Adrian Schofield
Encyclopedia
Adrian Schofield is a player of the Northumbrian smallpipes
, the traditional bagpipe of Northern England, and plays and teaches in Manchester
. In 1988, Schofield joined with pipers Pauline Cato and Colin Ross
in forming the band Border Spirit.
Schofield's style of playing was initially heavily influenced by that of Border musician Billy Pigg
(1902-1968). Schofield produced a biography of Pigg, The Border Minstrel (ISBN 0-902510-16-9) researched by Adrian Schofield and edited by Julia Say, which included all of Pigg's known compositions, and some other tunes from his repertoire, and was published by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1997. Later in his piping career, Schofield turned to favor the more close-fingered staccato style of traditional pipers such as Tom Clough
.
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
, the traditional bagpipe of Northern England, and plays and teaches in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. In 1988, Schofield joined with pipers Pauline Cato and Colin Ross
Colin Ross (pipemaker)
Colin Ross is an English folk musician, playing fiddle and Northumbrian smallpipes, and a noted maker of Northumbrian smallpipes, Border pipes and Scottish smallpipes, and one of the inventors of the modern Scottish smallpipes. Ross is also a fiddler, and played both Northumbrian smallpipes and...
in forming the band Border Spirit.
Schofield's style of playing was initially heavily influenced by that of Border musician Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a Vice-President and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.-Life and music:...
(1902-1968). Schofield produced a biography of Pigg, The Border Minstrel (ISBN 0-902510-16-9) researched by Adrian Schofield and edited by Julia Say, which included all of Pigg's known compositions, and some other tunes from his repertoire, and was published by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1997. Later in his piping career, Schofield turned to favor the more close-fingered staccato style of traditional pipers such as Tom Clough
Tom Clough
Tom Clough , known as 'The Prince of Pipers', was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He had studied the instrument with the noted piper Thomas Todd, and from his own father Henry Clough...
.
Discography
- 1987 - Hindley Steel (Common Ground, CGR001) (in Border Spirit)
- 1993 - Jane of Biddlestone (Common Ground, CGR 007) 1993.
- 1999 - Spirit of the Border: Northumbrian Traditional Music. (Nimbus Records, NI 5615)