Welcome to U.S. Scots’ special look behind the Highland games and Celtic festivals across the United States. Nowhere else do you see the Scottish-American community in all its variety and splendor. During the course of this column, we plan to introduce many of the people and organizations that make up the life’s blood of games and festivals in the U.S.
This first article will set the spotlight on the U.S. Piping Foundation, as related to us by Maclean MacLeod. Founded in 1988, it was started by a group of enthusiasts who felt that solo piping in the United States should be up to international standards. They created the U.S. Piping Foundation to promote the higher standards of performance of American pipers at competitions. The foundation seeks members who have placed well in games competitions around the country.
The foundation’s primary means of promoting an international standard is through its own yearly competition in solo piping in both the Ceol Beg and Piobaireachd. The winner of the competition qualifies as an entrant to the Glenfiddich Competition in Scotland. The foundation pays the American winner’s expenses to the competition. In addition to the American, only nine other pipers (seven from competitions in Scotland, one from London, and one from Canada) are invited to this prestigious competition.
The foundation must be on the right track, because winners of the U.S. Piping Foundation Championship have placed in the top five in Scotland for the last seven years. Twice, the U.S. entrant has won the event. Both times this winner was Michael Cusack of Houston, Texas -- once in piobaireachd, and once in the march/strathspey/reel sets.
Since 1993, the U.S. Piping Foundation has also sponsored an amateur competition for Grade I pipers. The prize for the winner of that competition is a paid trip to the College of Piping in Glasgow for two weeks of instruction. This brings the winner in contact with pipers and instructors of international stature, as well as giving them a taste of piping in Scotland.
In solo piping competition, the piper submits six piobaireachd tunes and one is selected for him by the judge. This certainly adds to the unique challenge of this solo piping performance.
Piobaireachd is a unique form of pipe music. It begins with a single plaintive melody, which is then embellished by doubling and trebling the complications. Finally, it ends with a return to the original melody. It is quite a delightful style to listen to. The origin of the piobaireachd is shrouded in mystery, unknown in the rest of Europe, but its similarity to some styles of Indian sitar music is uncanny.
Pipers also compete in the “Small Music” or the Ceol Beg, a set of a march, a strathspey, and a reel. They are played at a tempo for dancing, although a little more stately. In competition, the set is played twice through. This is a very demanding task.
The future of the U.S. Piping Foundation is uncertain. It has had critical success, but it takes money to maintain such quality and achievement. The plan is to create a trust fund from which the competition and activities can be financed. After consulting financial experts, the foundation has concluded that a fund of $1.0 million would provide the means to operate on interest without depleting the principal.
Those interested in the U.S. Piping Competition, the work of the U.S. Piping Foundation, or the trust fund should contact Alfred A. Little at 610-566-3754 or write to the Foundation at 20 Wakefield Drive, Newark, DE 19711.
Additional Information about the U.S. Piping Championship held June 24 & 25, 1995. The winners were:
Amateur Grade 1
Piobaireachd
1. Scott McLeod (Elizabethton, TN)
2. Maureen Connor (Schenechtady, NY)
3. Mike Rogers (Laurel, MD)
4. Paula Glendinning (Ashton, MD)
5. Catriona Hill (Belleville, NJ)
March, Strathspey, Reel
1. Paula Glendinning
2. Mike Rogers
3. Ian Ferrick
4. Brian Meagher
5. Jason Barth
Overall Resuts
1. Mike Rogers (7pts Piobaireachd Preference, and the 2 week trip to the College of Piping!)
2. Paula Glendinning (7pts)
3. Scott McLeod (5 pts)
4. Maureen Connor (4 pts)
5. Ian Ferrick (3 pts)
Open Results
Piobaireachd
1. Seumas Coyne
2. Colin MacLellan
3. Donald MacPhee
4. John Bottomley
5. Skip Cleavinger
March, Strathspey, Reel
1. Seumas Coyne
2. Donald MacPhee
3. Scot Walker
4. John Bottomley
5. Peter Kent
Judges
Angus MacLellan (Glasgow, Scotland)
Donald Lindsay (Petersburg, New York)
Roddy MacDonald (Newark, Delaware)