Dear Friends of the Pipers' Gathering, There's an old saying that "time flies when you're having fun". There's more than a grain of truth in that, as we can hardly believe this will be the tenth season that we've been producing The Pipers' Gathering! We hope you'll join us for a special 10th Anniversary event from August 1-4, 2008 in Killington, VT.
The Board is busy finalizing arrangements with instructors in preparation for the opening of registration in late April. In the meantime, the Killington Grand Hotel & Conference Center is now prepared to book your room reservations. Booking information for the Killington Grand and nearby locations is available on our web site at: <http://www.pipersgathering.org/LodgingGrand.shtml> and <http://www.pipersgathering.org/LodgingOther.shtml> All of these rooms can be booked by calling 1-800-282-9955. Please be sure to ask for one of these rooms from our "block" of rooms for The Pipers' Gathering in order to get the better conference rates. It is helpful to all of us that you book one of these rooms, as the rates for using the convention facilities are based on us utilizing these rooms. Do not book through the Killington website, as you will not get our conference rates and the room will not help fulfill our committment. This year, our venue will be in the newly-renovated Snowshed Lodge, at the far side of the lake to the rear of the hotel. This means that we will be entirely separate from other hotel guests as far as workshops, symposiums, sessions and concerts are concerned. In other words, there will be more space to "do our own thing." We've put up some photos of the Snowshed Lodge on our website; you can view them at: <http://www.pipersgathering.org/announcement.shtml> ---------------- PIPING SOCIETIES ---------------- The Pipers' Gathering is an annual opportunity to learn about a wide variety of bagpipes. You may learn about their history, repertoires, and current research, among many topics. But what do you do the rest of the year? We would like to take this opportunity to familiarize you with several interesting and useful organizations which will help you in your quest for more piping information. We encourage you to join one or more of these organizations and support their missions to promote, educate, research, and preserve the pipes and their music. THE BAGPIPE SOCIETY ------------------- Website: <http://www.bagpipesociety.org.uk> Annual Membership: Pounds 17.00 (UK); $27.50 (US) The Bagpipe Society is for people who are interested in all the world's bagpipes. The Society publishes four Newsletters called CHANTER a year. These contain details of forthcoming events and sessions and a selection of reviews of recordings, concerts, festivals and published music. CHANTER also contains articles on bagpipes, their history and their music as well as technical articles on subjects such as construction, national piping styles and history of certain types of pipes. Also issued are guides to instrument makers, a membership list and a discography. The Society supports and promotes events that encourage piping of all kinds. The Society also sponsors an annual "Blowout" weekend. This event is held in the UK at the end of May and includes workshops, concerts, dances and competitions amongst other "bagpipey" happenings. THE LOWLAND AND BORDER PIPERS' SOCIETY ------------------------------------ Website: <http://www.lbps.net> Annual Membership: Pounds 12.00 (UK); Pounds 15.00 (overseas) The Society was formed in 1982 by a group of enthusiasts who were interested in reviving the bagpipes of the Scottish lowlands and border region. These pipes are bellows-blown with their drones issuing from a common stock and have been played in Scotland since at least the 17th Century. Benefits of membership include: * Our journal COMMON STOCK has been published twice yearly since 1983. Produced and edited by Jim Gilchrist, the journal comes out in June and December each year. It is FREE to members of the Lowland and Border Pipers' Society and represents tremendous value for money. * A newsletter contains details of forthcoming social gatherings, performances and other events. * the Society can direct members to fellow enthusiasts through their Membership Directory, giving useful information about other pipers in your area, and tuition available. * The Society has some sets of practice pipes available for hire to members. * We have a policy of publishing music reflecting past collections, but giving an airing to contemporary composition. * We organise concerts, competitions, teaching weekends and collogues (conferences) to promote playing and discussion. * We have a range of other MERCHANDISE including books, T-shirts and stickers. THE NORTHUMBRIAN PIPERS SOCIETY ------------------------------- Website: <http://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk> Overseas membership fees are: Ordinary member: Pounds 12 Under 16 years old: Pounds 9 Family membership: Pounds 17 The renewal period is April 1st of each year and fees can be paid by bankers order, PayPal (please add 50 pence to cover charges) or by international money order. There are surprisingly few players of these beautiful bagpipes and well over half of them live in the north of England. So how do the other players, spread all over the world, keep in touch? Through the Northumbrian Pipers' Society (NPS) and a loosely related e-mail list. The NPS was formed in 1928 to promote the playing of bagpipes indigenous to the north of England and has grown to some 600 members. In addition to a quarterly journal, the Society also publishes a veritable gold mine of tune books, and the reduced sales price to members is a great incentive to join. Basic contact information can be found at: www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk (the official, although sparsely documented Web site). Much more detail can be obtained from www.nspipes.co.uk/nsp/ including a list of pipe makers, a description of the pipes, their history and development and much more. Many players of Northumbrian small pipes keep in touch on an almost daily basis through the E-mail list at [EMAIL PROTECTED] NA PIOBAIRI UILLEANN -------------------- Website: <http://www.pipers.ie> Annual Membership: 45.00 euro, 19.00 euro for students and concessions In the 1960s very few people were playing the uilleann pipes and far fewer, perhaps only five, were engaged in the making of the instrument. It was a matter of grave concern that the art would decline further and so The Society of Uilleann Pipers known as Na P=EDobair=ED Uilleann (The Uilleann Pipers) was founded in 1968 at grassroots level by pipers themselves. The aims of the society are to perpetuate the spirit of the music, in particular the playing of the pipes and the production and maintenance of the instrument itself. To achieve these aims the single most important facet of the Society's activities is the teaching of the uilleann pipes, especially to young people, as it is through this that the playing of the instrument will increase, prosper and develop. The degree to which the work of the Society has borne fruit is reflected in the number of pipemakers, many professional, now producing pipes - about forty throughout the world. Benefits of membership include: * The newsletter AN PIOBAIRE is published five times a year and provides members with up to date news of events in addition to invaluable articles on piping. * Access to our website containing: - Archive of references to pipes and pipers - Transcriptions of tunes - Picture archive - On-line library - Video and sound archive - List of Pipemakers - Classified Buy and Sell section - On-line lessons (beginner, intermediate and advanced) - Discounts on purchases from our on-line web shop CUMANN NA PIOBAIRI (THE IRISH PIPERS CLUB - SEATTLE) ---------------------------------------------------- Website: <https://www.irishpipersclub.org> Annual Membership: $18.00 The Irish Pipers' Club, a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., promotes and preserves the playing of the uilleann pipes, Ireland's unique form of bagpipe. The club holds monthly meetings to conduct club business, play tunes, and help learning pipers. The club publishes a quarterly journal, THE PIPERS REVIEW, or IRIS NA PIOBAIRI, dedicated to helping pipers learn this difficult instrument. Members also have access to the staggering wealth of information contained in twenty-five years of back issues via the Internet. The club also publishes two books of interest to uilleann pipers: the John Walsh Collection of Pipe Friendly Tunes, and The Tutor, Irish Union Pipes, A workbook by Denis Brooks. -------------------- The Pipers' Gathering, Inc., presenter of The Pipers' Gathering, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Vermont. Our mission is to promote the music and playing of bagpipes in all their forms through workshops, education, social and cultural endeavors. The Pipers' Gathering is sponsored in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by contributions from people like you. Tax-deductible contributions are gratefully accepted by Mark Stayton, Treasurer, The Pipers' Gathering, Inc., 97 N. 3rd Ave., Royersford PA 19468. Thank you for your continued interest and support, The Board of Directors of The Pipers' Gathering, Inc: Rick Damon, Chairman Bill Gority, Board Member Dawn Littlepage, Secretary Richard Shuttleworth, Board Member Judy Stayton, Board Member Mark Stayton, Treasurer -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
