Welcome tae me Newsroom! As ye can obviously figure out, news and events related to Scotland and the bagpipe world in general are way too big fer me Main Page, which is why, if there be any such news, ye'll be findin' it here.
Our top bagpipe story: Here's to a century of Fort Ticonderoga being open to the general public! It's also the 250th Anniversary of the Brits filchin' the then Fort Carillon from the French and then renamin' 'er Fort Ticonderoga! So June 20th's Scottish Festival and Black Watch Memorial Service promises tae be excitin' indeed, with Pipe Bands; Scottish dancers and musicians; food, clothing, novelty and other vendors; Black Watch re-enactors --- and much, much more!
Our 11th Annual Tartan Saturday Afternoon Parade was a routine Scotfest, with nae a significant milestone to be honored. Still, we had a great time watchin' award-winning actor/producer/director Alan Cumming servin' as our Parade's Grand Marshal! Alan led 1860-plus Bagpipers, Drummers, Scottish Terriers, and assorted other friends up our usual Sixth Avenue route, starting from West 46th Street and ending up in front of our familiar double-decker bus, parked at West 58th Street, where the Parade culminated in our traditional Bagpipers' Block Party.
In another bizarre twist of Fate, this year's Tartan Week in New York City somehow involved April Fool's Day --- and who better to mark the occasion than Alexander McCall Smith's Really Terrible Orchestra, Sir Richard Neville Towle, Music Director. They took over the Town Hall, on West 43rd Street in Midtown, in part to support the Children's Orchestra Society of New York, as well as the National Tartan Day New York Committee. Among the lowlights: several favorites (?) from the RTO repertoire; a traditional Highland Bagpipe solo --- and the local premiere of an original concerto for musical saw and orchestra, with veteran street musical saw legend Natalia Paruz, alias the Saw Lady, as soloist.
Wanna have some fun while you're learning the basics of being a Drum Major? Well, ye needs tae be in Orange, Connecticut, for the concluding weekend ---April 25th and 26th --- of the Billy Jordan Memorial Drum Major Workshops. Weekend One featured British Regimental Foot Drill & Deportment for Drum Majors, Pipe Bands, Living History and Regimental Re-enactors. A new Pipe Band course explored band formations, Massed Bands' Drill, Funerals' Drill, and various skills for parading and/or competing Pipe Bands. For the Drum Majors, drill, mace signaling, and the art of 'working' a Pipe Band was a top focus; meanwhile, re-enactors discovered late 20th-early 21st Century British Parade Drill techniques. The guest instructors included a literal who's who of actual former British Army NC Officers marching everyone up and down the parade grounds!
For this second and final weekend, participants will learn mace drill, dress, deportment, flourish and other competition and street Drum Major skills. Again, all non-competing and/or beginning Drum Majors are invited to take part, as are those who are already Pipe Majors but who would like to learn the art of becoming a Drum Major. Billy Jordan is one of the finest living instructors in the field of the teaching of How to Become a Proper Drum Major, and he's brought a crackerjack team of fellow professors in this vital field. It's also their only major U.S. appearance, so donna think o' missin' oot! Find out more by e-mailin' oxgara@aol.com!
Looks like the pipin' community be madder'n hell a' the BBC, and they nae be a-takin' it no more! The Piping Times, in a recent Editorial, vented its rage over "grinnin' personality girl" Jackie Bird hostin' the September 7th, 2008 show, where the skirl o' the pipes was treated as the centerpiece of what they described as a sort o' "tartan fun day".
Robert Wallace, Editor of the Piping Times and principal of the College of Piping, called BBC Scotland's 50-minute highlights package of the 2008 Worlds "flippant," "annoyingly presented" and "verging on the unwatchable," as hostess Bird commented over some of the performances and displayed an apparent lack of piping knowledge. Wallace's editorial accused Ms. Bird and her co-host, Laura Marks, from Scottish glam rockers El Presidente, of "failing hopelessly to disguise the idea that they would rather be anywhere else on the Planet," and of giving the show, which was intended as a showcase for the finest world-class Pipers and Drummers from around the world, "a Blue Peter-esque frivolity."
"Why," Wallace asked, "when they hire a piping expert like [Canadian] Bob Worrall, do they use him so little? Instead, we had two BBC 'personality girls' grinnin' and dashin' about, consumed with faux enthusiasm. Let the music and those who make it speak for themselves, and let an informed presenter provide the continuity --- and the viewer will get quality all right."
Attracting some 40,000 spectators per year, the Worlds has been aired on BBC Scotland for only four years, after a campaign by the nation's piping community tae televise the event. But as Bobbie Wallace would explain, "The flippant tone does not reflect the hard work and sheer brilliance of the musicianship that goes into it. The BBC has only made the Pipes and Drums all kitsch. Were a similar show to air about top violinists or pianists, clearly there would be absolute uproar. The national music of Scotland needs its place on national television. We've got enough stories about the Pipers there without them having to give it the spin. As a public service broadcaster, the BBC shouldn't need to worry about the number of people who were watching it. Maybe the answer is to put it on BBC4, where it can be given the seriousness it deserves."
The RSPBA's #1 man, Ian Pemberton, saw it this way: "While I understand Mr. Wallace's concerns, there can be no denial that the BBC is making commercial TV programmes to appeal to a wider TV audience. There may be a few thousand pipe band people in Scotland, but the BBC broadcasts to 5 million people, and has succeeded in making a programme with wider appeal. We recognise that it's an entertainment programme, rather than a traditional music programme. Though it was, I admit, enjoyed by much of the younger element of the pipe band world, some of the older traditionalists, and I would include Mr. Wallace among them, would rather see a more serious programme. This being 2008, however, one simply must move on with the times."
Well, what do you folks out there think? E-mail yer auld Uncle Fergus wi' yer own comments: electric_pirates@hotmail.com or blackbeardian@yahoo.com.
And what were Scottish Bagpipes doin' in Beijing? ye be askin'. Plenty, if ye saw the Opening Ceremonies of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad! Meet Dundee's own Mains of Fintry Pipe Band, Dick Smith, Pipe Major. When they were playing France's annual Festival des Confolens in Limoges a few years ago, a Chinese-backed talent scout noticed them. The members then received an e-mail from a top Games organizer, Kexin Zhang. At first, the all-volunteer pipe band, now in its 35th anniversary season, dismissed Zhang's request as a practical joke. But Zhang obviously wasn't kidding. The idea was that the band had been chosen to represent not just Scotland and Great Britain --- but virtually the entire continent of Europe!
In case ye weren't around, Pipefest.com is about to take on its most ambitious piping adventure yet: a worldwide, 24-hour piping celebration. Starting and finishing in Edinburgh at around 2 pm local time, the event, which will once again raise funds for various cancer charities around the world, will involve over 12,000 individual Pipers and Pipe Bands, with each segment to start some 20 minutes immediately after the last one! New York, L.A., Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Jerusalem, Barcelona, Aberdeen, Cape Town, Rekyjavik, Sydney, Brussels, London, Dublin, Belfast, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Mexico City, Islamabad, Warsaw, Rome, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Montevideo --- these are just some of the cities expected to participate in the event, with close to 2000 Pipers and Drummers involved! Cool, huh?
With Tartan Week in Manhattan now in our collective memories, the next major pipin' milestones occur durin' the merry, merry month o' May: first, May 2nd & 3rd, the Dec La Salle Scout Group Pipes and Drums mark their 75th Birthday with a Massed Pipe Band Parade at Waterford City Centre on Saturday; and a Mini-Pipe Band Competition on Sunday. Then, on May 30th, the Gael at Bexhill Parade, with Pat Donoghue again leading the march, hits the streets!
If you think this year's Worlds @ Glasgow Green'll be murder on yer ears, those o' ye' wha' nae be lovin' the pipes, ye may chalk up this story to the file o' bad news, because Glasgow has been chosen to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games! More than 70 nations, encompassing some 8000-plus athletes, are expected tae be in on 10 days worth o' world-class competitions and cultural events --- and the Glasgow International Piping Festival, along with the World Pipe Band Championships, will doubtless play major roles in the festivities tae come!
Happy 60th Anniversary, Edinburgh Military Tattoo! And what, ye might be askin', will Producer/CEO Major-General Euan Loudon be havin' in mind for this big Birthday Blow? How 'bout a 250th Birthday Bash fer auld Robbie Burns? say I! Start with the returnin' Top Secret Drum Corps from Basel, Switzerland, along with the debuting Central Band of the Swiss Army; the Royal Military Band of the Kingdom of Tonga, members of the Indian Navy, plus an all-male Canandian choir, the Massed Bands of the RAF, a 50-piece Australian Highland Dance Troupe, the Tattoo's own Highland Spring Dancers --- and, as always, the Massed Pipes and Drums! And of course, ye can always count on Alasdair Hutton, O.B.E. tae tell ye what's happening as it's happening, whilst BBC Scotland's Tom Fleming takes tae the microphone, tae tell you about the Tattoo as only he can.....
The 2009 Worlds @ Glasgow Green will again be the centerpiece attraction of Piping Live: The Glasgow International Piping Festival, presented by the National Piping Centre, where over 250 Pipe Bands, encompassing some 8000 Pipers and Drummers from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Ireland, Germany, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even Pakistan, will assemble for a week's worth of indoor and outdoor performances, workshops, seminars, discussions --- and much, much more! So mark yer calendars fer August 10th through the 16th, 2009; with the Worlds set fer Saturday, the 15th; and in 2010, August 9th through the 15th, with the Worlds happening on the 14th. (There is now a selection of videos from Piping Live performances at YouTube.com/user/FDNYPiper.) And the Worlds are locked in tae remain at Glasgow Green until at least 2012, so don't expect 'em tae be movin' nowhere anytime soon!
More now from our Pipefest.com pals. July 18th, 2009, fer example, will be seein' Pipefest Basel, where the Switzerland-based Pipes and Drums of Basel host a few more o' the world's finest Pipers! Log on as shown fer ALL the details!
In August 2010, in Angus in Scotland itself, Tartan Day will be once more be highlighted by the Arbroath Abbey Pageant Society's dramatic recreation of King Robert the Bruce's signing of the Arbroath Declaration --- the whole reason for Tartan Day's existence in the first place! For the 2005 Pageant, fans of Laura McGhee were treated to a live presentation of her original musical tribute, The Declaration.
The Pageant Society's 2005 Tartan Day contribution was the world premiere performance of The Stane: The Story of Scotland's Destiny, a chroncicle of the original Coronation Stone and how it found its way back to Scotland after centuries under St. Edward's Throne in Westminster Abbey in London. Photos from that show are now up on the Pageant Society website!
Of course, we in New York City love our Firefighters, and in June their happiest day is always Medal Day! The 140th Anniversary FDNY Medal Day Ceremony, held as usual on the City Hall grounds, and highlighted by the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes & Drums, happens June 3rd! And despite a threatening rainstorm, not to mention its ongoing status as an invitation-only get-together, last year's ceremony went off 'thout a hitch! Here be the wrapup, along with the Official Medal Day Yearbook!
Meanwhile, on Ireland's island of Valentia, off the coast of Kerry, the New Year was heralded by seven loyal honkers from the NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums. Seems that Niall Burgess, Consul General of Ireland for New York City and Environs, didn't want himself or his family to be alone on the island. So seven happy honkers from New York's Finest --- Sergeants Keith Rossiter, Brian Coughlin, Kenny Finn and Tommy Nolan, Officers Tommy DuBois and Kevin Moloney, and Detective Billy Donohue --- spent a full hour's worth o' skirlin' in Portmagee. Playing for about an hour and 20 minutes, the pipers participated in an island tradition, wherein a man in rags, emblematic of the Auld Year, was "banished into the darkness," with the skirl of the pipes signalin' the dawn of a New Year. The event concluded a year-long lineup of festivities marking the 150th anniversary of the first telegraph cable linking the U.S. and Europe, brought ashore at Valentia in 1858. Consul General Burgess also said that the visit also honored the County's strong ties tae th' Big Apple. For most of the 1880's, over 1/3 of all immigrants departed County Kerry for New York, making it #2 alongside County Cork --- the two greatest Irish Counties most connected to New York City per se.
He may nae be faster'n a speedin' bullet, mind ye, but he's as good a superhero as Scotland has! He's Fionn --- and the folks at Nifty Comics want ye tae meet him.
Some things are so cute, not even yer auld Uncle Fergus can resist 'em! Case in point: Max and Merlin, Mascots of the Wyoming Celtic Festival!
In other Piping news: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Avery Fisher Hall hosted Scotland the Brave, an international stage sensation spotlighting the best in Scottish music, song and dance, featuring over 100 artists and musicians, complete with a full-scale orchestra, choir, Pipe Band, Drum Corps and Color Guard, Highland Dancers and Celtic fiddlers --- all conducted by Sean O'Boyle --- all of whom thrilled listeners the same way they did during three slam-bang return engagements at the Sydney Opera House! Alasdair Hutton, longtime voice of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, whom we spoke of earlier, led the creative team; joining him were tenor vocalist Greg Moore; soprano Kelly MacKenzie-Thurley; Fiddlers' Festival co-founder Marcus Holden; Pipe Major Andy Fuller, formerly with the Victoria Police Pipe Band; champion Scottish Country Dancer Colleen Rintamaki; and members of the Scottish Dance Company of Canada! The major partners in the event: the Tartan Week New York Committee; the St. Andrew's Society of New York State; the Bagpipe Network; the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Scottish Country Dance Society; the Capital Scot Online News Service and Bagpiper.com!
Three major milestones tae be mark'd durin' this year's Canadian International Military Tattoo @ the Copps Coliseum, featurin' the Quebec City International Military Band Festival, tae be held June 13th and 14th: 100 Years of Powered Flight in Canada, NATO's 60th Birthday, and the 85th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force! As ever, nothing in Canada beats the Halifax Metro Centre's Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, set for July 1st through 8th; while the Australian Federation Tattoo @ the Bendigo Schweppes Center marks its 10th Anniversary with a spectacular show in Melbourne! Again, stay tun'd!
Norfolk/Hampton Roads' Virginia International Arts Festival Tattoo @ Norfolk SCOPE, set fer May 1st, 2nd and 3rd, features the Tidewater Pipe Band, the Virginia Children's Chorus and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus, along with a stellar alliance of military talent!
Here now be ALL the Tattoo dates ye needs tae know in 2009 and 2010: 57th Inverness Tattoo @ Ft. George,; Finland's Hamina Tattoo, the Ystad International Tattoo August 12th through 15th; the Southern Jutlands International Military Tattoo, July 3rd and 4th; the Quebec City International Military Band Festival @ the Pepsi Coliseum,August 26th through 30th; the Netherlands National Military Tattoo @ Rotterdam,September 30th through October 4th; the Norwegian Military Tattoo @ the Oslo Spektrum, dates to be determined; Denmark's Herning Indoor Tattoo, dates to be determined; the Nice International Tattoo, October 2nd, 3rd and 4th; the Fulda Tattoo, November 13th and 14th; the Swedish Military Tattoo @ Globen, dates to be determined; the 51st Berlin Militaermusikfest, on November 7th and 8th; and finally, the Birmingham Tattoo, on November 28th and 29th.
FROM THE RINGWOOD PIPE BAND: Farewell tae The Scottish Tattoo! Ian McLennan, Head of the Ringwood Pipers, pulled out all the stops for The Final Year, also celebrating Robbie Burns' 250th, with a spectacular celebration at Salisbury City Hall!
And that's me news fer now. Remember, if it be the latest and hottest in bagpipe-related activity, Uncle Fergus' Newsroom is where ye need tae be! Slainte!
Haste ye back to me Main Page!
