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HIBERNATING IS FOR BEARS AND BADGERS
by Vincent Janoski
Pipers and drummers in the US and Canada are usually busy competing during the summer months. As with little animals who hibernate in the North American winter and wait for Spring, in the past pipers and drummers did their own kind of hibernating during the ‘off-season’. However, times have changed.
New tunes, band regrouping, personnel changes, regular instrument maintenance and much more now takes place when the competitive calendar slows down. It is testament to the enthusiasm and passion of US and Canadian pipers and drummers, and the growing popularity of piping and drumming in North America, that they now leave hibernating to bears and badgers and have removed the "off" from off-season.
Florida Games
It’s not just practice that is done over the winter. Warmer climes in the south eastern US have traditionally meant the Highland games season kicks off in January and continues through to the tourist months in the summertime.
The state of Florida, for example, famous for vacation resorts and theme parks, has several large gatherings and festivals throughout January and February that draw vacationers looking to escape the cold north country winters. The Central Florida Scottish Games in Winter Springs on January 21 and the Sarasota Highland Games in Sarasota on February 4 are but two that have become key events on the calendars of southern US pipers and drummers. Meanwhile, the Arizona Scottish Highland Games in Mesa, Arizona on February 14 is a key early season gathering place for pipers in the west of the country.
The warmer months in most of the US and Canada has seen a growth in the summer schools schedule that gives performers in all regions a healthy extra workout during the peak months of piping and drumming activity in June and July.
The Invermark College of Piping and Drumming in upper New York state, The Balmoral School in Pennsyslvania, The Ontario School of Piping and Drumming in eastern Ontario, The North American Academy of Piping in North Carolina, The Academy of Scottish Arts in Florida, and a host of smaller regional seminars run by bands and the various branches of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association (EUSPBA), Western United States Pipe Band Association (WUSPBA), and Midwestern United States Pipe Band Association (MWUSPBA), draw some of the more renowned players and offer access to varied educational choices for the aspiring learner.
Workshops
In the colder, more seasonal, regions of the US a ‘year-round’ trend is taking shape in the form of workshops, seminars and now elaborate competitive events that are drawing the community together through the winter. There are more and more events that appear in the months of November through February to keep players sharp and on their game, as well as providing the enthusiast with exposure to top quality piping and drumming.
Winter Storm—January 13 and 14
The Winter Storm weekend , hosted by the Midwest Highland Arts Fund in Kansas City, Missouri, is fast becoming a key gathering event for US and Canadian players. The workshops draw a great many players who do not live in close proximity to major metropolitan areas with big clusters of pipe bands, or enjoy easy access to high-level performers. These people are seeking broader instruction and expanded musical horizons, as well as exposure to higher-quality piping and drumming.
Some of the top names on the international piping and drumming scene converge on Kansas City to offer their experience as instructors and performers. The side benefit is that the instructors are usually tapped to offer performances at the Winter Storm concert on the Saturday evening. The concert also features performances by the winners of the Gold and Silver medal contests in piping, drumming, and tenor drum, giving lucky competitors the chance to strut their stuff in front of a bigger crowd. And the after party has turned into a legendary all night session of music and socialising.
Winter Storm also includes The US Gold and Silver Medal contests for Piobaireachd, held on the Friday. The contests are gradually becoming a draw for players who want to kick off their solo competitive season in a big way. The competition boasts the Gold Medal for tenor drum, probably the only major prize in the world offered to rhythm players. The contest leaves no time to dawdle over the Piobaireachd Society's set list for the coming year, as it requires submission of tunes from its newest list.
The Metro Cup Invitational Championship—February 18
Folks from the eastern US and surrounding regions are offered major exposure to the premier level of worldwide bagpiping at The Metro Cup Invitational contest held in the New York metropolitan area.
The contest is a focal point on the calendar for the eastern US piping and drumming community. Originally a free form medley contest for Professional level players, the contest has evolved to an evening performance MSR, hornpipe and jig played as a set along with a Piobaireachd contest in the afternoon. The contest attracts a healthy crowd of well over 500 attendees every year, one of the more well attended solo piping contests anywhere, and has become another gathering place for the US community of pipers and drummers.
The Metro Cup contest has regularly fielded a slate of competitors who have nearly all won the Gold Medal at Oban or Inverness—or both, the Silver Medal, the Clasp, and numerous other major prizes. This years field includes last year's winner and double Gold Medallist Bruce Gandy, double Gold Medallist and numerous Silver Stars winner Alaistair Gillies, Gold Medallists Donald MacPhee and Mike Rogers, and Silver Medalist Alasdair Dunn. Other featured players such as Margaret Houlihan and Ian Whitelaw are consistent prize-takers in the major contests along with local US players including Duncan Bell and Peter Skae, who are consistent prize winners on the American and Canadian circuit. The forthcoming event will be judged in part by Bill Livingstone, who will also perform a Piobaireachd recital on the Friday evening before the main events.
In recent years, the event has added an amateur contest for the top Amateur Grade 1 players in the various branches of the EUSPBA. This year, the Amateur contest will invite the elite from the southern and western US, as well as Alex Gandy, winner of Ontario's recent George Sherriff Memorial contest, as well as Michael Egan, last August's winner of the Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) contest in Glasgow.
No Rest for the Winter Piper
A short list of other developing events are keeping amateur and professional performers busy. The Citadel Indoor Games (February 11), features the first EUSPBA-sanctioned pipe band and solo events on the American competitive calendar. The games also host an Amateur Grade 1 invitational contest, The Sandy Jones Invitational, bringing the best players from about the US together in North Carolina.
The CLASP is also hosting an event in the US this year to be held on February 25 in the New York city area. The contest will give Grade 4, 3, 2, and 1 amateur players an alternative venue from the standard Highland games and an opportunity to flex their competitive muscles before the kick off of the 2006 season.
The performing calendar of North America has never been so full of activities and opportunities for active pipers and drummers to play, compete, and learn. The seasons of the year along with the great distance between the disparate communities in North America are no longer factors keeping pipers and drummers from gathering together more often, and in bigger and better ways, all year round.