Program_Cover_Classic2019_Rv2.qxp_Program 11/4/19 5:18 PM Page 1 EABHAL L IVEIN CONCERT ! SATURDAY EVENING, NOV. 16 2019 Balmoral School, Pittsburgh Session Our 2019 Instructors were Andrew Carlisle, Bruce Gandy, Jimmy Bell, Gordon Bell, Richmond Johnston, Colin Bell, George Balderose and others. The Balmoral School of Piping and Drumming 2020 SUMMER SCHEDULE: PITTSBURGH JULY 5-10, EAST STROUDSBURG JULY 12-17 2020 Guest Instructors To Be Announced By Jan. 1 2019 BALMORAL Immerse yourself for a week on one of CLASSIC our beautiful campuses with some of the best pipers and pipe band drummers in the world. Receive intensive personal instruction, workshops, music sessions, presentations on piping and drumming topics, while making friendships that can last a lifetime. For More Information Contact: FRIDAY EVENING, NOV. 15 SATURDAY, N OV. 16 Balmoral School of Piping and Drumming BAGAD NEW YORK US J UNIOR SOLO PIPING & 1414 Pennsylvania Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233 (412) 323-2707 DRUMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS SUNDAY, NOV. 17 [email protected] www.bagpiping.org PIPING WORKSHOP - IAN DUNCAN America’s annual bagpiping celebration BALMORAL CLASSICWWW.BALMORALCLASSIC 2019.ORG FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 Celtic culture celebration kicks off at 7:30pm with performances by renowned pipers and drummers, our judges for the next day’s Championships. At 9:00pm we are joined by Bagad New York for Breton music and dance. Dances will be taught, no partner necessary. Co-sponsored with BalFolk Pittsburgh. 7:30-11:00pm | Tickets: $5 | Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center(WPUC), 100 Lytton Ave, Pittsburgh SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 United States Junior Solo Bagpiping & Snare Drumming Championships. Piping contest in Frick Fine Arts Auditorium; Drumming contest in Carnegie Lecture Hall 8:30am-4:30pm | Free | Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (FFA) & Carnegie Lecture Hall (CLH), Pittsburgh/Oakland SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 Concert: Acclaimed Scottish band, Eabhal, to be joined by Scottish and Irish dancers. 6:30pm Lobby doors open. Jr. Solo Championship awards ceremony at 7:30pm. Concert 8pm | Tickets: $35 door, $27 advance, $15 students & seniors 65+ Carnegie Lecture Hall (CLH), 4400 Forbes Ave (Schenley Drive, behind Carnegie Library), Pittsburgh SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 Free workshop on piobaireachd tunes conducted by Senior Piobaireachd Judge Ian Duncan 11:00am-1:00pm | Carnegie Room, Wyndham Pittsburgh Univ. Center (WPUC), 100 Lytton Ave, Pittsburgh WPUC Wyndham Craig St All locations are in (Oakland) Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Parking The Classic is sponsored annually by: Entrance to parking lot Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming 1414 Pennsylvania Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15233 Parking 412.323.2707 [email protected] CLH Carnegie Lecture Hall BalmoralSchool.org FFA Frick Fine Arts OUR SPONSORS Balmoral School receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. 2019 BALMORAL CLASSIC Welcome! Welcome to the Thirteenth annual Balmoral Classic, elsewhere in this Program Guide. Scotsman Arthur McAra Pittsburgh’s annual celebration of Scottish Bagpiping, Snare will be the emcee for the Saturday piping competition and Drumming, and traditional Scottish arts. the Saturday evening events. The Balmoral Classic’s core event is the US Junior On Sunday, November 18, there will be a Piobaireachd Solo Highland Bagpiping and Solo Snare Drumming workshop conducted by Ian Duncan of Blairgowrie, Championships, the only US national competition for pipers Perthshire, Scotland. The workshop will take place and drummers 21 years of age or younger. This free event from 11am to 1pm in the Panther Room of the Wyndham takes place on Saturday, November 16 at the University of University Center, 100 Lytton St. and is free and open to the Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. There are twelve public. piping and three drumming contestants representing Please pick up a card at the information asking you how Colorado, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, you found out about this event, which will help us in Pennsylvania, Canada, and Scotland. They have worked next year’s planning. Completed cards should be placed intensively for years to earn their position by competing with in the receptacle at the main ticket table by the time of distinction in the upper amateur grades of their respective intermission, followed by a drawing from the deposited regional pipe band associations. For any competitor at this cards for an Eabhal CD. Please visit our information table. level it takes a lot of talent, focus, and time, in some ways If you are not on our email and street address lists, please analogous to preparation for top athletic contests. They leave us your name and addresses at the information table have all come to Pittsburgh at their own expense to prove so we can stay in touch. their skills and compete for trophies and valuable prizes, including a set of bagpipes donated by the manufacturer, The Balmoral Classic is made possible in part by grants and McCallum Bagpipes, and a Premier snare drum donated by individual and organizational contributions, for which we Henderson Imports of Traverse City, Michigan. are very grateful. We thank all of our contributors for their support, which is essential to the survival of this event. To The weekend begins on Friday night with recitals by the the many Balmoral Classic volunteers, we extend our sincere Balmoral Classic judges, followed by a new Balmoral Classic thanks. Without their time and talents the weekend events event, a Breton dance led by members of Bagad New York at would not be possible. the Windham University Inn Ballroom and co-sponsored by BalFolk, the French dance organization in Pittsburgh. We encourage you to patronize our advertisers and sponsors. I hope that you will join them in enjoying and It is our hope that events like Friday’s Breton dance will supporting Scottish, Irish, and Breton music and dance, bring about more collaborations among pipers and dance traditional art forms that occupy an important place in the communities in the US. diverse world of North American culture. The Saturday bagpiping contests begin in the Frick Fine On behalf of the Balmoral Board and Staff, Arts auditorium at 8:30am with the Piobaireachd (classical Cead Mile Failte! (A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!) bagpipe music) contests. During the afternoon the competition continues with the March, Strathspey, and Reel George Balderose, Executive Director medley. The drumming MSR contest take place in Carnegie Balmoral Classic Lecture Hall from 11:30-12:30pm, and the Hornpipe and Jig from 2:30pm-3:3opm. The Saturday evening concert at Carnegie Lecture Hall features the outstanding ensemble from Scotland, Eabhal and Irish step dancers from the Burke- Conroy School of Irish dance and Scottish dancers from the Thompson Highland Dancers of Pittsburgh. More information about these artists can be found later in this program. The award winners of the US Junior Championship will be announced during the opening of the Saturday evening concert at 7:30pm in the Carnegie Lecture Hall, and the overall winners in piping and drumming will be asked to perform their winning selections at the start of the second set. Trophies and prizes are listed 1 2 2019 BALMORAL CLASSIC Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming Boards and Staff The mission of the Balmoral School of Piping and Drumming is to raise the standard and promote the appreciation of bagpipe music in the USA by providing world class instruction, cultivating excellence in youth, presenting innovative musical events, and fostering tradition. Board of Directors Advisory Board George Balderose, Secretary & Co-Founder • Executive Hon. Thomas Murphy • Former Mayor of Pittsburgh Director and Piping Instructor, Balmoral School Gordon Bell • Drumming instructor, William F. Askin, Esq., Chairman•Private Practice Attorney US Snare Drum Champion Eric Hayes, Treasurer • Ha!Yes! Communications Bruce Bickel • Senior VP, PNC Wealth Management Lee Cunningham • Federated Investors Susan Blackman • Non-profit Arts consultant Richmond Johnston • Piping instructor and on-site Mike Cusack • Headmaster, Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School, administrator, Balmoral School TX; First American to win the Gold Medal in Scotland; Former Pipe Major, five-time Juvenile World Champion Pipe Band Lacey Mahler • Music Educator, Deer Lakes School District Ray Speicher • Co-founder & CEO, Smartsite Strategies Robert C. Galbraith • Former High Commissioner, Clan Donald USA Jonathan King • President, Equity Guidance, Inc. Staff James Lamb • Executive Director, Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Honorary Irish Consul, Pittsburgh George Balderose, Executive Director Allan MacDougall • Schofield and MacDougall Leslie Clark, Associate Director William R. Shipley • Regional Director Pittsburgh office , McKinley Carter Wealth Services 2019 Balmoral Classic Production Staff Mark Thomas • Vice President, EVA Dimensions Arthur McAra, Emcee Lyric Todkill • Pipe Major, 2006 Juvenile World Champion Sean Patrick Regan, Chief Steward Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School Pipe Band Richard Fishkin, Richmond Johnston, Elaine Lee, Spencer Terry Tully • Former Pipe Major, St. Laurence O’Toole Patterson, Bill Askin, Lily Cunningham, Daniel Pipe Band, Dublin, Ireland, 2010 Grade One World Champion Reese, Photographers and Videographers Pipe Band Tom Elliott, Stage Manager John Wilson • Piper, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Gold George