KiwiCelt Wooden Flutes

We are very fortunate to have a new interview on KiwiCelt Wooden Flutes with an inspiring individual who is one of the leading figures of the Irish traditional music scene here in New Zealand.

Based in the South Island town of Nelson, Bob Bickerton has been around the folk, Celtic and Irish traditional music scene since the early 1980’s. He is the current chairman of Ceol Aneas – New Zealand’s traditional Irish music workshops that are held in Nelson each year and are modelled on the Willie Clancy and the South Sligo summer schools of Ireland.

Bob took a similar path to that travelled by many a dedicated flute player – he bought one of those cheap tin whistles after becoming inspired by hearing some Chieftains music on the radio in his formative years! That lead to “harder drugs” and an old wooden flute soon found it’s way into Bob’s hands. Here’s what happened next:

And then I though, OK, I’m going to do this properly and I went to a flute teacher and asked for a lesson. And when she saw the (wooden) flute, she said, “Nobody plays those things any more – go away!” – Bob Bickerton.

But, as the saying goes, “You can’t hold a good man down!” Bob Bickerton is now multi-instrumentalist performer, recording artist, composer, producer and recording engineer. He is a past director of The Nelson School of Music who has encouraged the development of community programmes, with particular emphasis on children’s education. He has performed to over 150,000 students in schools over the last 20 years and has received critical acclaim for the quality of his educational programmes as well as his ability to engage children in an inspiring way.

It’s the heart and that’s so important in the music. There’s a tendency for people to think that they have to be the best technicians and the best at learning all the tunes, but actually it’s to do with who you are and not what you play. – Bob Bickerton.

We are very grateful to Bob for taking the time to record this inspiring and informative interview and do hope you enjoy it…

Read more: Bob Bickerton Interview.

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