NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER College of Piping. & Celtic Performing Arts

Transcription

1 NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2011 College of Piping & Celtic Performing Arts S Karen Hatcher Executive Director James MacHattie Director of Education pi Kylie MacHattie Piping Instructor Chris Coleman Drumming Instructor Kearsney Smith Highland Dance Instructor Jane Dunn Registrar/Gift Shop Manager 619 Water Street East Summerside PE C1N 4H Our newsletter is published every month. It is available in hardcopy and our website The College website is a wonderful source of information on the College of Piping and its activities. You will find up to date information on the blog, access to our Facebook page and Twitter account, pictures of events at The College and at events we have attended. Class offerings, staff biographies, College history, competition results, photos and much more can be found on the site. Take a look and find out more about us. Monthly Newsletter for the Students, Families and Friends of the College Being a part of the community Welcome! Hope all our students are enjoying, dancing, drumming and/or piping. It is wonderful to see everyone so excited when coming in for class and it was great to meet our Charlottetown and Cornwall class members. We are honored to have you as a part of our Celtic Arts family. Whether you are taking instruction in piping, drumming or dancing, you are learning from dedicated, talented and passionate teachers who have experience and expertise in their discipline. During this year we will all be endeavoring to help you reach your potential, have fun, and learn what The College of Piping can do to help you further your goals. Communication is important. We will try to keep you up to date with what is going on at the College and with all the programs. We need to have some feedback from you as well. We have great instructional and administrative staff with passion and vision for the college. Instructors will be meeting with students and parents over the next few weeks to introduce themselves and set positive, realistic goals for the first term. This will be a great opportunity to share expectations. Jane Dunn, our registrar, is available to answer any questions you may have about class times, locations or payments. She can be reached at the College of Piping at or at jane.dunn@collegeofpi Fantastic News! The Grade 4 College of Piping Band won the North American Championship and the Grade 5 College of Piping Band placed 5 th at the North American Championships. Lots of study, practice and hard work have paid off for the members of both these bands. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You We couldn t do it with out you! We had over 150 volunteers help with College of Piping activities. Faithful volunteers helped put up the tents for the Highland Gathering, staffed the canteen for Highland Storm, dismantled the roof in the amphitheater in September, helped with tickets for the Bagad Cap Caval concert, mowed the lawn at The College, maintained the wardrobe for Highland Storm, prepared lunches for the judges at the Highland Gathering, chaperoned for band and dance at off Island competitions - the list could go on for several pages. With the time, effort and enthusiasm that our volunteers give it is absolutely amazing what The College of Piping can accomplish. No Classes There will be no classes on Thanksgiving Day, or during the Christmas break. We will be closed for the same two week period that the schools are closed for the Christmas break. Snow, Wind Ice, Sleet, Freezing Rain - Storms In case of bad weather make sure you check The College of Piping blog at or listen to the radio to see if we are closed. The blog will always have up to date information. We do not always follow the school closings.

2 Ideas Please After an expensive trip the North American Championships in August the Band Travel Fund is depleted. Next year will involve lots of travel again. Any ideas for events, activities, fundraisers etc. would be much appreciated. Please contact Chris Coleman at com with any ideas you have. Pipers and Drummers - Have you written your letter?? Piping and drumming students are reminded to write their thank you letters to Doug and Debbie Hall. Please turn them in to your instructor on or before the week of December 12, Doug and Debbie Hall generously cover your tuition under the Hall Scholarship program. This covers your weekly instruction, some of your instrument fee, and more. Please tell the Hall s how you are enjoying your classes, what you are learning, and anything else you think they would like to know. They provide us with this amazing opportunity and we need to let them know how much we appreciate their thoughtfulness. Pipe and Drum Deposit All College of Piping students who have a College Pipe or Drum need to pay a deposit. Just to keep everyone in the loop, a separate bank account has been set up for these deposits. None of this money will be used, but will be held as long as you are in possession of an instrument that is owned by The College. Once the instrument is returned in good condition, your deposit will be returned to you. The amount of the deposits will be small in relation to the value of the instrument and are as follows: Bagpipes/Chanters: $ Drums/Carriers: $50.00 **NOTE: For drummers: There is regular wear and tear on drums (snare heads can break, etc.), so don't think that a broken drum head from regular wear/age will void your deposit. It happens. Chris, Chris and Sam will know if any problems arose from poor care of the instrument (stored next to a heater/cold area, drum was dropped, gave it a bath, etc.), so be sensible with your instrument and it will be fine. Notes to Parents Dance Parents Committee Meeting If you have a student registered at The College of Piping in the Highland or Step Dance program you are a member of the Dance Parents Committee. Parents from Cornwall, Charlottetown and Summerside are invited to a meeting at the College of Piping in Summerside on October 5 th at 7 pm. It is important that we hear your input and ideas as the Dance Parent Committee holds its first meeting of the year. Your support is appreciated. Highland Dancers Parent Workshop On Wednesday, October 12th at 7:30pm in the Main Hall, there will be a parent workshop facilitated by Kearsney's mother, Melaney Smith. It is the "need to know" for all parents involved in Highland Dancing and a great way to meet other parents. There will be coffee and snacks served afterwards. Melaney Smith has been involved in Highland Dancing for over 40 years as a dancer, adjudicator, teacher, parent and is also the Secretary of the Official Board of Highland Dancing (South Africa). Be sure to save this date! Mark your calendar - December 18 h Our Christmas recital will be held in the afternoon with the location to be announced soon. It will be a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase what they have learned and for parents, grandparents and friends to support them in all their efforts. A terrific way to enjoy the holiday season. Competition Results Not only were we busy at The College this summer with Highland Storm but almost every weekend our bands and dancers were competing on the summer Highland Games circuit. You can see the results of all the hard work and practice our students put in though out the year on our website Go to Competition Results to see the placements and the Photo Gallery to see pictures taken at each of the games. The summer started with the Moncton Highland Gathering and then proceeded to the Summerside Highland Gathering, the Pugwash Highland Games, Canadian Highland Dance Championships, Antigonish Highland Games, New Brunswick Highland Games (Fredericton), North American Championships (Maxville ON), Montreal Highland Games and finished with the PEI Highland Games in Eldon. Our Piping instructors competed in Scotland and their results are listed as well. The Atlantic Canadian Champion Supreme Winners, winners of the aggregate totals of the summer Highland Competitions, are also listed. To those who competed and represented The College of Piping, congratulations on all your achievements. Name Our Newsletter! Since the newsletter is for you, YOU are the perfect person to come up with a name. Please submit your idea to name The College newsletter to jane.dunn@collegeofpi by October 27 th. T The winner will receive two tickets to next year s Highland Storm production. A decision will be made in time for November s edition of the newsletter.

3 Braemar Gold Medal On September 3, the College s Director of Education, James MacHattie, won the prestigious Braemar Gold Medal at the Royal Braemar Highland Gathering in Braemar, Scotland. The Royal Braemar Gathering came into existence in 1815 and in 1848 became known as the Royal Braemar Highland Gathering with the first appearance of Queen Victoria. Royalty attending the games is a tradition that has not stopped since the days of Queen Victoria. Every year the Queen and Prince Phillip attend the games while summering at Balmoral Castle. This year they attended the games with the Prime Minister of Britain, David Cameron and his wife. The Braemar Gold Medal is one of three highly coveted gold medals (the other two being the Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal and the Northern Meeting Gold Medal). James is only the fourth Canadian to win the Braemar Gold Medal. Scott MacAulay, the College s Founding Director, is one of the Canadians that have won this premier prize. The other two winners, Robert Crabtree and Andrew Rogers, both have College connections as well. They were both students at the College during their development. James played the classic piobaireachd, In Praise of Morag to win the contest. The medal is solid gold and is valued at over $1500. It is a prize that would stand proudly in any piper s trophy case but the prestige of winning the contest has more value than any medal, trophy or cash prize. Thank you to Sandra Bald Jones The College of Piping is honored to have Sandra Bald Jones instructing Highland dance classes while Kearsney is away. Sandra comes from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and now resides in Hamilton Ontario, Canada. Before emigrating to Canada, she was a competitive Highland Dancer, winning many awards and Championships including two World titles, Junior and Adult. As a dancer, she has been featured on Scottish TV programs and touring shows, and was presented to the Queen following a Royal performance at Holyrood Palace in Scotland, and again at the Edinburgh Tattoo in Over the years, Sandra has choreographed for many groups, both amateur and professional. Her own Schiehallion Dancers have carried the banner of Highland Dancing with performances across Canada, United States, Great Britain, Macau and Europe in such venues as the Edinburgh Tattoo, Berlin Tattoo, and Brittany s L Orient Celtic Festival. Sandra is a Founder and one of the Directors of the professional dance ensemble, The Scottish Dance Company of Canada. She was a choreographer for the show Needfire where she worked with Director Kelly Robinson. This choreography was chosen for the 1998 Governor General s Performing Arts Awards, and was also nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award. Sandra Bald Jones is a Fellow and Examiner of the Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance, Fellow and Life Member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing, and an adjudicator with the Scottish Official Board s panel of Judges. Judging, teaching, and choreographing have taken Sandra all over Canada, the United States, Scotland, Australia, Europe, South Africa and New Zealand. She is also an Independent Member of ScotDance Canada and Life Member of ScotDance Ontario. The Sandra Bald Jones Dance Studio have over the years, produced many Champion Highland Dancers, who have won major Highland dance titles. Sandra was recently awarded The Atholl Clasp from the SOBHD for her services to Highland dancing Worldwide. Instructors for 2011/2012 year James MacHattie Director of Education Kylie MacHattie Bagpiping Instructor Sarah Simpson Bagpiping Instructor-Charlottetown Shanae Rogers Bagpiping Instructor Chris Coleman Drumming Instructor Sam Ramsay Drumming Instructor - Charlottetown Christopher Rodgers Drumming Instructor Kearsney Smith Highland Dance Instructor Samantha MacKinnon Step Dance Instructor (Lead) Summerside and Cornwall Charlotte MacKenna Step Dance Instructor Summerside Rebecca Dawson Step Dance Instructor Charlottetown Shanae Rogers Step Dance Instructor Summerside

4 Our Busy Summer at the College Highland Gathering The Summerside Highland Gathering was re-launched in June with great success. We hosted 11 pipe bands, including Bagad Cap Caval from France, 93 Highland Dancers, 93 Step Dancers, 45 Solo Pipers and 21 Solo Drummers. Over the weekend, we had 815 people pay admission at the gate, 472 competitors and 122 Volunteers take part in the event. Mark you calendars now for next year June 22, 23 & 24, 2012 Royal Visit The College of Piping realized some exceptional media coverage this summer that started with CTV and the Summerside Highland Gathering and then continued right into the Royal Visit. We had the privilege of having 4 pipers and 2 drummers at the airport for the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Our performers made their way to the bottom of the stairs of the plane and played as the Royals exited the plane. The next day, the entire cast of Highland Storm, made their way to Dalvay by the Sea. The planning committee provided The College with a motorcoach to transport us to the event. We departed Summerside at 6:00 am to arrive, ready to perform for a 7:00 am dress rehearsal. The College of Piping had their own stage and when the Royals arrived in front of us, they stayed for the entire 4 minute performance. It was teaming down rain and the cast did an outstanding job. After the Dalvay event, the Royals made their way to Summerside, where we had pipers, drummers and dancers on the waterfront to perform. Highland Storm We added 10 performances to Highland Storm this year. The reviews were outstanding and media coverage Live at 5 (twice), Compass (twice), 5 reviews on Tripadvisor.ca and the front page of the entertainment section of The Guardian. The addition of Ward MacDonald and Christine Gallant and the return of Leah Brown, made for a dynamic musical team. James, Chris and Ward worked through the winter to create music, specifically for Highland Storm. Kearsney joined our team in March and started the choreography right out of the gate. The show was a success. Other Courses Offered at The College of Piping Piping for Highland Dancing Cross-disciplinary with Highland Dance This course will give pipers the repertoire and experience needed to be proficient at piping for highland dancing and hireable! Highland Dance competitions often have trouble finding qualified pipers to hire. The course includes time in the Highland Dance studio to familiarize pipers with the steps. October 10 to December 12 Piping # hour/week January 9 to March 12 In the Highland Dance studio # hour/week tuition: $ Piobaireachd Workshop All students have the opportunity to work on piobaireachd during their weekly classes; this workshop will take a look at a range of topics depending on the experience and interests of the registrants. Focuses could include the current or next year s Medal Lists, canntaireachd, manuscript traditions, and myriad other topics. November (TBD) Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm price: $50 (includes lunch) Highland Open Class A year round opportunity for retired or recreational dancers to get into the studio to stay fit and have fun! September to June Open to all levels. # hour/week tuition: $125 Check your Educational Handbook for courses offered in the 2012 Never to late! It is never too late to learn! Adult instruction is available in all our disciplines and our instructors welcome you to register for introductory or refresher classes. Physical and mental exercise keeps your body in shape and your mind sharp. There is an adult class on Wednesday nights for interested in learning drumming.

5 Notes on our new Instructors. Sarah Simpson Highland Bagpipe Instructor Sarah started piping at age eight. Under the influence of Scott MacAulay, Matt MacLaine and now James and Kylie MacHattie, she has become a successful amateur competitor. Sarah has been at The College under the Doug and Debbie Hall Scholarship for the past 10 years, and has been recipient of the Earnest Shaw Memorial Scholarship, Margaret MacAulay Scholarship and the Scott MacAulay Scholarship for Piobaireachd. Sarah has spent countless hours at The College learning, practicing, rehearsing, teaching and preforming, and she considers The College her second home. She is very involved in both The College's pipe bands, being a member of the Grade 4 Band and Pipe-Major of the Grade 5 Band, and she is a performer in Highland Storm. Outside of piping, Sarah enjoys boating, fiddle, piano, art, travel and history. Christopher Rodgers Drumming Instructor Christopher Rodgers began snare drumming at The College of Piping in 2000 with the support of The Doug and Debbie Hall Scholarship program. Eventually progressing into the grade four band, he had the pleasure of contributing to the bands North American victory in Under drumming instructor Jeremy White, Christopher paid his first visit to The World Pipe Band Championships in 2007 with the grade three band placing 4th over all. Shortly after the bands trip to Scotland Christopher left his home on Prince Edward Island to play with The Triumph Street Pipe Band in Vancouver, British Columbia. His two seasons with the band led him to realize his dream of playing in the finals in the grade one circle at The World Pipe Band Championships. Christopher studied Jazz drum set and percussion for a year at Capilano University while in Vancouver to further hone his skills. In March of 2011 however, Christopher was pleased to return to Summerside to play again with the band he grew up in and be part of yet another North American Championship title. Charlotte McKenna Step Dance Instructor Charlotte lives in Newton, P.E.I. and is currently a grade 12 student at Kinkora Regional High. She has been dancing since age six, and has studied step dancing under Judy MacLean, Jennifer Carson, Colleen Taylor-MacMillan and Shirley Burke. She has competed in many competitions locally, and in the Maritimes, and has danced in Ceilidhs, fundraisers, and local events on PEI. She has won many awards for solo, duet, and group numbers, and was invited to dance in Disney with her dance troupe in She participates in the B.A.T.D.s each year in Nova Scotia and was awarded a scholarship for her excellence in dance. Charlotte was a cast member of Highland Storm for 4 years. Rebecca Dawson Step Dance Instructor Rebecca resides in Hampton, P.E.I, and has been step dancing for over twelve years. She began step dancing under the direction of Colleen Taylor-MacMillan at the age of five, competing all over the Maritimes, and was also invited to perform at Disney in Rebecca has won numerous awards in solo, and group numbers, and has performed locally for countless years in Ceilidhs, fundraisers and concerts. She has been a cast member of Highland Storm the past two years, and is excited to teach this upcoming fall. Rebecca is planning to study business at the University of Prince Edward Island this year. Shanae Rogers Step Dance Instructor Shanae Rogers is 16 years of age, and first began studying at The College of Piping when she was three in step dancing, under the direction of Colleen Taylor- MacMillan. She was part of the dance company in 2005, and traveled across the Maritimes competing for many years. When Shanae was eight, she began studying bagpiping under the Doug and Debbie Hall Scholarship program. With the direction of many bagpiping instructors, they led her to the grade 4 band. She has had the privilege to travel across the Maritimes for several years, and then to the North American Championships, and be a part of the North American title in Shanae is involved in the Three Oaks Senior High Concert Band, as well as vocal ensemble. She hopes to begin to study and become a Music teacher when she graduates grade 12 this year.

6 Newsletter Produced by Jane Dunn, Edited by Karen Hatcher Designed by Anna MacDonald A... y e n r u o J s r e Summ Moncton Summerside sh Antigoni Maxville on Frederict Montreal Home!