About Ocarina Workshop

Ocarina Workshop® is a family business centred in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.

Founded in 1983 by David Liggins, and developed from 1989 onwards in partnership with his wife Christa, Ocarina Workshop has continued to grow, with the help of family and friends, and is today a thriving and respected company.

David Liggins taught music in Leicester from 1976 to 1979, developing groundbreaking methods of whole class instrumental teaching with guitars, keyboards, tin whistles and lots of singing.

At the age of 26, he bought a one-way ticket to South America and spent 11 months exploring the length of the Andes, from Ecuador to Tierra del Fuego, busking with his silver flute to earn the fare home. The sight of numerous pre-Columbian vessel flutes in museums awakened David’s musical curiosity. These ancient lost flutes, labelled 'ocarinas', stayed in his mind as he returned home.

In 1983, whilst hiking long-distance tracks in wild and remote parts of Britain, David discovered a new type of ocarina. He sought out two makers, John Langley and Terry Riley and, within months, had published his first music books for them. David tested many types of ocarina in subsequent years. The best ones proved equally popular with adults, in evening classes, and with children in the classroom. In 1986, his award winning school ocarina group played on stage at the Royal Festival Hall, London, and on BBC and ITV national television.

Christa Liggins taught languages in Kettering from 1985 to 1989. After their marriage, Christa joined David to work full-time with ocarinas in a rapidly growing business. Between 1989 and 2009, they released a total of over thirty new publications and introduced innovative teaching methods for whole class music, all using ocarinas.

A commitment to excellence has seen David and Christa researching ocarinas in locations as remote as the Atacama Desert, Chile, and playing ocarinas with their children in Italy, Switzerland and Norway. Their children also played with Masquerade Ocarinas in the National Festival of Music for Youth 2005, winning an Outstanding Junior Performance Award. David and Christa began production of their plastic ocarina, the Oc® in 2005. This unique instrument is now a key to success in the musical activities of many schools worldwide.

David and Christa are proud of the fact that all Ocarina Workshop publishing / manufacturing takes place in the UK, mainly within 50 miles of their Midlands home. This is environmentally friendly and guarantees quality of production and continuity of supply.

David and Christa’s contribution to industry, education and music has been acknowledged in Parliament, and has been influential in the lives of thousands of young musicians. They continue to ‘put the customer first’ and hope you enjoy this website, and the service you receive from Ocarina Workshop.