Tom Kannmacher

Tom Kannmacher (* 1949 ) is a German folk musician and songwriter .

Kannmacher, who initially played the recorder and violin, has been active as a folk musician since 1965; He completed his studies as a general music educator at the Musikhochschule Rheinland, Dept. Wuppertal , majoring in guitar with Dieter Kreidler . In 1972 he founded the German Folk Movement with Jürgen Schöntges and other musicians, and over the next few years, together with Schöntges, he put on the duo albums Who wants to live now and when all the wells flow . In the early 1970s, he looked in archives for traditional German-language songs that he sang for the banjo , hurdy-gurdy and Scheitholt , as well as texts by Oswald von Wolkenstein , to whom he dedicated a record with Wilfried Jochims and Michael Schäfer. He also sang his own songs that commented on current affairs. He also accompanied Hein & Oss and Heinz Rudolf Kunze . Since 1976 he has been involved with the uilleann pipes and plays Irish folk music . With his Ensemble Reel Bach Consort he arranges pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach in folk style. He wrote the only German-language school work for Uilleann Pipes and developed some improvements for this instrument. With his CD Music of the Gentlemen Pipers he recorded music for Uilleann Pipes (Union Pipes, Pastoral Pipes) from the period between 1750 and 1850 for the first time.

Kannmacher taught guitar, traditional Irish instruments and folk ensembles at the Bonn Music School from 1980 to 2011; influential musicians from Bonn's music scene for Irish music emerged from his class. His group Young Folks z. B. was a prizewinner at the Folk World Music Competition NRW , which the State Music Council of North Rhine-Westphalia organized with the music schools. Today he teaches for the German Uilleann Pipes Society (DUPG), the George Carruther's Irish Music School and the Study House for Celtic Languages ​​and Cultures (SKSK).

Web links

• Web presence with discography
• Music of the Gentleman Pipers