My Research Colleagues

ADRIAN DUNCAN

Adrian was born in Australia in 1947 into a family whose Scots roots go back centuries (and he proudly wears the family kilt to prove it!!). His parents moved back to Britain when he was 7 years old and he grew up and was educated in Northern England and Wales.  Adrian moved to Canada in 1966 and has lived there ever since, currently residing in Coquitlam near Vancouver, British Columbia.  

Following the move the Canada, Adrian obtained Batchelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.  For most of the past 30 years he has worked for Environment Canada in the environmental assessment field.  But he has also taken advantage of every opportunity to pursue his “other” avocation – music!!  This has required several “time-outs” from his environmental activities.  

Adrian’s parents were both musicians of considerable talent – his father was a flautist and his mother a pianist.  So the house was always full of music!  As a result, Adrian acquired his love of music very early on.  He has played music in all styles for over 40 years now, but has specialised in classical guitar and Celtic music on a variety of instruments (guitar, flute, recorder, mandolin, banjo, hurdy-gurdy, pennywhistle, etc.).

Highlights of Adrian’s Celtic experiences include stints in the touring Celtic groups “Rum Ken” and “The Sons of Erin” (who were based in St. John’s, Newfoundland) as well as appearances with the likes of Ryan’s Fancy, Christy Moore, Tommy Makem and Lonnie Donegan.  Adrian has also recorded with Tommy Makem and The Irish Rovers.  More recently, he also recorded and performed for a time with the well-know Vancouver children’s entertainer Rick Scott.

With his Japanese-based Welsh-born friend C. W. “Nic” Nicol,  Adrian has recorded 3 Celtic-style CD’s for release in Japan on the Toshiba/EMI label, a fourth Japanese CD being planned for 2003.  Adrian has toured Japan with Nic on 6 separate occasions, appearing each time on NHK national television broadcasts. The most recent tour took place in July 2000 and included a concert at the far-famed Budokan, the shrine of popular music in Japan.  Adrian has also performed (both in Canada and Japan) and recorded with the prominent Japanese folk-singer Okabayashi Nobuyasu.

Over the past few years he has made numerous appearances in Vancouver with his Celtic band “Skystone” at local Celtic establishments including Culpepper’s on Broadway and the Atlantic Trap & Gill.  Adrian enjoys nothing more than the challenge of turning an ordinary gig into a celebration, and places special emphasis on his role as the “front man” in keeping the energy and entertainment levels of a “Skystone” performance at consistently high levels. 

Together with his friend Chris Gordon, Adrian has established a small (but state-of-the-art) recording studio, Wedgewood Sound.  This has opened numerous opportunities for recording work for Adrian and his friends and colleagues. Most recently, Adrian was involved in a partnership songwriting/recording project of avante-garde Celtic-influenced music between himself and his Japanese friend Yuki Ryoichi, a rising young singer in Japan with three albums out already on Polydor. At present,  work is well advanced on  the first “Skystone” CD of all-original material. 

Adrian’s interest in flute history was initially sparked by his father transferring custody of his small but interesting collection of historic flutes to Adrian’s care.  Adrian felt that if he was to be the curator of the family flute collection, he’d better learn something about the instruments (as well as learn to play them reasonably well!).  He has since added to the collection, particularly in connection with his co-operative studies of mid-19^th Century  flute designs and designers with Terry McGee.

Adrian's role in the projects so far includes securing examples of original instruments for restoration and analysis, and researching the historical aspects of the makers.

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