Tutors for 2025

Hanna Wiskari 

Megan Blennerhassett Photography [c]

Hanna will be working on Scandinavian tunes that have an interaction with Celtic tunes. These workshops will be for any instrument.

Hanna Wiskari is a Swedish saxophonist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand. Firmly rooted in Scandinavian traditional music, she is driven by curiosity to branch out and find new ways to explore and express with the soprano saxophone as her main instrument, devising ways in which to use this non-traditional instrument in a folk music context. Over the past 20 years, Hanna has played in numerous bands and projects, touring extensively both nationally in her native Sweden and internationally. Passionate about sounds from around the world and human connections through the arts Hanna’s main source of inspiration is her strong belief in the power of music as a tool to support positive connections and changes, both within ourselves and with others.

For the last 15 years she has worked as an Artistic mentor for the worldwide movement Ethno, an intercultural project for young adult musicians from around the globe. When Hanna moved to Aotearoa New Zealand she decided to start Ethno here as well, becoming the co-founders and the musical director of Ethno New Zealand as well as Arts Connections Oceania.

Marika Chia

Marika will be teaching fiddle

Marika Chia comes from a large musical family and has been playing the violin since the
age of 4. Her career started with her family band, touring NZ, America and Europe between
the ages of 9-14. Since completing her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance she has
been performing full time in genres such as Folk, Gypsy, Classical, Pop and Jazz.
Over the last few years as a free-lance violinist she has worked with artists such as Ms
Lauryn Hill, members of SOL3 MIO, Albi & The Wolves, Jordan Luck, Written By Wolves and
more. She has toured NZ, Australia, Ireland and France getting to perform in stadiums and
festivals all around the world.

Adam Ogle

Adam is well known to Gaidhealtachd regulars and in hot demand for touring shows here and overseas, Adam is providing us with his skills on backing the new tunes we are learning and mentoring the guitarists,and closet banjo players who will be coming.

Anna Percy

Anna has been playing cello for as long as she can remember, but has enjoyed it a lot more since learning that cello is the traditional accompaniment instrument for Scottish tunes. She is a stalwart of the Auckland Scottish Fiddle Club and often plays for ceilidhs, events and ceremonies of all (Scottish) types. Accompaniment workshop – all instruments welcome.  This is a time to share ideas and develop skills in rhythm, harmony, chord choices and purposeful listening.  These are good skills for any musical situation and will be even more fun when we use them to come up with backing for our Viking tunes.

Dan Chia

Percussion tutor
Dan is well known and loved by the Gaidhealtachd community. An accomplished bagpiper and drummer.
He will be helping anyone keen on getting to grips with Celtic rhythm and technique.

Andrina Eyles

Wool has always been a part of my life, from jumpers, hats and scarves, blankets, duvet inners & pillows to sheepskin rugs. Recently I was gifted several fleeces to work with, and I had no idea what to do with them until I found the ancient art of peg looming, which hails back to before the Vikings. When sticks were used for the loom and twine for the warp to weave raw fleece, for blankest, mats, saddle rugs etc, this technique caught my interest. It seemed the perfect match! After completing many rugs that are now out in the world, I am delighted to be able to share what I have learnt by trial and error with those who are also interested or excited at the prospect of using fleece to insulate your home with wall hangings and rugs, provide luxury to sit on for you, and your pets.

Heather Steadman

I studied raranga (flax weaving) in 2001 at Wintec and various marae around the Waikato region, gaining a certificate in Te Aho Tapu/The Sacred Thread.
I have taught and exhibited in various locations in Auckland over the years.
I currently teach in Helensville at the Connection Hub and sell kete and baskets at The Shoppe – Artist and Crafters Collective, both based at the Helensville railway station.

Workshops for Celtic Summer School.
Workshops 1-2 will start with learning to harvest with the appropriate tikanga.
1) Make putiputi (flowers). The first is basic to get you used to the flax and then move onto one that will teach the basic rhythm of weaving.
2) Prepare the harakeke by stripping, sizing and hapene (softening). Make a square mat which is also a precursor to making your first kono (4 corner basket) if time permits.
3) Learn to make a table mat or small whariki (floor mat) using a technique that creates length.  
4) For kids – learn to hapene (soften) the harakeke and make a square table mat.

Anna Pendred

Anna is a local, living in rural Mangawhai, and has been singing in a variety of ensembles and choirs for quite some time. She has recently taken her skills a step further to lead singing groups over the last 8 or so years. She currently co-leads a group in Wellsford, and is making plans to start a new women’s ensemble in Mangawhai.

She firmly believes in the healing power of singing in community and says “Singing is something our soul deeply recognises – before anything else we learn to vocalise and express ourselves. Our souls naturally resonate together in song. It is also something we often have trauma around, we decide at some point we can’t sing, it has to look a certain way, have to have talent…etc. we develop fear and judgement around making ‘sound’ and sadly, we shut our expression down. I believe singing is our birthright, and can play an important part of healing those wounds. I love the connection that happens magically when a group of people come together to sing, the energy within each of us individually, and symbiotically as a group.

There are so many beautiful songs floating out on the ether, crafted by talented people in our world and I feel it is such a privilege to be able to ‘catch’ a few and share.” She teaches songs acapella, in a natural, call-and-response way, focussing on blending harmonies, and celebration of the voice.

Dani Pickering

‘S e Gàidheal a th’ annta! Dani is a Gàidhealtachd regular with a longstanding passion for the Celtic languages generally, and Scottish Gaelic in particular. Drawing from a background of university tutoring, study of endangered language revitalisation, and firsthand experience with the language teaching methods used by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, they have been running a monthly Gàidhealtachd-sponsored Celtic language support group on Zoom since 2021. This year’s pan-Celtic language programme has been years in the making, coming out of the lessons learned from the group:

1) A craft session for creating visual resources to internalise the “delightful dozen” phrases needed to get started with everyday use of your chosen language

2) A roleplay-focused session, modeling simple Celtic language use for a cafe situation

3) A workshop for co-writing a trilingual-but-accessible NZ Gàidhealtachd song

4) A workshop for building your own learning curriculum, with onboarding for the monthly Celtic languages support group

5) Practicing the song, tying up loose ends