Bagpipe News

Heavy athletics is a major part of the Ligonier Highland Games, but the day is about much more than the caber toss, the stone put and the hammer throw.

Its a celebration of all things Scottish, and with this years 50th anniversary observance of the games, theres sure to be a lot of celebrating at Idlewild Park. Two young musical groups, MacTalla Mor and Maidens IV, both made up of family members, will give a contemporary twist to the event that pays homage to Scotland and Scottish traditions.

Ligonier Highland Games celebrates 50th - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review .

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Seventh Annual NYPD Pipes and Drums Memorial Concert

Town Hall Auditorium

7:00 PM

$40.00

The Seventh Annual NYPD Pipes and Drums Memorial Concert will take place on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 7:00 PM at the Town Hall Auditorium, 123 W. 43 St., NY, NY. The following are scheduled to perform:

• NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums
• NYPD Marching Band
• The Cleveland Police Pipes and Drums
• The Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County, NJ
• The Boston Police Gaelic Column
• The Quantico Marine Band
• And a special Performance by Famed Irish Tenor, Dr. Ronan Tynan

(Other performers yet to be announced.)

The post concert celebration will be held at the Manhattan Center at 311 west 34st New York, NY.

Please also join us on Friday September 12th at 1 P.M. for our Memorial Parade that begins at Battery Park and proceeds to our memorial at the marina in Battery City. All active and retired members are invited to participate and a light lunch will be provided afterwards by the Hudson River.

Proceeds of the Memorial Concert will benefit the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association Widow’s and Children’s Fund and The Armed Forces Family Scholarship and Assistance Fund.

To purchase tickets using your credit card click the PAYPAL.

NYPD Pipes and Drums.

PT Editor: Gordon Walker and Surprise Donation.

Just ran into 2 Bagpipers playing in Mallory Square in Key West, Florida.

Key West just happens to be the most southern point in the continental United States. It is only 90 miles north of Cuba.

I always said I would retire and just bagpipe full time in the Keys. Guess someone beat me to it :)

The Seven Pipers Scottish Society Pipes & Drums will perform a 25-minute piece with pyrotechnic theatre dance troupe Flam Chen as part of the Solstice Festival. www.sevenpipers.org We performed with them in 2007 at a Chalk Art Festival in Tucson. The weather was hot and the tuning was thus somewhat not, but you can get the idea from a youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi5PbrzDeMA

The Pipers’ Gathering is a musical convention that features “alternative bagpipes” of all types.  Our event features many of the other bagpipe types found in the British Isles and Europe, including Northumbrian Smallpipes, Scottish Smallpipes, Irish uilleann pipes, Border pipes and the many different varieties of English bagpipes. Participants are exposed to the broad range of these fascinating instruments and the people who play and make them.

The Pipers’ Gathering is frequented by some of the finest pipemakers in the world. It is the one place to go in North America if you want to try out and order one of these musical instruments. Nationally recognized music vendors offer hard-to-find items related to this type of piping, such as CD’s, cassette tapes, music books and supplies.

The Gathering begins on Friday evening with an informal ceilidh. The mornings are dedicated to hands-on piping classes. Saturday and Sunday afternoons feature mini-concerts, lecture-demonstrations, special workshops, and discussions designed to emphasize the linkages between the varying bagpipe types. There are ongoing traditional Irish sessions and plenty of spontaneous jamming. A highlight of the event is the ability to meet and play with musicians of many backgrounds, in groups which constantly form and reform throughout the grounds.

Saturday and Sunday evenings feature concerts by of some of the best pipers in the world. Come treat yourself and the whole family to a new world of traditional music.

THE PIPERS GATHERING

The ninth Duncan Johnstone Memorial Piping competition was held at The National Piping Centre on 22 March 2008. The event which is run in partnership between the National Piping Centre and the Competing Pipers Association attracted a record entry of 57 competitors. Several of the adjudicators commented on the exceptionally high standard of playing. For full results see below.

Piobaireachd

• 1st. Cameron Drummond
• 2nd. Emma Buchan
• 3rd. Alen Tully
• 4th. Neil Hall
• 5th. Roddy Weir
• 6th. Peter MacGregor

MSR

• 1st. John Mulhearn
• 2nd. Jonathan Graham
• 3rd. Alen Tully
• 4th. Alasdair Henderson
• 5th. Gordon Bruce
• 6th. Keith Bowes

Jig

• 1st. Alasdair Henderson
• 2nd. Emma Buchan
• 3rd. Iain Ruari Finlayson
• 4th. Gavin Ferguson
• 5th. Jonathan Graham
• 6th. Michael Fitzhenry

On Thursday 17th April we are pleased to welcome a quartet of pipers from world champions Field Marshall Montgomery to play at the National Piping Centre Recital Series.

This will be avery exciting evening of piping with them playing together and individually. So come along to hear the reigning world champions perform!

The event starts at 7.30pm and tickets ar £8 adults/ £6 concession. They are available from the shop at the National Piping Centre or by calling 0141 353 0220.

Red Hot Chilli Pipers

College of Piping - “We are pleased to be working with MusicaliTee as our suppliers of commemorative clothing for the College at Carbisdale, 2008. We will receive a commission from Musicalitee for every top you buy so, as well as having a Collectors Item of the first College at Carbisdale Course, you will be helping towards the cost of the course.”

Full Details Here

The popular lecture previously run by the John MacFadyen Memorial Trust is to be promoted by the College of Piping for 2008. The lecture will be given by Robert Wallace. His subject will be the ‘Celebrating 60 years of the Piping Times’.

Music on the night will be supplied by Stuart Liddell and Iain Speirs.

The venue is the Fisher’s Hotel, Pitlochry, Perthshire on Friday the 14th of March at 7:30pm.

Tickets are £10 and this includes refreshments. Click Here for Tickets

The City of Nelson Highland Pipe Band returned from Auckland after winning two categories at the New Zealand Pipe Band Championships on Saturday. Read the entire article at “The Neslon Mail”

If in the Modesto Area and want to learn the Scottish bagpipes, please contact me at pmmitchell@netscape.netAlso available for Weddings and Funeralswww.myspace.com/pmjohnbmitchell

Bagpipe Instruments and Concerts Sell Out As Global Interest Rises Article featuring news on the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and their 2 Million Dollar Recording Concert,  Red Hot Chilli Pipers Concerts, and demand for increased bagpipes from makers Kilberry Bagpipes See Full Story and Video on ABC NEWS. 

Piping Live! 2008 will take place at George Square, The National Piping Centre and many other venues around the city between 11th-17th August 2008. But if you cant wait til then for all the fun and piping excitement, go to www.pipingfestival.co.uk to look at the new Gallery section for all the photos from the last two year’s events. If you go to the home page, click on “The Festival” tab and then go to the gallery link you will be able to choose from 2006 or 2007 and remember all the fun of the festival. Also we have a few events listed, but keep checking for announcements about artists and a great NEW VENUE for the After Worlds  Shindig on Saturday 15th August!
There will be a fun new look to the website, more great events than ever before and the same amazing quality of artists all throughout the week!  

We have some very exciting news about a series of Recitals we  have planned for the Spring of 2008 here at The National Piping Centre. First up on Thursday 6th March are Fred Morrison and Finlay MacDonald. On Thursday 17th April a Field Marshall Montgomery Quartet will be playing, with solo performances and Quartet recitals included in the evening. Then on Thursday 1st May we have recitals by John Wilson and Allan MacDonald. Lastly on the 22nd May we have lined up Angus MacColl and the 2007 Glenfiddich Champion Gordon Walker to complete a great recital series. These events all start at 7.30 pm Tickets are £8 adults and £6 concessions and are available from The National Piping Centre reception in person, or by calling 0141 353 0220   or email info@thepipingcentre.co.uk

The Flint Scottish Pipe Band will host it’s 92nd annual Ceilidh Feb. 16, 2008.   As in years past guests will be entertained by the music and dance so identified with our Highland Heritage Entertainment will be provided by the Lakes Area School of Highland Dance, Hienzman School of Irish Dance,the Celtic band Equinox, the Grand Rapids & District Pipe Band as well as The Flint Scottish Pipe Band.  The Ceilidh is held at the Knights Of Columbus Hall in Davison MI.  All of your favorite Scottish foods and drinks will be available for purchase.  
Join us in celebrating our wonderful traditions! Ticket information is available on our website  www.flintscottishpipeband.orgor by emailing  Lfisch3134@comcast.net 

The City of Chicago Pipe Band would like to invite the MWPBA to a Tartan Day concert April 5th, 2008.

The event will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois and begins at 7:30 p.m. The City of Chicago Pipe Band is committed to teaching Chicagoland youth for Free and will be showcasing its talented young members at the concert. This will also mark the debut performance of the new City of Chicago Grade IV band.

Tickets are available for $10 and may be guaranteed by e-mailing  cocpipeband@gmail.com and will also be available at the door.  The band is hosting a ceilidh immediately following the concert at Molly Malone’s,  7652 Madison Sreet, Forest Park, Illinois, 1 1/2 miles from Grace Episcopal Church. The $500 raffle winners will be announced at the ceilidh. Raffle tickets are available for $5 or 6 tickets for $25 and can be purchased by e-mailing  cocpipeband@gmail.com.

For any additional information, please phone (773) 875-6812 or visit  www.chicagopipeband.com. We look forward to seeing you there!

The pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards share the stage with Band of the Coldstream Guards to perform a spectacular fare of regimental marches as part of their Kimmel Center debut in Verizon Hall on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at 3pm. The Coldstream Guards is one of the oldest regiments in the world with origins based in Oliver Cromwell’s “New Model Army” in 1650, and carries on the rich musical traditions of British cavalry military marches. Forty nine band members will join The Royal Scots Dragoon’s 30+ members in a display of bagpipes, military marches, drum solos and Celtic dancing that has inspired soldiers over the past two centuries- from the battle of Waterloo to the present-day wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards’ performance will also include classic pipe tunes and modern arrangements from their November 2007 release Spirit of the Glen, as well as their chart-topping version of “Amazing Grace” and a tribute to America.This concert is the thirteenth concert in the World & Pop Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 3pm in Verizon Hall.Tickets for Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and Band of the Coldstream Guards are $33, $52, $62, $72, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.