The Piobaireachd Society of Antigonish

Press Release
September 11, 2004

The Piobaireachd Society of Antigonish will host its fifth annual Pipers’ Memorial on Sunday, September 26th at St. Ninian’s Parish Cemetery, Antigonish, beginning at 2:00 PM. The celebration is open to all members of the public. Those planning to attend are advised to bring along a lawn chair. Light refreshments will follow at St. Ninian’s Place.

During the celebration, Jocelyn Gillis, Curator of the Antigonish Heritage Museum will present tributes to the memories of local pipers Allan Beaton, John Angus Boyd, Alexander (Sandy Mor) MacDonald, William Joseph MacDonald, Charles MacDougall, John (Shorty) MacDougall, John MacKinnon, and Charlie Joe MacGillivray.

Local piping instructor Scott Williams, piping columnist of the Celtic Heritage magazine, will introduce the pipers who will take part in the ceremony and the tunes they will be playing. Each of the pipers will play a piobaireachd (pronounced pee’ broch), which is a piece of classical music composed specifically for the Great Highland Bagpipe. The pipers performing at the Memorial will include Andrea Boyd, Mary Chisholm, Carolyn Curry, Adam Gillis, James Goldie, Ian Juurlink and Gerald MacDonald.

Piobaireachd is the oldest surviving form of Highland Scottish bagpipe music and was brought to Nova Scotia by pioneers in the 19th century. The rigours of daily life allowed little time to rehearse this music and few ceremonial occasions for its performance, however, and piobaireachd all but disappeared with the demise of the early settler pipers.

Formed in November 1996, the Piobaireachd Society of Antigonish has been working to restore an awareness of piobaireachd and is making it possible for local pipers to learn and play it. Each year the Society hosts a series of weekend workshops featuring instruction and recital performances by some of the world’s foremost experts in the art form. It makes printed collections of the music and other resource materials available to local pipers, and provides study and travel bursaries from time to time. Since 2000, the Society has hosted the annual ACPBA Piobaireachd Challenge, which attracts pipers internationally as well as from across the Maritimes. Memorials provide pipers with a non-competitive venue for the public performance of the ancient music of the Highland Scot.

The general public is invited to take light refreshments at St. Ninian’s Place following the Memorial ceremony. The Piobaireachd Society will hold a very brief Annual General Meeting at that time with President Brenda Riley presiding. Interested guests and new members are always welcome. For further information, contact the Society at scott.williams@ns.sympatico.ca.