Gilbert Cromie reports…St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band (above) are doing an amazing amount of publicity for the restaging of their ‘Turas Ceoil Resume – Live in Ireland’ concert in Armagh City.
Here is an extract from the recent blurb: ‘St. Laurence O’Toole (current Grade 1 UK and Scottish Champions) are taking last year’s pre-Worlds concert to Armagh City Hotel on 27th April this year.
‘The primary purpose of this concert is to raise much needed finances to support our band over the coming season. As with most bands, our costs are rising year on year and we expect travel costs for our members to attend all five majors to increase further with the uncertainty of Brexit.
‘Coupled with that, we are in the process of finding a new home for our band and the money raised from this concert will go to fund the move. If you haven’t already got your ticket you can pick them up by return mail and we will post them to you.
‘You can also purchase tickets online through our booking engine https://ti.to/st-laurence-o-toole-pipe-band/turas-ceoil-resume-live-in-ireland.
‘Tickets are selling fast with only 300 of the allocated 1000 remaining, so it’s advised to book before you go to the concert in the event of a sell-out, which we expect it to be.’
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Everything is coming together for what promises to be a very successful Piobairachd Society Conference to be held this Saturday in Glasgow. I will deliver the keynote paper on the early piping competitions. Musical illustrations will be by champion pipers Iain Speirs and John Dew.
Iain will play the Prince’s Salute and John MacKay’s MacLeod of Colbeck, or Young MacLeod of Colbeck’s Lament as it was known to his three sons, all of whom had it in their lists.
John will play Massacre of Glencoe as written by Donald MacDonald on his own pipes, and the Marquis of Argyll on the Donald Macdonald replica pipes, which have been lent to him by Society member Andrew Frater. More…..
I feel I’ve really got to know some of the pipers from 200 years ago, what they played and how they played, and all the paraphanalia they had to put up with in the Theatre Royal. I’m looking forward to telling folk about it.
Piobaireachd Society bursary student Jamie MacRae from Alness, now studying in Glasgow, will play after lunch. He is a pupil of Niall Mathieson and is now having lessons with Margaret Dunn.
Patrick Molard and Gerard Alle, the producer of the film ‘MacCrimmon’s Gold’, are all set. Patrick will play a bit before the film and they are both happy to talk about the making of it. They are then off on a tour of screenings, with tunes and chat:
25th March: Edinburgh, French Institute, 6.45pm
26th March: MacRobert Hall, Tarland, 7.30pm
27th March: Braemar Village Hall, 8pm
28th March: Fort William, Ben Nevis Distillery, 7.30pm
29th March: Portree , S Aros Centre, 7.30pm
30th March: Tulloch Castle, Dingwall, 8pm’
- The Piobaireachd Society Conference is open to all, with a subsidised day ticket price for CPA members and Royal Conservatoire students of £10 (excludes lunch). Day ticket with lunch £35; lunch and dinner £55. There is also a dinner only option. The conference begins at 9am on Saturday, March 23rd at the National Piping Centre. More info here.
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