Cruzfields
A Cruz_Blog about Cross-fields
#Art | #Music | #Design | #Bagpipes | #Research
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“Cross-field art-icles a-cross Arts”
ALL my articles may be read here, on both my research, projects, and art-making.
I will also post links to news or content shared elsewhere that I find relevant.
Workshops 2023-2024 soon!
Please come back soon! We will have more news.
My Guest lecture at MDW
I recently had the privilege of shedding light on the rich, yet often overlooked, history of bagpipes in the Baltic Sea region. This journey took place in the heart of Vienna, at an event event organised by the Institute for Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology in...
2nd Edition of the Bagpipe Network Meeting
We have successfully organised the 2nd Edition of the Bagpipe Network Meeting, at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Thank you for the wonderful support of my research Supervisor Kristiina Ilmonen (prof. Folk Music) and to MuTri Doctoral school Head, Saijaleena Rantanen....
Tartu museum – 2nd Field trip
Delving Deeper: Precision and Progress at the Estonian National Museum I'm thrilled to bring you along on my latest journey back to Estonia, a trip that once again immersed me in the country's rich musical heritage. This time, our compass pointed us towards the...
Our folk music album gets National Media support
I'm very happy to announce that our farewell album ARRE has been supported by the Portuguese National Radio, with the award of "Um disco Antena 1" It is the recognition of our career (since 2006) as one of the most influential bands of Portuguese contemporary folk...
50 years Estonian bagpipe revival
Yes! I’ll be speaking about my Baltic bagpipe research at the “Tauli torupill 50”, in Estonia, Riidaja Torupillitalu, on the 16th of October next! Estonian pipers are celebrating the anniversary of the Taul’s bagpipe – 50 years since the revival of the Estonian...
A Research Affinity Project, for SibA – UNIARTS
I am extremely excited about working on this new project for the Sibelius Academy - UNIARTS. The idea of a visual map for our University has been on my mind since 2020. Me and prof. Jan Schacher will be presenting this project to our colleagues next 13th of October,...
My farewell concert | 21 years of arrefole
...and there it goes... as a brief breeze: twenty years of a music collective I founded back in 2001 are now officially over. Arrefole, this unexpected group of musicians have been the catalyst for my improvement as a performer and composer. They have made me a better...
My latest Album, by “arrefole”
...And it's DONE! My latest album - ARRE - is finished! It will be out on all major streaming services by the 16th of October. It is also, available as a CD album, that I have designed myself. Arre is a co-composed project, by the collective "arrefole", that...
More printers! More woodwind prototypes
I am extremely happy to give you the news! Our workshop counts now with a second Prusa 3D Printer machine. This time it is a filament machine, that allows us to print prototype pieces with more mechanical...
Krishna Nagaraja Doctoral Defence ends with Bagpipe & Jouhikko Music
My good friend and doctoral colleague Krishna Nagaraja, has just finished an incredible research! The defence of his doctoral project - Polska Travels: Composing (at) the Crossroads - has happened today. In the folk music department, there is a tradition to...
Swedish Museum of Performing Arts
Besides assisting me in the survey of Swedish Sãckpipas, Zexuan had quite a few interesting french bagpipes waiting for him in this collection. These items could help him shed light on his own doctoral research on the border pipes of England and Scotland. The...
Dalarna’s museum, in Falun, Sweden
From Stockholm Airport, I and Zexuan made our way by car directly to the Dalarna region. It is the renowned bagpipe region of Sweden. The Dalarna museum is in the town of Falun. Simon Langwagen welcomed us...
Folkmusikens hus in Rättvi, Sweden
From the Dalarna museum, we followed John Goodacre by car to the Folk music House “Folkmusikens hus” in the town of Rättvi. John, believe it or not, is also a piper, and the nephew of the English bagpipe maker Julian Goodacre. He has permanently relocated to Sweden,...
Conference: “Artistic research: various fields, approaches, experiences
It was an incredible experience to share my research at the Conference: "Artistic research: various fields, approaches, experiences" It was organised by the Latvian Academy of Music, in the beautiful city of Riga. The conference had a myriad of subject themes, hosting...
Open Air Museum of Riga
Following the survey we did of the 14 bagpipes at the National History Museum in Riga, we visited the open Museum of the same city, to analyse two more instruments. It was worth the visit, as one of the bagpipes had the cow horn seemingly intact. It was an interesting...
National Latvian Museum in Riga
My research on the bagpipes of the baltic would not be completed without a thorough understanding of the Duda phenomenon in Latvia. With Zexuan Qiao (PhD.c) and Krishna Nagaraja (PhD.c) as research assistants, I had the opportunity to analyze, document and measure in...
I’m a bagpipe teacher at SibA!
It is wonderful news that I have been asked to teach bagpipes at the Sibelius Academy. The reason to embark on the laborious process of doctoral research is, in my view, to give back to civil society. My research on the bagpipes, only makes sense, if embraced by the...
Sonic Art Research Centre
I have just been introduced to the SARC - Sonic Arts Research Center - The Queen's University of Belfast. Zexuan Qiao has been kind to share his knowledge of 3D printing. Coming to his Doctoral research home, after...
6th International Bagpipes Conference
The bagpipe society has been organising these conferences for the past 6 years. It was, however, my first opportunity to attend. Many of the people I have met here I knew of - Some over the...
Bagpipe Museum, in Morpeth, UK
In the small, charming town of Morpeth, Northumberland, UK, there is the most wonderful bagpipe museum. I was extremely fortunate to be assisting Zexuan Qiao in his research on Border Pipes....
St. Cecilia’s Hall Music Museum, Edinburgh
My first time in Scotland could not have been more special. I was shown around town by two people that knew it well - Simon Waters (PhD.) and Zexuan Qiao (PhD.c) Sonic Arts Research Center - The Queen's University of Belfast. Edinburgh is a very very special city....
3D Printing our way to success
We are 3D Printing our way to success. We are moving! The PRUSA equipment is a breeze to work with. Such seamless operation, interface, and software made it possible for us to print our first Flute Prototypes in record time....
National Museum of Finland
Today I visited the Helsinki museum, where 6 bagpipes are stored. It was a preliminary visit where I inspected and photographed all the instruments. I more detailed visit must follow where I will manipulate, and...
Joseph PRUSA and 3D printing in Our Woodwind Research Lab.
By investigating alternative methods of prototyping, our Lab. has been convinced by one of our international members Zexuan Qiao (Interaction Designer and Music PhD.c), of the enormous advantages of “addictive” technology. As you might know, most musical instruments,...
Alfred Kordelin Foundation supports Finnish Flutes
It’s is my pleasure to announce that our working team, at the Folk Flute Academy Finland, has been awarded a grant by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation. This time around it was Mimmi Laaksonen that successfully led our team, in securing the full support of this important...
Quarenta Podcast with Pia Siirala
Quarenta Podcast. 40 minutes chat around Music & Finland. Pia Siirala studied at the Sibelius Academy, the Budapest Liszt Academy and at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She is concertmaster of Ensemble XXI, founded by conductor Lygia O’Riordan, with...
The Finnish Folk Flutes have now an Academy
I’m very glad to announce that I have been invited to take part in the project “Folk Flute Academy Finland”. It’s a small team led by the wonderful musicians and pedagogues Kirsi Ojala, and Mimmi Laaksonen, in conjugation with a larger international team with...
Quarenta Podcast with Adriano Adewale
"The Quarenta Podcast" means for 40 minutes of chat around Music & Finland On this episode we talked to Adriano Adewale, a doctoral candidate researching on the performance of the Brazilian "Berimbau", at the Sibelius Academy - University of the Arts Helsinki. He...
#03 Piper Staccato – Michael Vereno
Another episode of “Piper Staccato – A short interview”, this time with Michael Vereno Piper staccato, a podcast produced by Gonçalo Cruz, is aimed as an international pro-bono project creating cultural bridges. On this episode, Michael Vereno, a piper from Austria,...
Opening of my “Woodwind Research Lab”
It is my absolute pleasure to inform that finally, my bagpipe making workshop is up and running!!! I must say it took too long to give you this news! I feel like I have been moving around my machines since April 2019. Moving all the way from Portugal was challenging,...
Kone Foundation Grantee 2021
I am happy to announce that after being awarded by the Sibelius Academy foundation, with a "Research expenses" grant, and by the Sibelius Academy with a research position for the next 3 years, I have now been selected as one of the 2021 Kone foundation PhD grantees....
Organizing by designing
It is my pleasure to announce that I have been invited by my Sibelius Academy colleagues to collaborate in the organizing of SibA Research Days 2021. After participating as a speaker at the 2020 edition, it is now my duty to help make sure that other colleagues and...
Quarenta Podcast with Javier Sanchez
Javier Sanchez, is a talented young Bass player living at Helsinki - Finland. He’s a graduate from the Complutense University of Madrid, the Berkley college of music, and more recently the Sibelius Academy - University of Arts Helsinki In this interview, he tells us...
RAM+SibA Study Days: A Deep Dive into Artistic Research
I'm thrilled to share my recent experience at the joint doctoral Study Days between the Royal Academy of Music, London (RAM) and Sibelius Academy (SibA). This event, hosted by our academy, was a unique opportunity to share and learn about artistic and practice-led...
Torupill | Bagpipes in the Estonian Museums
Estonia appears today as the richest bagpipe territory, to be bathed by the baltic sea. Although the Torupill (Estonian bagpipe) has suffered an extinction process at the beginning of the 20th century, the efforts of musicians, from the 70s onwards, on recovering this...
Bagpipe festival in Estonia | Torupilli Festival
I have been invited to visit Estonia and attend the Torupilli Festival at Viljandi, on the past 23th September. The event is held in March but the organizers were forced to reschedule to September, due to Covid-19 restrictions. It is an familiar event, where one can...
Quarenta Podcast with Ilkka Heinonen
Ilkka Heinonen, is a Finnish musician best known for his groundbreaking work on performing the Jouhikko, an almost forgotten version of the bowed lyre. He’s a Master graduate of Folk music from the Sibelius Academy - University of the Arts Helsinki, with an extensive...
Wood for Säkkipilli prototypes
We have visited the “Hakalan Puutukku oy” - a family-owned wood trading company in Finland. The company roots go back to 1947 when the Hakala brothers started the timber trade. From the beginning, the business focused on the supply of sawn timber and wood veneers....
Resercher | Sibelius Academy Post
It is my pleasure to announce that I have been granted with a “Researcher’s Post”, at the MuTri Doctoral School | Sibelius academy | University of the Arts Helsinki, for the duration of my doctoral program. After only half a year of having started my doctoral studies,...
#02 Piper Staccato – Marieke Van Ransbeeck
The second episode of "Piper Staccato - A short interview", this time with Marieke Van Ransbeeck Piper staccato, a podcast produced by Gonçalo Cruz, is aimed as an international pro-bono project creating cultural bridges. On this episode, this talented piper from...
The 2020 FIL – Festival Interceltic Lorient, not canceled!
The 2020 FIL - Festival Interceltic Lorient, appears not to have been cancelled... At least so far. Every year a different world culture is celebrated. This year’s edition, the 50th, is under the theme "Bretagne” (Brittany) and will take place from the 7th-16th of...
SibA Researcher Days 2020 – Gonçalo Cruz
As previously announced, I presented my doctoral research “Forgotten Bagpipes – The Re-design of the Säkkipilli in Finland” at the Musiikkitalo (Helsinki Music Center) on Tuesday 10th March. Here is the video of my presentation, shared and promoted by the University...
#01 Piper Staccato – Callum Armstrong
The first episode of "Piper Staccato - A short interview this time with of Callum Armstrong Piper staccato, a podcast produced by Gonçalo Cruz, is aimed as an international pro-bono project creating cultural bridges. On this episode, Callum Armstrong, a piper from...
SibA Research Days 2020
I'm very glad to announce that I'll be presenting my doctoral research "Forgotten Bagpipes - The Re-design of the Säkkipilli in Finland" tomorrow Tuesday 10th Mar, at the Sibelius Academy. It is a larger two day event called SibA Research Days 2020: "The aim is to...
Become a bagpipe student in 2021
Bagpipe Lessons for Intermediate Students Helsinki 2021 Lessons for intermediate and advanced students will open in January 2021. It is important that you start your beginner's classes as soon as possible on bagpipe - on-going currently - so that you can choose next...
Bagpipe Lessons for beginners. Now!
Bagpipe Lessons for beginners 2020 Helsinki Our bagpipe lessons for beginners cover a universal approach to the world of bagpipes. Because some of the bagpipe types are extremely challenging technically and maybe physically straining on the student, only the...
01 Bagpipe Network Meetings Latvian Dūdas
We are happy to announce the Finnd’it Initiative’s 1st ever Network meeting. The theme of this edition is The Latvian Dūdas. Our friends (unfortunately this time, only a few representatives) visit Helsinki on the 30th NOV 2019. Please make sure to inform us by email...
A Finnish Piper living at the National Theater
Patrik Weckman, a recent member of our growing Finnish piper’s network, has brought to our attention an interesting artwork by the painter Juho Rissanen (1873-1950). In picture 1 – “Kolme soittajaa” (Three players) – the 1928...
The Alvar Aalto of Flutes – Pentti Mäkelä (1923–1989)
I was invited by my doctoral supervisor, Kristiina Ilmonen to attend the “Pillipäivät” Being a recent resident of Finland, and not yet knowing the language I wasn’t really aware of what to expect. For me, it was an opportunity to meet likeminded people, and to...
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Gonçalo also posts here articles he co-authored and that might have originated inside other projects, like Finnd’it and GaitaMaker.
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