The members of the Jimmy McIntosh Piobaireachd Scholarship Committee are pleased to announce that, in this inaugural year, we have selected two deserving recipients for 2022
Abby Long of Houston, Texas, and Emmitt LaBelle of Morganton, North Carolina, pictured above, were selected from a number of applicants.
All of the pipers who applied demonstrated a great deal of promise, and the committee’s decision was difficult. We are confident that Abby and Emmitt will work hard and reap tremendous benefits from the piobaireachd instruction to be provided by our excellent panel of instructors in the coming months.
It was Jimmy’s wish that the scholarship recipients would be able to work closely with long time students of his who had been taught in the Balmoral tradition. Abby’s and Emmitt’s piobaireachd instruction will begin in June in Houston, Texas, with two of Jimmy’s most successful students, Mike Cusack and Nick Hudson.
Following this, instructors who are working closely with the scholarship committee will be chosen to work with Abby and Emmitt for the remainder of 2022, into early 2023. Abby’s and Emmitt’s scholarship experience will culminate with a piobaireachd workshop at Carnegie Mellon University in the Spring of 2023.
At this workshop, which will be open to all, Abby and Emmitt will give a recital and play some of the piobaireachd they have studied. The members of the JMPSC are grateful to all who have helped to bring Jimmy’s wishes to fruition. We extend our thanks to all who have contributed to the scholarship fund.
We also thank Nancy Tunnicliffe, Amy Garson, Mike Cusack, Nick Hudson and Andrew Carlisle for their willingness to provide instruction and support to our scholarship recipients.
Stars from the BBC comedy series ‘Still Game’ will host this year’s fundraising gala ball for music education charity, the Eilidh MacLeod Memorial Trust, writes Iagan MacNeil.
Jane McCarry, known for her portrayal of nosey busybody Isa Drennan, and Mark Cox who brought us tight-fisted Tam Mullen will oversee proceedings at the ‘Tartan and Tiaras’ event in Glasgow on 30th April in aid of Eilidh’s Trust, established in memory of the 14-year-old piper from the Isle of Barra who died in the Manchester Arena atrocity five years ago.
Eilidh’s Trust supports music education for young people reflecting Eilidh’s own love of music and her talent as a musician, having played in the local Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band.
Joining Jane and Mark on the bill will be piping supergroup the Red Hot Chilli Pipers (pictured), Highland group TideLines and trad band Beinn Lee. Guests will also be entertained by some young and upcoming musicians.
Tickets for the Tartan and Tiaras gala ball at Glasgow’s Marriott Hotel are still available and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
This May will mark five years since we lost Eilidh in that horrible attack and we are as committed as ever to guaranteeing her legacy through young musicians. The Eilidh MacLeod Memorial Trust was established in 2018 with two main ambitions:
o To establish, manage and maintain the permanent memorial to Eilidh which will be located on the Isle of Barra
o To enable other young people and children to continue Eilidh’s musical journey by providing support to advance their music education (primarily, but not exclusively, in rural areas).
