In english

English speaker’s corner

First of all, I am sorry there’s so little English on this site.

Due to my early frequentation of Irish pubs and to the fact that my wife Siobhán Gately is Irish, I am bilingual, so most of the shows, workshops etc… can be performed in English.

We did think about making this site bilingual too, but that would have meant double work for Vincent Renaud, my web engineer, so I resolved to write this notice instead.

If you would like translations of any parts of this site, please to not hesitate getting in contact by email

You can find a CV in English in the "bio" section of this site.

Now, if you want an insight into my somewhat erratic whereabouts, go to Memento.

After studying Chinese, Vietnamese and Ethnology in Parisian Universities, the Scottish bagpipes with a Breton band and Irish music on the banjo in Ireland, I started playing Irish music professionally.

Then I began adding more and more theatre to my performances, firstly playing with Zingaro then with the SAMU (Section Artistico Musicale d’Urgence), where I interpreted Mr Armand (73 years of age), the first character I created in a street theatre show, then on stage.

Then I met with Compagnie Artus, an association of people all involved in cultural occupations and concerned with traditional arts issues.

Their various fields of competence allowed us to set up the shows forming the bulk of this site:

Gordon McArthur, piper + Gordon's sound system (still playing)
A funny “off the wall” Scottish character that allows me to give my own interpretation of Scottish clichés and musical forms, and to provide original street animation while playing the pipes for people who would certainly not go to a bagpipes concert.

Fred et Pierre-Claude, chanteurs sincères
A larger than life duo invented by Fred Tousch and myself.
“In red and green nylon pull overs, blue and pink brocade jackets, accompanied by only a guitar, this odd couple played very successfully over 450 venues and major festivals the width and breath of France and neighbouring countries singing their whacky songs - their 'eurovision' entry (unfortunately pipped at the post by cheating rivals !) “On s’aimera”, their wildly popular 'Butterfly, Butterfly' hit, their tear jerking 'Diana' and so many others.
Fred and Pierre-Claude toured for seven years developing a huge following who still demand them today.
All good things come to an end and Fred and Pierre-Claude have donated their wonderful pull-overs to a needy artists' charity” (N. McNamee).

60/60, duo musical franco-étranger
Along with my good friend Mokhtar El Mokhtari from Morocco, we delved into our musical experiences and differences to bring together a spiky yet humorous repertoire of music and songs dealing with racial tensions and the absurd obstacles that make daily life for the 'visible minorities' painful.

Gordon McArthur meets Franz Cardinovitch
Satie and Bartok on the bagpipes, reels accompanied by harmonies “à la Debussy”, the meeting with pianist François Cardinaud was an extremely rich, surprising and exciting experience which led to the creation of the show “Gordon meets Franz”.

Birdo Orkestar
It all started because three of us wanted to play Eastern European music in the street and have the public participate. With Ronan Le Gouriérec (baryton sax, formerly with Les Trompettes du Mozambique, member of l'Occidentale de Fanfare, Makida Palabre, etc ...) and Erwan Thobie (trombonist with the group Sergent Pépère) we created an UMT (Unidentified Musical Theatric) bringing the public on an interactive mystery birdy tour!
Pam & Randy, a parody of a Country & Western show with "pinky lips" Pam, howlin' Randy and Pat from El Paso - yeah

All these shows have the common aim of combining traditional and/or popular music with theatre.

In the meantime, I have become involved in teaching music to young children which has led to the ateliers musicaux (musical workshops) section.

Eveil musical pour jeunes enfants (dès 6 mois) From working in kindergartens and creches, I realized that playing music (with everyday utensils, small percussions, calabashes, bird calls, etc…) with children as young as 6 months of age was good for their coordination, their ability to concentrate and, of course, their musical development. It’s also a lot of fun.

I teach three age groups: from 6 months to 2, 2 to 4 and 4 to 6.

Musiques traditionnelles d’Irlande et d’Ecosse, a workshop based on learning traditional music from Scotland and Ireland by ear for all kinds of musicians with a reasonable command of their instrument (about 4 years practice).

Atelier de cornemuse écossaise or “Why not try a relaxed approach to Scottish bagpipes”.

Banza banjo started a few weeks before taking the French National traditional music teacher exam, when I realised that I didn’t know very much about the history of the banjo, my main instrument.
Having been successful at the exam, I started researching on internet, reading books, interviewing all sorts of people acquiring knowledge about its African origins, the transformations it underwent in the US to accommodate 150 years of popular American music.
This research led me to create:
- Spectacle pour enfants, a 55 minutes show for children over 5 years old.
- Exposition, an exhibition of 14 illustrated panels and at least 12 instruments.

- Stage de fabrication de luths africains, a workshop for children over 10 years of age and/or adults building African lutes with calabash bowls, bamboo and goat hide, then playing African, Afro-American and American tunes on our new instruments in order to demonstrate the continuity in instrument making and playing techniques between these lutes and the American banjo.

Griniu is a fun mixture of Irish music hall and French swing jazz music and songs. Saxophones, ukulele, steel guitar and booming double bass, Griniu is a foot tapping thigh slapping great fun show ! (so an enthusiastic supporter wrote…)

Actualités means news, with description of new projects, dates of concerts, etc.

Liens means Links