Tickets are now on sale for the 14th annual edition of “The Pipes of Christmas.” The concerts open on Saturday, December 15 in New York City for two performances at 2 and 7PM at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, located at 921 Madison Avenue (at 73 Street). The concert moves to NJ on Sunday, December 16 with a concert at 3PM at Central Presbyterian Church, located at 70 Maple Street in Summit, NJ. The 2012 concerts are made by possible by a generous gift from Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland, Mercedes-Benz USA and the Grand Summit Hotel, home of the popular Hat Tavern.
Reserved Patron seats are available for all concerts for $150 each. General admission tickets for the NYC performance are $60. General admission tickets for the NJ concert are $50. Tickets for the NYC concerts may be purchased by mail using the ticket order form or by phone or credit card through SmartTix at www.smarttix.com or by phone at (212) 868-4444.
Champion harpist Jennifer Port of Golspie, Scotland
Voted by the editors of “NYC Top Ten” as one of New York’s Top Ten holiday events, the concert presents the music of Christmas accompanied by a selection of readings taken from the Celtic literature of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Featured performers include James Robinson from the film “Braveheart,” the Scottish Country Dance trio Local Hero, the Solid Brass ensemble, Scottish harpist Jennifer Port, and the Kevin Ray Blandford Memorial Pipe Band of Redlands, CA.
About “The Pipes of Christmas”
Since making its debut in 1999, The Pipes of Christmas has played to standing room only audiences. Given the popularity of the program, a second concert was added in 2001 to accommodate the high-demand for tickets.
That same year, the concert began an award-winning partnership with HomeTowne Television by broadcasting concert highlights on Christmas Eve to an estimated 40,000 cable subscribers. Four productions have received the prestigious Telly Award for television production excellence.
Now a cherished holiday institution, the concert has provided audiences with a stirring and reverent celebration of the Christmas season and the Celtic spirit. Audience-goers return year after year to experience the program, many reporting that the Pipes of Christmas has become part of their family’s annual holiday traditions.
Since its debut in 1999, the concert has received great critical acclaim. In his review for Classical New Jersey Magazine, Paul Somers wrote, “The whole evening was constructed to introduce gem after gem and still have a finale which raised the roof. In short, it was like a well constructed fireworks show on the Glorious Fourth. The Westfield (NJ) Leader described the concert as “a unique sound of power and glory nowhere else to be found.”
The Pipes of Christmas returns to NY and NJ this December
Proceeds from the concert fund the Clan Currie Society’s scholarship program. The Alex Currie Memorial Scholarship for Bagpipe was created in honor of the famed Canadian piper and is administered by the Gaelic College in Nova Scotia. The Pipe Major Kevin Ray Blandford Scholarship – is awarded annually by the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. Launched in 2010, the Private Bill Millin Memorial Scholarship for Bagpipe is administered by Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas.
The Col. William McMurdo Currie Memorial Scholarship for the Clarsach (Scottish harp) is awarded annually by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) in Glasgow, Scotland. The scholarship honors the Glasgow-born founder of the Clan Currie Society, an international, non-profit – 501(c) 3 – cultural and educational organization.
The Duais Clann Mhic Mhuirich or “Clan Currie Prize” is administered by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the celebrated Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye, the Clan Currie Prize is awarded annually to a student involved in Gaelic history and/or literature. The program is being spearheaded by Dr. Hugh Cheape, one of Scotland’s foremost authorities on Gaelic Scotland.
The Society was formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959 to further the knowledge and appreciation of the MacMhuirich (pronounced MacVurich) bardic dynasty. The MacMhuirichs (the Gaelic name for Currie and derivative spellings including Curry, Currey, MacCurry, etc.) served for over 700 years as professional poets primarily to the Lords of the Isles and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald, among other prominent Scottish families and clans. The Red Book of Clanranald, one of Gaelic Scotland’s literary treasures, was penned by successive generations of the Clan MacMhuirich.
Today, the Society is a leading foundation that focuses on celebrating the Scots-Gaelic origins of the famed literary clan as well as producing programs and events to honor Scotland’s rich culture and ancestry. The Society is a leading participant in New York Tartan Week activities and created and hosts the annual Tartan Day observance at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.