Early life and career beginnings (Goas-Stivell, 1987) Alan Stivell was born in
Riom on 6 January 1944. His father,
Georges Cochevelou, was a civil servant in the
French Ministry of Finance who achieved his dream of recreating a
Celtic or
Breton harp in the small town of
Gourin,
Brittany and his mother Fanny-Julienne Dobroushkess was of
Lithuanian-Jewish descent. In 1953, Alan began playing the instrument at the age of nine under the tutelage of his father and Denise Megevand, a concert harpist. Alan also learned Celtic mythology, art, and history, as well as the
Breton language, traditional Breton dance, and the Scottish
bagpipe and the
bombarde, a traditional Breton instrument, from the
oboe family. Alan began playing concerts at the age of eleven and studied traditional Breton, English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh folk music, also learning the drum, Irish flute, and tin whistle. Alan spent his childhood in
Paris, with its cosmopolitan influences. But he fell in love with
Breton music and
Celtic culture, in general, and often went back in his teens to Brittany. In 1970, Stivell released his first hits, the single "Broceliande" and the album
Reflets, both on the
Philips record label. He became closely associated with the burgeoning Breton
roots revival, especially after the release of the purely instrumental 1971 album
Renaissance of the Celtic Harp, which won one of the most famous awards in France, the prize of the
Académie Charles Cros. Stivell's records in the late 1990s contained more pronounced rock elements, and he performed at a rock festival called
Transmusicales in
Rennes. He continued working with a variety of musicians, inviting
Paddy Moloney (of
The Chieftains),
Jim Kerr (of
Simple Minds),
Khaled and
Youssou N'Dour to be in his very international
1 Douar /
1 Earth album. The same year, the DVD
Parcours was published by Fox-Pathé. In 2006, a new CD album called
Explore came out in France and other countries, distributed through
Harmonia Mundi. The album explored fusions of Celtic music with electro-rock, raga and hip-hop with a unique and personal vocal style and an original mix of lyrics in Breton, English and French. performing "Brian Boru" at the
Paris Olympia in 2012 In 2009, the title of his album
Emerald celebrated his
emerald anniversary with his fans (i.e. forty years together) and paid homage to the sea and the Celtic lands (color blue-green,
Glaz in Breton language). In 2013, a new CD album and DVD called
Olympia 40th Anniversary came out in France (
Universal) as a result of the concert performed at the
Olympia mythical music hall on 16 February 2012. On 2 October 2015, Stivell released a new CD album called
AMzer: Seasons through
WorldVillage in France (and other countries), his first one of the 2010s, coinciding with his career's 50th anniversary. The album is also available as a "Leclerc limited edition" including 3 bonus tracks (2 alternative mixes and a brand new instrumental) and a 60-page booklet. == Critical acclaim ==