The Pipes of Christmas Was a Celtic Holiday Feast For The Ears

The Pipes of Christmas annual concerts returned for an eighteenth season with performances in New York on Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church at 73^rd Street and in Summit, New Jersey on Sunday, December 18 at 3:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church.

The church before the concert

These incredible concerts have the best bagpipers, drummers, violinist, bass, harpists, and brass players. Celtic interpretation of the holiday favorites such as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, “Joy to the World” and “Amazing Grace” all performed live on pipes, drums, harp, fiddle, organ and brass, accompanied by readings taken from Scottish, Irish, and Welsh literature was a night to remember.

Featured performers included James Robinson from the film Braveheart, New England fiddle champion Paul Woodiel, who was spectacular. Riverdance uilleann piper and flutist Christopher Layer, Gaelic Mod champion harpist Jennifer Port of Golspie, Scotland, the Solid Brass ensemble and the Pipe Major Kevin Ray Blandford Memorial Pipe Band from Redlands, California.

Two world premiere compositions. The “Old Bard of Stilligarry,” composed by Eyler Coates of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a piece for Scottish harp and chamber instruments, and the work was composed for the Society through a songwriting competition sponsored by the Scottish Harp Society of America. The “John Muir Suite,” composed by Steve Gibb of Inverness, Scotland, pays tribute to the life of Scottish naturalist John Muir, and was commissioned in honor of the Centennial of the US National Parks. The later was so spiritual and spectacular, we videoed the whole piece and will have it for you Christmas Eve.

Proceeds from the concert support an extensive music scholarship program, which includes annual gifts to the National Piping Centre and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, the Gaelic College of Nova Scotia, and Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. Proceeds also support the Society’s sponsorship of the US National Scottish Harp Championship, the Gaelic Literature Competition at the Royal National Mod, and an annual academic research prize at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye.

The concert is made possible by generous gifts from the Gaelic College of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the Grand Summit Hotel in Summit, New Jersey, and Celtic Life Magazine.

In addition to the Pipes of Christmas, the Clan Currie Society also hosts the annual Tartan Day on Ellis Island observance, which is estimated to be the largest Tartan Day event in the world, in addition to music events at the Seaside Highland Games in Ventura, California, the Scotland Games in Scotland, Connecticut, and the Clan Currie Culture Tent at the Central Virginia Highland Games in Richmond, Virginia.

Honorary chairs for the concert include The Honorary Antonia Romeo, British Consul General in New York, and renowned fashion designer and Scottish tartan aficionado, Jeffrey Banks.