Erwan Keravec

Erwan Keravec is a highland bagpiper, improviser, and composer who has been redefining the role of the bagpipes in contemporary music. Instead of preserving their traditional idiom, he uses the instrument as a vehicle for sonic experimentation—engaging with free jazz, electroacoustic practices, and performance-based contexts. In his solo and ensemble work, the pipes become a medium for physical, unpredictable, and expressive sound.

He is the creator and initiator of projects such as Nu Piping, VOX, Sonneurs, and Blind, where the bagpipes appear far from their folkloric roots—in dialogue with choirs, microtonal systems, voice, dance, and noise. He has collaborated with artists including Éliane Radigue, Heiner Goebbels, Philippe Leroux, Mats Gustafsson, Otomo Yoshihide, Mounir Troudi, and Boris Charmatz. His compositions and improvisations explore the tension between the archaic nature of the instrument and radically contemporary form.