GIAMPIERO BELTRANDO

Flutes, oboes, bagpipes

He is a musician in the first place, then luthier, teacher and collector, here is someone you should know. He will teach you about the Occitan culture from Italian Piedmont and the South of France.

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As a native member of the mountain community of the Stura Valley, near Cuneo in Piedmont, Giampiero Beltrando has walked a path in the Occitan world since his childhood. Since the age of 9, he has started to play the recorder flute at school to move forward to the three-hole pipe two years later. He enjoyed this practice so much that he has devoted his musical interest to self-teach himself how to play popular tradition wind instruments such as Irish flutes, oboes and bagpipes from the Occitan region.

He co-founded the group Lou Seriol which, at the beginning, used to play in an exclusive acoustic lineup according the pure Occitan tradition. Over time, the group turned to a more experimental form and their repertoire was revisited by inserting modern instruments that gave a more current imprint. Giampiero’s style was contaminated by music from elsewhere: Basque and Catalan first; then, while traveling through the European scenes (Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria) for more than twenty years, he eventually mixed up traditional music with rock, ska, reggae and even electronic music. He played with famous bands such as Sustraia, Massilia Sound System, Nux Vomica, Nadau, Trencavel, L'Escabot, Silverio Pessoa, Moussu T and lei Jovents, La Talvera, Fabolous Trobadors, Sam Karpienia or Lou Dalfin (who already have been at Feufliâzhe).

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Over the years, his interest leaned very strongly towards the violin making and he started to attend trainings and workshops with the most recognized luthiers like Bruno Salenson, Jeff Beard, Robert Matta, Pierre Rouch and Bernard Blanc. He is more and more dedicated to the maintenance and personalization of traditional instruments such as recorders and flutes, traditional oboes, center bagpipes, Landes and Catalan bagpipes, and to seek modern technical solutions to improve musical instruments such as the installation of watertight valves and the manufacture of "easy" reeds.

Giampiero also rents instruments to amateurs, beginners and students. For twenty years, he devoted himself to the art of teaching how to play wind instruments, his specialty, in the region of Cuneo, Turin and Milan.

Moreover he is an expert collector and he curates exhibits of ancient instruments in festivals or medieval journals to help spread traditional culture by giving didactic concerts.

Contacts:

Website : http://www.bkbagpipes.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/giampiero.beltrando