Ottavio Gusmini learned to play an array of musical instruments as a young man. However, it wasn’t until he had finished his formal studies that he would discover the instrument that would become his ‘one true love.’
“I grew up with a drum set and studied classical percussion,” Gusmini recollects via email with Celtic Life International from his home in Lombardy, Northern Italy. “In fact, I graduated in percussion at the Milan Conservatory in 2004. However, I started playing the bagpipes soon after graduation.”
The shift from percussion to pipes, he admits, is a long story.
“Playing around Europe as a percussionist with many musical ensembles, I often came into contact with pipe bands from the U.K. or other European countries. Their world, sound, and way of playing always fascinated me, and, in 2003, I started attending a Celtic music festival near my hometown.”
Over the years, Gusmini witnessed performances from the likes of the Tannahill Weavers, Breabach, Finlay MacDonald, Fred Morrison, Capercaillie, Flook, and more. However, of all the sounds he heard at the festival, one stood out above the rest.
“Among the various musical instruments played, the one that touched my heart the most was the Great Highland Bagpipe. This instrument still touches my heart every time I play it, or when I hear someone playing it. In fact, I probably love the bagpipes more than I did 20 years ago. My wife says that the bagpipes are my lover, because I often spend more time with them than with her…”
Gusmini has since dedicated his musical career to the Great Highland Pipes. Even so, being a bagpiper in Italy comes with its share of hurdles.
“First of all, it is certainly a difficult musical instrument, and much more difficult than people think,” notes Gusmini, adding that part of the problem was a lack of local pipers to apprentice under. “In Italy, I didn’t always have proper teachers. I solved that issue by moving to Scotland in 2016 for two years.
“Another big problem I deal with almost daily is the fact that in Italy, the Scottish bagpipes are a little-known instrument. We pipers are often associated with the ‘zampognari’ and the zampogna players of central and southern Italy; but the Great Highland Bagpipe and the zampogna are instruments with completely different histories and traditions.
“One of the most difficult tasks for a ‘Scottish’ piper in Italy is to teach people this difference, and to have the Scottish bagpipes appreciated for what they are, with their own history and repertoire.”
Despite the infrequent demand for pipers in Italy, Gusmini has managed to enjoy a fulfilling career, often playing for American and U.K. tourists around Lakes Como and Maggiore. He has also performed on stage with the likes of The Red Hot Chili Pipers and The Chieftains, and has released a solo album called ‘Masked Times.’
However, his most important role is as a teacher, encouraging future generations to grow the bagpipe tradition in a country where there is little.
“From my perspective, people here have only recently become interested in piping. What we don’t see is any kind of interest from the very young. Among my pupils I have people aged 20 to 60, but I have never seen a child, nor have I have never seen any children with other piping teachers. Sometimes we see the sporadic teenager, but children – never. It’s too bad, really, because they are the ones who could take Italian piping to the next level.”
Still, every new pupil he helps to see the beauty of the Great Highland Pipes and the dulcet tones they produce brings him joy, and hope for the future.
“We should try to make the bagpipes better known in Italy, using any means possible, including presentations in schools. From my point of view as a teacher, one of the greatest rewards is seeing other people learning to do something that I love to do so much.”
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