Kaynak Pipers Band

The hypnotic melodies, complex time signatures and raw physicality of Kaynak Pipers Band’s kaba gaida music will forever change the way you think of the bagpipe and bagpipe music. Kaba gaida, the Rhodope Mountains bagpipe, is a distinctive symbol of folk music in Bulgaria, having retained its original form, sound and purpose. The band’s appearance at MIT is part of their first US tour, an effort to make kaba gaida accessible to more people globally, while exposing the Boston community to the progressive musical qualities of this traditional form, which creates an avant-garde compositional experience of their folk roots. 

The Kaynak Pipers Band’s visit to the Institute is part of MIT Sounding, an innovative annual performance series that blurs the boundaries between contemporary and world music. Curated by Evan Ziporyn, Faculty Director of the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology, the 2016-17 season of MIT Sounding integrates the avant-garde sounds of ancient instruments and traditional practices with cutting-edge composition and technology to present various visions of a new, evolving music that defies genre. 

The Kaynak Pipers Band is funded in part by the Sofia Municipality’s Programme Culture in 2016.

The 2016-17 MIT Sounding Performance Series is presented by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) and MIT Music and Theater Arts.

Past Events

Kaynak Pipers Band Concert
September 28, 2016 / 8:00pm
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

Student Workshop
“World Music”
September 28, 2016 / 5:30-6:30pm
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

Evan Ziporyn, Kenan Sahin Professor of Music at MIT and Faculty Director of the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST)

MIT Music and Theater Arts

Kaynak Pipers Band continues in the centuries-old traditions of gaida performance, accompanying weddings and other village celebrations, playing rhythms that astounded Bartok and infectious melodies that distill myriad central Asian and middle eastern influences into Bulgaria’s own unique culture.

Kaynak means “source” and is used to describe a state of the player when the music that he plays comes straight from his soul. The Kaynak Pipers Band, founded in 2013, is comprised of three gaida players, a drummer and a vocalist. The band promotes and popularizes the kaba gaida music through concerts and workshops. In particular, they have worked extensively in musical therapy workshops and performances for children. Indeed, the music of this region is known for its deeply therapeutic character, aspects of which can lead to musical catharsis. The band also actively trains the next generation of kaba gaida performers.

More at the artist’s website: Kaynak Pipers Band.

International Bagpipe Organization: Success For Kaynak Band

Koncerti BG: An Educational Interview With “Kaynak” Band About the Magical Rhodope Kaba Gaida

Budilnik: Bulgarian Bagpipe Band Kaynak Performing In Edinburgh