• Ian Harrison cornett, shawm and bagpipe
• with Steven Devine keyboard

Ian Harrison is one of Europe’s foremost exponents on three of the most important wind instruments of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the shawm, the predecessor of the oboe, the curved wooden cornett and the bagpipe. His virtuosity and improvisatory flair on them has led to him being dubbed ‘the Miles Davis of the early music scene’. His playing delighted the audience at Musica Antiqua’s concert in the 2005 Festival, and he makes a welcome return for this informal lecture recital.

As well as playing and talking about his instruments, he will explore the history of English popular music from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, in the process throwing unexpected light on such things as the history of ‘Greensleeves’ and how Mediaeval forms are preserved in the eighteenth-century bagpipe repertory.

‘Ian Harrison’s shawm playing reached ecstatic heights of virtuosity’ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
‘Ian Harrison reached some otherworldly sounds on the cornett … breathtaking’ – Beirut Daily Star.