(SUMMIT, NJ) -- The Pipes of Christmas will celebrate its 21st season with performances in New Jersey and New York this December. The holiday favorite opens on Saturday, December 14 at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, located at 921 Madison Avenue (at 73rd Street) for a 2:00pm performance. The concert moves across the Hudson River on Sunday, December 15 to Central Presbyterian Church located at 70 Maple Street in Summit, NJ with performances at 2:00pm and 7:00pm.
For those weary of the ceaseless stream of secular seasonal music from department stores to TV, the Pipes of Christmas offers a spiritual and traditional take on the season that connects concertgoers to the holiday in a fresh, meaningful way. The show features tunes such as, “Highland Cathedral,” Joy to the World, and Amazing Grace, all performed live on pipes and drums, harp and fiddle, and organ and brass and more. Not only does the performance define Christmas cheer, but also it inspires those of Celtic descent to retrace and reconnect to their ancestry.
The 2019 production will also mark the world premiere of “Mystical Nativity,” an original composition inspired by the 16th century masterpiece painted by Italian Renaissance master, Sandro Botticelli.
The concert presents the music of Christmas accompanied by readings taken from the Celtic literature of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Featured performers include singer Maddy Kearns of Glasgow, Scotland making her concert debut, James Robinson from the film “Braveheart,” New England fiddle champion Paul Woodiel, champion harpist Rachel Clemente, guitarist Steve Gibb from Inverness, Scotland and the Pipe Major Kevin Ray Blandford Memorial Pipe Band from Redlands, CA among many more.
Proceeds from the concert support an extensive music scholarship program, which includes the Carol Hassert Memorial Fine Arts Scholarship at Summit (NJ) High School as well as annual gifts to the National Piping Centre and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (both located in Glasgow, Scotland), the Gaelic College of Nova Scotia and Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas.
Proceeds also support the Society’s sponsorship of the US National Scottish Harp Championship, the Gaelic Literature Competition at Scotland’s Royal National Mod and an annual academic research prize at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye.
Each year, concert highlights are webcast in hi-definition over the Christmas holiday to a global audience. In cooperation with HomeTowne Television, the 2018 production was the recipient of two prestigious Telly Awards for production excellence.
The 21st annual concerts will also mark the debut of a new CD, the "Best of the Pipes of Christmas - Volume 2." This compilation CD follows the highly successful first volume CD which has already sold in excess of two thousand copies.
Like the first volume, the new CD presents a mix of traditional Christmas music along with a wonderful sampling of original compositions commissioned by the Learned Kindred of Currie for past concerts.
Developing and promoting young composers is a key component of the Kindred's mission statement.
Tickets may be purchased online exclusively through Brown Paper Tickets (be certain you select the event name and date in the search engine) or by phone at (800) 838-3006. Reserved patron seats are available at both venues.
About “The Pipes of Christmas”
Since making its debut in 1999, "The Pipes of Christmas" has played to standing room only audiences. Now a cherished holiday event, the concert provides audiences with a stirring and reverent celebration of the Christmas season and the Celtic spirit. Audience-goers return year after year to experience the program, many reporting that the Pipes of Christmas has become part of their family’s annual Christmas tradition.
The concert has been lavished with critical acclaim. In his review for Classical New Jersey Magazine, Paul Somers wrote, “The whole evening was constructed to introduce gem after gem and still have a finale which raised the roof. In short, it was like a well constructed fireworks show on the Glorious Fourth." The Westfield Leader described the concert as, “a unique sound of power and glory nowhere else to be found.”
Photo by Warren Westura
