01 Bagpipe Network Meetings Latvian Dūdas

Available seats are limited! PLEASE inform us you will be attending by filling this FORM
NOTE: If you already play some bagpipe, please become first a member of our Network, HERE and only afterwards enrol.

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We are happy to announce the Finnd’it Initiative’s 1st ever Network meeting. The theme of this edition is The Latvian Dūdas.
Our friends (unfortunately this time, only a few representatives) visit Helsinki on the 30th NOV 2019. Please make sure to inform us by email if you wish to participate.
All activities are free and open to anyone who shares a passion for music and Bagpipes.

1st edition of the Finnd’it Network meeting
About our visitors

Suitu dūdenieki | Suiti bagpipers
The Western Latvian region of Suitu is inscribed in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. UNESCO status helped Suiti community to safeguard their unique cultural heritage and to revive some of the lost traditions, as bagpipe playing and making.

GUEST SPEAKERS ATTENDING

Juris Lipsnis (Latvia)
Juris is an Architect by profession, with a strong passion for folk traditions.
He is a Dūdas piper and head of the Latvian folk-group “Suitu dūdenieki”
Juris is a board member of the non profit “Suiti Cultural Heritage”, as well as an organizer of the recent events, gathering Latvian traditional pipers in the Suiti region (2018 and 2019).
Juris has been a Firefighter, a journalist, and currently, also a Lecturer in the Kuldiga Technical School of Technologies and Tourism.
Juris holds a Masters degree (M.Arch) from the Rigas Politehniskais Instituts

Uldis Austriņš (Latvia)
Uldis has been studying and working with Latvian traditional musical instruments for more than 10 years now. He started by making the Latvian Kokle (a form of Kantele), later having picked up on bagpipes.
He has for the last two years been researching bagpipe building techniques and traditions in Latvia by collecting evidence from all available sources – original instruments in museums, written accounts – and also prototype building, inspired by neighboring bagpipes.
Today Uldis is specializing in the bagpipes from the Latvian Suiti region, where more evidence may still be found.

Leanne Barbo (Estonia)
Leanne is the head of Tallinn Dance Club, teaching folklore and kantele at Tabasalu Children’s Music School. She has also, since 2016, been teaching bagpipes and harps at the Tallinn People’s University. Leanne often participates in summer camps all around Europe, teaching kokle, kantele, singing, bagpipe playing and traditional dancing, as well as Masterclasses on Estonian Danish traditions. She has recently started experimenting in harp building.
Leanne has a Master degree in traditional music from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Markus Rantanen (Finland)
Markus is a music educator and performing artist, as well as a “Finnd’it initiative” member.
He has specialized in a range of string music instruments – teaches guitar, ukulele, folk music and songwriting at Turun seudun musiikkiopisto.
Markus is also the creator of a performing act for children’s – Maestro Markus, a man who knows everything about folk music and who can play almost every instrument in the world including an assortment of Bagpipes. Maestro Markus and his assistant Doctor Fiktio Fakta have done over 500 performances in schools and kindergartens.
Markus experiments in an assortment of bagpipes, from the German hümmelchen to the bulgarian Gaidja, but has in fact studied first the Estonian torupil bagpipe at the Tartu University Viljandi Culture Academy.
Markus is a book author of four published ukulele books, one children’s book about Finnish folk instruments and one songbook of traditional songs from his hometown, Laitila.
Markus holds a Masters in Music, having graduated from the Sibelius Academy.

Patrik Weckman (Finland)
Patrik is a folk musician and researcher, as well as a “Finnd’it initiative” member.
He started by making small kanteles and jouhikko (bowed lyre) and learning to play them. Inspired by Hedningarna, 20 years ago he acquired is first bagpipe – a Swedish Sackpipa.
Among many other instruments and music styles, he has a special interest in the different folk fiddle styles, especially those from the Finish and Dalarna regions.
As a musician, he has been involved in a wide range of music styles from baroque to rock, from medieval music to rebetika.
Patrik has graduated as an M.D. from the Kuopio university.

Gonçalo Cruz (Portugal)
Gonçalo is a full time Researcher, Musician, Educator & Maker of Bagpipes, as well as the founder of the “Finnd’it initiative”.
He has witnessed first-hand the complete revival process of local bagpipes in Portugal. He has spent the last 20 years researching, playing, teaching and building bagpipes as well as maintaining a professional bagpipe making workshop.
He is also a music composer and guest musician on live and recorded performances, founder of non-profit Portuguese Trad. music organizations such as “arrefole”, “PortoCeltico” or “GaitaMaker”.
Currently he is conducting research as a Doctoral candidate at the Uniarts – Sibelius Academy: “Forgotten Bagpipes – The redesign of the Säkkipilli in Finland”.
Being a piper-musician, a designer-architect and a bagpipe maker, he has been at a unique position to promote the bridging of knowledge between Music Performers, Designers, Historians, Ethno-musicologists, Archaeologists…
Gonçalo holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and a tutor’s pedagogical aptitude certificate.