Martyn Bennet
| Martyn Bennett | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 February 1971 St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Died | 30 January 2005 (aged 33) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Genres | Celtic fusion |
| Instruments | Great Highland Bagpipes, Scottish smallpipes, violin, piano |
| Years active | 1995–2005 |
| Labels | Real World Records, Footstompin', Rykodisc |
| Website | www |
Martyn Bennett (17 February 1971 – 30 January 2005) was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and producer. He was an innovator and his compositions crossed musical and cultural divides. Sporting dreadlocks at the height of his performing career, his energetic displays led to descriptions such as "the techno piper". Diagnosis of serious illness at the age of thirty curtailed his live performances, although he completed a further two albums in the studio. He died fifteen months after release of his fifth album Grit.
He was born Martyn Bennett-Knight in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. His father Alan Knight was a Welsh geologist and musician. His mother was Margaret Bennett, singer and folklorist who was born on Skye. His grandfather, George Bennett, was also an enthusiastic piper. For his first five years, he lived in the Codroy Valley, where Gaelic and traditional music were part of the culture. He was five years old when the family moved to Quebec. His parents separated when he was six and his mother moved back to Scotland, taking him with her. They stayed briefly on Mull, before moving to Kingussie, where he had his first lessons on playing the Great Highland bagpipe from David Taylor, also his history teacher. By the age of twelve, he was winning junior piping competitions.
At the age of fifteen he moved to Edinburgh with his mother. He won a place at the City of Edinburgh Music School, the first traditional musician to do so. During the three years that he studied there he also learned piano and violin. In 1990 he began at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow, studying violin and piano. where he met Kirsten Thomson, a piano student in the year above who joined him as a band-member, later becoming his wife. During the final year of his studies he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, although he recovered from this illness after six months of treatment, graduating in 1993.
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