Brian Finnegan

Brian Finnegan Irish whistle/flute player • composer • collaborator • Flook frontman YAMA (山, mountain) is the new album, due for official release on November 6th 2026 ; 7 newly composed instrumentals drawing inspiration from the land of Japan and more than 2 decades of touring there. 'Over the years my connection to Japan has been a wondrous affair, friendships forged, a deepening understanding of the culture and the language, and In 2025 i visited Kamikōchi. Kamikōchi, (The Place Where the Gods Descended) is a sacred borderland in the Hida mountains bridging the human world and the divine realm of the Kami, powerful Shinto spirits. There are many beautiful words in the Japanese language that have no equivalent in any other language but perhaps my favourite of all and the philosophy that shaped the creating of YAMA is Ma (間) Ma is the interval between space and time that emphasises everything, the quiet in-between, the pause, even in the silence between notes that shapes a tune. This is for me the grace of music, it's not simply the note, it's the glide and the float, the in-between. 'A musician of global importance' BBC Radio Ulster