Alan Stivell

Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. He spent his childhood in Paris, absorbing the music of the city's many different populations from across France, Algeria, Morocc

Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. He spent his childhood in Paris, absorbing the music of the city's many different populations from across France, Algeria, Morocco and elsewhere. He became interested in Breton music and culture, however, and returned to Brittany as a teenager. His stage name, Stivell, means "fountain" or "spring" in Breton. This name refers both to the Breton renewal and to his name "Cochevelou", evolution of kozh stivelloù, the old fountains.

In 1953, Stivell's father, Georges Cochevelou, made a Celtic harp in the ancient Breton style, and Alan began playing the instrument immediately. He also learned the Breton language, which was then moribund, and traditional Breton dance, as well as the bagpipe and the bombarde, a kind of Breton oboe. He competed in and won several Breton folk festivals.