of the region. He teaches in Tordoia and Corunha and at the Conservatorio Superior de Galicia in Valga. He is the artistic director and producer of international festival Zona da Zanfona. Also hosts the online sessions ZdZ masterclasses. Clémence Oppin began playing the hurdy-gurdy in 2001 and is passionate about traditional music from central France. She studied at the music conservatoire, where she experienced her first live