Composer, studio player, theater musician, teacher, multi-instrumentalist and 2006 Bush Artist Fellow Dick Hensold has always marched to the beat of a different piper: When the self-proclaimed “music geek” was a teenager, he’d diligently study a stack of 17th and 18th century Baroque sheet music after high school jazz band practice (he played saxophone) just for fun.


After he graduated, Hensold moved on to the highly lauded Oberlin Conservatory, where his eccentric musical interests expanded further after someone gave him a set of bagpipes. He realized he was able to produce drones on the pipes similar to those achieved in a couple Bach pieces he dug that were written specifically for the organ.


“When I got the bagpipes I noticed some features that I wanted to experiment with, compositionally,” he says. “But I wanted a bagpipe that was musically flexible and had good range, good chromatic capabilities and the right volume that could blend well with acoustic instruments. I knew I needed to find a bagpipe that would work with chamber music.”


Hensold proceeded to read everything he could about all the different types of bagpipes – spanning from European origin to the Middle East – and eventually, came across Northumbrian smallpipes, bellows-blown bagpipes from northeastern most England. He found that the smallpipes were perfect for writing and arranging ensemble music while combining melody, harmony and counterpoint with the bagpipe drones that initially attracted him.


You’d think that Hensold would be lonely with his obsession in a Kanye West-dominated world, but that isn’t the case: He recently taught well-attended workshops on the Northumbrian smallpipe in West Virginia and Maryland.


The unorthodox fascination has even spread to the West Coast – Hensold will perform Friday at The Works and meet with members of the Bay Area Northumbrian smallpipe community.


“There’s a group that’s been growing rapidly,” he says. Expect his intimate show to perpetuate the trend. 


DICK HENSOLD performs 7:30pm, Friday, Jan. 20, at The Works, 667 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. $10. 372-2242.