John Kenny: Mouthpiece of the Gods
King Street Halls, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1JF
Tuesday 24th November 2026 7:30PM
Meet the mighty Carnyx!
Join John Kenny, internationally renowned trombonist, for a unique musical event - partly recital, partly detective story - exploring an extraordinary array of blown instruments from pre-history to the present day
John Kenny will put the Carnyx in context by showing how it is related to a great family of instruments world-wide - from the dawn of time to the present day - by performing music on instruments from many periods and cultures: trombone, sackbut, Polynesian conch, Mayan pod trumpets, alphorn, didgeridoo, and magnificent Irish Bronze and Iron Age horns. As the story unfolds, he will show us the great Tintignac Carnyx of ancient Gaul and the Litus made by the Etruscans, lost after ethnic cleansing by Rome and now reconstructed in collaboration with the European Early Music Project.
Many composers have dedicated works for solo trombone to John Kenny, and in addition to performing on this dazzling array of instruments, both exotic and ancient, he will perform both his own compositions and contemporary classics.
John Kenny has performed and broadcast internationally as an interpreter of contemporary, improvised and early music. Since 1983 he has been musical director of the TNT Theatre Company, currently based in Munich, composing and performing in productions which have toured worldwide for 35 years. John Kenny is also a founder member of the European Music Archaeology Project. He is professor of trombone at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and of sackbut at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and regularly gives masterclasses and lectures at conservatoires and universities throughout Europe, the USA and Asia. In 2017 he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the international Trombone Association in Los Angeles – one of only two British musicians ever to receive this accolade.
Join John Kenny, internationally renowned trombonist, for a unique musical event - partly recital, partly detective story - exploring an extraordinary array of blown instruments from pre-history to the present day
John Kenny will put the Carnyx in context by showing how it is related to a great family of instruments world-wide - from the dawn of time to the present day - by performing music on instruments from many periods and cultures: trombone, sackbut, Polynesian conch, Mayan pod trumpets, alphorn, didgeridoo, and magnificent Irish Bronze and Iron Age horns. As the story unfolds, he will show us the great Tintignac Carnyx of ancient Gaul and the Litus made by the Etruscans, lost after ethnic cleansing by Rome and now reconstructed in collaboration with the European Early Music Project.
Many composers have dedicated works for solo trombone to John Kenny, and in addition to performing on this dazzling array of instruments, both exotic and ancient, he will perform both his own compositions and contemporary classics.
John Kenny has performed and broadcast internationally as an interpreter of contemporary, improvised and early music. Since 1983 he has been musical director of the TNT Theatre Company, currently based in Munich, composing and performing in productions which have toured worldwide for 35 years. John Kenny is also a founder member of the European Music Archaeology Project. He is professor of trombone at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and of sackbut at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and regularly gives masterclasses and lectures at conservatoires and universities throughout Europe, the USA and Asia. In 2017 he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the international Trombone Association in Los Angeles – one of only two British musicians ever to receive this accolade.
Event Details
Starts at 7:30PM
