Rennie Pearson: Traditional Celtic Music

Tunes, Songs and Stories from Ireland, Scotland and Maritime Canada.

Grounded in the Celtic musical traditions, Rennie Pearson takes the listener on a journey through many cultures, weaving both old and new melodies together to create an intricate and varied show. His engaging stage presence and storytelling opens the door for the audience to connect with the music which he plays on the Wooden flute, Irish tin whistles, guitar, voice and bodhran.

Rennie grew up playing in sessions in Wellington. He fell in love with the music of the wooden flute at an early age and quickly became immersed in the tradition, with Irish music being the cornerstone from which he explored many styles of traditional music and many different instruments.

Rennie has performed and taught throughout New Zealand and internationally, most notably with the Celtic music duo ‘Polytropos’ made up of himself and Oscar West. He studied with wooden flute virtuoso Chris Norman on the east coast of Canada at the age of 19, as a live-in apprentice. He has since made a name for himself in the Irish music scene of New Zealand and Australia, performing with many great traditional musicians such as John Carty, Catherine MacEvoy, James Kelly and more.