The Workshops

During the week as well as the regular daily classes we have included two special workshops/lectures/presentations given by particular experts on subjects related to the bodhrán or to the wider area of irish traditional music and dance. These are held in the theatre of the community centre (the Áras) and are attended by the entire student body who have the opportunity to absorb the new information and also participate in a question and answer session.

The two presenters in 2017 are Andy Kruspe and Tomás Ó Sé.
These workshops are an integral part of the Craiceann experience and are included in the cost of the overall course fee.

In addition to his love of performance and being  a school band teacher, Andy is also passionate about the academic side of this uniquely Irish instrument. He co-presented a session on the bodhrán at the 2013 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), has taught many workshops and clinics at several universities and colleges, and has published a comprehensive method, The Bodhrán Primer. He finished his second book, Playing the Tune (a method of techniques for accompanying Irish traditional tunes), in summer of 2015 and his third book (First Steps) aimed at beginners in 2017. Andrew holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degree.Title of the workshop: What Fences? The Symbiotic Relationship Between School Band Percussion and the Bodhrán. This multi-media presentation will explore how teaching percussion ensembles, marching percussion sections, and concert percussion has informed his teaching of the bodhrán, and how learning the bodhrán has changed how he teaches school band percussion. 

Andy Kruspe

Tomás Ó Sé

Tomás ist one of the leading dancers in Ireland, having toured the world with Riverdance and Ceoltas Ceoltoiri Erin. He won several All Ireland titles…not only dancing, but also in Gaelic Football with the Kerry minor team! Tomás will talk about Modern developments in Irish Dance Rhythms.

Click here to sign up for Craiceann 2018