OK, so the 2021 Annual Concert won’t be possible in the traditional format, but that’s not stopping us! Go to our home page, armaghpipers.com, to have another look at the Christmas carols concert. We want to do something similar for St Patrick’s Day, Wednesday 17 March, when we will post up a ‘virtual’ concert featuring many contributions recorded by our students, tutors and families.
The first big public concert by the Pipers Club took place on Friday 17 March 1967, in Armagh City Hall, now the site of the North-South Ministerial Council secretariat. There has been an Annual Concert every year since, often around that time of year but sometimes at Christmas or in the summer. In recent years these have been hugely popular events, filling the Market Place Theatre with superb music and song, students in blue polo shirts, tutors and backstage helpers keeping the programme running smoothly, proud parents, brothers, sisters and members of the public.
The Annual Concert has become a central element of the Club’s activity, with teaching in the first and especially the second term focused on getting each class group note-perfect in the pieces selected for their instrument and ability level. For many of our young people, this event was their first taste of performing live on stage to a large audience, and for more than a few, it opened the door to a career in music.
Will you help make the 2021 concert into an online showcase for our talented tutors, our brilliant young students, our shared cultural heritage, and the musical families that have kept the Pipers Club going since 1966?
To take part, just choose a tune, a song or a dance. This can be solo, in a family group, or in some other combination that is allowed under the current restrictions. Let us know what you’re planning, to avoid any clashes: email info@armaghpipers.com. Then record it on a phone (landscape mode), a tablet or a laptop and upload it to this link: https://bit.ly/3pSTxYC. Please start by introducing yourselves and the piece – maybe tell us where you learned it or why you like it.
Please aim to have your recordings with us by Monday 1 March, to allow time to edit everything together. The concert will be launched on our home page at mid-day on St Patrick’s Day and will be moved a few days later to another part of the website.
This is open to everyone who is or has been associated with the Pipers Club, not just our current students and teachers. In these difficult times, many of our students have so much of their learning online that they have decided to take a break from the Club, until we can resume face-to-face classes with all the fun that goes with that. We understand that. We are very grateful to those who have stayed with us for online lessons, and look forward to welcoming everyone else back as soon as we can do so.