News – August 31, 2011
National Scottish Harp Championship of America Returns to Virginia
The 2011 National Scottish Harp Championship of America will be hosted at The Meadow Highland Games and Celtic Festival on Saturday, October 29 at 10 AM. The games are held in Doswell, Virginia just north of Richmond, Virginia. Rules and categories are available on www.shsa.org. For more information on the 2011 Championship, visit www.meadowceltic.com.
The Clan Currie Society – producers of the “Pipes of Christmas” – are sponsoring the event as part of their ongoing commitment as Title Sponsor for the Championships through 2014.
The Clan Currie Society is the Title Sponsor for the 2011 Scottish Harp Championship
“Part of the success of our National Championship depends upon generous donors like the Clan Currie to ensure we have sufficient funding in place to produce a first class competition,” said SHSA President Kelly Stewart Brzozowski. It is especially rewarding when that support comes from a clan with such an ancient and distinguished history of Gaelic poets and musicians.”
According to Robert Currie, president of the Clan Currie Society, this partnership is a perfect fit. “The founders of our Clan were the celebrated MacMhuirich bards of Medieval Scotland and the instrument of the Bard was the clarsach. Over the past several years Clan Currie has sharpened its focus on the arts with our concerts, special events and scholarship program. In addition to sponsoring this prestigious championship, we have also established an annual harp scholarship at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. We look forward to becoming involved in more of these types of programs in the future.”
About the Scottish Harp Society of America
SHSA is the sanctioning body for the U.S. National Scottish Harp Competition and qualifying regional Scottish harp competitions. The annual U.S. National Scottish Harp Competition includes the National Championship with its prestigious Herbert P. MacNeal Award, along with competition for all ages and category of competitor, from beginning to professional harpers. Through the year, the Society sponsors performances, presentations, workshops and classes, competitions, and gatherings all over the United States and Canada.
Founded in 1981, SHSA is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the Scottish harp, the clarsach, and its music both ancient and modern. Members of the Society include musicians, harp makers, and people who simply enjoy listening to the Scottish harp. SHSA is dedicated to the performing of Scottish Music, both new and old, on the small harps of Scotland. We support the playing of nylon, gut, wire strung, levered and unlevered harps.
About the Clan Currie Society
The Clan Currie Society, an American-based, international, non-profit cultural and educational organization, is the preeminent Scottish-American cultural society in preserving and promoting Highland heritage through a growing scholarship program and at Scottish Games and festivals, as well as community groups and classrooms. The Society has over 3,000 members worldwide that gather via the Society’s website (www.clancurrie.org) and at special events and clan gatherings.
The Society was originally formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959 to further the knowledge and appreciation of the MacMhuirich (pronounced MacVurich) bardic dynasty. The MacMhuirichs served for over 700 years as professional poets to the Lords of the Isles and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald among other prominent Highland clans and families. The Red Book of Clanranald, one of Gaelic Scotland’s literary treasures, was penned by successive generations of the MacMhuirich family.
Today, the organization is a respected producer of outstanding programs and events to honor Scotland’s rich culture and ancestry. The Society’s signature events include The Pipes of Christmas (www.pipesofchristmas.com) – a musical celebration of Christmas performed on bagpipes and brass, harp and fiddle, and organ – the annual observance of Tartan Day on Ellis Island (www.tartandayonellisisland.com) and the annual Clan MacMhuirich Symposium (www.clancurriegathering.com).