Press release from Johnstone PB: Johnstone Pipe Band (pictured above) are delighted to have been invited to perform on the main stage at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on Saturday the 20th January as part of the city’s 2018 Celtic Connections festival.
Pipe Major Keith J Bowes said: ‘We are really excited that the opportunity has come our way to showcase the band on the platform of the Royal Concert Hall. It is an occasion for us to celebrate as 2018 is the 75th Anniversary of Johnstone Pipe Band. We will be joined on stage by our newly promoted Grade 3B band and also our Renfrewshire Schools Pipe Band, as well as backing musicians and dancers. We are also delighted to have secured John Mackay from STV as our compere.’
The first half of the concert will feature pipers Finlay MacDonald with Ross Martin, father and son Angus MacColl Senior and Junior, and Jarlath Henderson.
Tickets can be purchased from http://www.celticconnections.com, by visiting www.glasgowconcerthalls.com or by phoning the Royal Concert Hall box office on 0141 353 8000.
The band was founded by ex-Provost of Johnstone Burgh, James McKay, in 1943, and has been going strong ever since, wearing the Blue McKay tartan in recognition of its founder. The senior band won the World Pipe Band Championships in Grade 3A in 2014, and, in 2015, their first season in Grade 2, the World Pipe Band Championships in that grade. This was followed by a consecutive win in 2016 which saw their promotion to the top flight of Grade 1.
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John Kelly: In another forthcoming event the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Northern Ireland Branch (RSPBANI) will present the President’s Charity Concert – ‘A Touch of Tartan’ in the Island Hall, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn, on Friday 16th February. All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the President’s Charity, the British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland (BHF NI).
The current RSPBANI President is Winston Pinkerton who when launching his chosen charity in January 2016 said ‘Quite a number of pipe band personnel, myself included, have required cardiac medical help through surgery, medication and advice for various reasons and we are most grateful for the excellent cardiac care now available.
‘The pipe band fraternity in Northern Ireland tragically lost two young male members of our movement due to heart disease, 38-year-old Andrew Duncan, (Bready Ulster-Scots Pipe Band) and more recently Derek Walker, (Manorcunningham Pipe Band). The RSPBANI President’s Charity is one way that we can raise funds to increase awareness and treatment to fight heart disease.’
The compere will be award-winning entertainer Gary Wilson and the concert will feature: Hugo Duncan, Drumlough Pipe Band, Mid Ulster Summer School Pipers & Drummers, Armagh Drum Majors Display Team and Country Gospel Singers David, Edith and Daryl. David, a well known reed maker was a former Pipe Major with Seven Towers Pipe Band; he now plays in Grade 1 PSNI Pipe Band.
This will definitely be a ‘not to be missed’ show so please come along and enjoy this evening of great craic and musical entertainment which is in support of the RSPBANI President’s worthy charity. Tickets £12; Lagan Valley Island Box Office: 028 9250 9292; RSPBANI Branch Office: 028 9267 0445; Email: info@rspbani.org
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