Turakina Caledonian Society

145^th. Annual Highland Games

New Zealands Oldest Highland Games

Saturday 31^st of January 2009

At Turakina Domain,Cameron Road

{hey Celtic Connexions will have a stall here}

Press release.

This years ceilidh at the Highland Games will be a special event.

The piping recitalist will be eminent Christchurch Piper and Gold Medallist Richard Hawke and then Traditional musicians Ben the Hoose.

Richard Hawke is one of 6 New Zealand Pipers to have won the Highland Society of London Gold Medal. Richard won his at Oban 2007.

Today Richard is the full time Pipe Band Director and piping  tutor of St Andrews College Pipe Band in Christchurch , where over 100 students learn piping or drumming.

Last years Recitalist Jamie Hawke is Richards eldest son.

We are also fortunate to have Richards wife Julie to judge the P& D Highland Dancing.

In 2007 Richard took St. Andrews College Number 1 Band to compete at the Worlds Pipe Band Championship in Glasgow and also competed with Distinction on the Solo Piping Boards in Scotland .

Ben the Hoose is a duo featuring fiddler Kenny Ritch from Orkney and guitarist and songwriter Bob McNeill from Glasgow . They met in New Zealand .

Their music is spirited interpretation of the dance music of Scotland , uniquely rhythmic and energetic their debut album "The Little Cascade" won Best Folk Album of 2006 at the New Zealand Music Awards.

 For further information & photos web page  www.benthehoose.com/press.asp

This year sees the introduction of an emerging Drummer class for learner side drummers along with reintroduction of the Tug of War event.

Come and enjoy a wonderful day of Scottish Music, Dance, Sports and fun

Pipe Bands registered for this year are ;

Grade 4,  Scots College, Paraparaumu & District Pipe Band, Red Heckle Pipe Band, Marton & Districts Pipe Band, Rangitikei Scots

Grade 3; Manawutu  Scottish Pipe Band no 2, Pipes & Drums of Horowhenua, City of Wellington Pipe Band, City of Hastings Pie Band, Taranaki Competing Pipe Band

 Youth , Napier Boys High School, Palmerston N Boys High School, Scots College

  Grade 1; Manawatu Scottish  Pipe Band no 1

Clan Societies registered to attend; Host Clan - MacMillan, Clan Cameron, Clan Davidson, Clan McArthur, Clan Wallace, Clan Macleod, Clan McPhee, Clan McNeil, House of Gordon ,Clan Keith

Programme; Commencing 8-30am. Morning; Highland, National & SOB Dancing, Solo Piping & Veteran's Recital, Solo Drumming, Primary School Children's Field Events, Massed Highland Fling, Lunch Time:Hill Race, Laments, Children's Games, Clan March, Afternoon; Pipe Band Contest, Youth Pipe Band Contest, Field Events, Free Fun, Dancing, Tug of War, Massed Bands, Evening; Haggis Ceremony, Prize Giving , Guest piper , BBQ, Ceilidh,  Clan Tents, Stalls, Food & Drink, Licensed Booth, Free Parking

 For further information please ring Roz Grant  06 3273861 - Tullochgorum@xtra.co.nz

IRISH PIPES AND GUITARS TO TOUR NZ IN 2009

see the Tour Schedule here

http://www.jon-sanders.com/webpilot/list/details.asp?l=1&contentid=7

Hamilton concert is in Biddies on the 27th, supported by the Accoustic Club.

        Renowned uillean piper and low whistle player Eoin Duignan and guitarist Jon Sanders are to tour New Zealand again in January 2009, following the success of the 2008 tour. The two begin the 3 week long tour in Auckland on January 20^th and work their way down the country, playing a mixture of concert halls, festivals, Irish societies, clubs and Irish bars.

       Eoin is a soulful powerhouse performer and gifted composer in the Irish Tradition.  Known for his dynamic playing of the uillean pipes and low whistles, he has composed original scores for film and TV. All three of his albums, Coumineol, Ancient Rite and Lumina have received critical acclaim. "If music offers a window to the soul, then that of the piper and low whistle player Eoin Duignan's is a kaleidoscopic fanlight into a world where the spirit reigns unopposed", is how Irish Times music critic Siobhan Long described him. Eoin was an integral member of the band The Wild Geese in the 1970's after which  he began developing his own distinctive musical style, original yet in the traditional mode. It ranges from haunting slow airs to lively percussive reels and jigs.

Jon is known for his own distinctive accompaniment, a modal percussive approach that drives tunes into the foot-tapping, dance zone. He has played with the best in the Irish Traditional world including Mary Black, Seamus Begley, Frankie Gavin and beyond. His latest album, Latitudes was called "a canny musical curiosity that refuses to be boxed in" by the Irish Times. Jon has previously toured NZ  with leading Irish musicians Seamus Begley, fiddler Mark Crickard, singer Michael Black sponsored by the Irish Arts Council and has such built up a significant reputation in the NZ music scene.

Eoin and Jon first teamed up in 1994 and by 1998 were playing regularly around their home base of Dingle, Kerry as well as abroad. They formed Aru in the late 1990's, with percussionist Steve White and which resulted in  the writing of some of the tracks on Jon's  Latitudes album.

More details of their music can be found on their websites www.duigo.com  and www.jon-sanders.com  or email Jon at jonsanders6@yahoo.com for bookings and further information.

So its the New Year.

You dont know what to do to fill your  time.

ok on anniversary weekend, the

January 23-26, 2009

Auckland Folk festival is on at Kumeu

The Auckland Folk Festival is an annual festival of music, song and dance for the whole family.    The festival is organised by members of Devonport Folk Music Club, Titirangi Folk Music Club, Auckland Bluegrass & Traditional Old Time Country Music Club, Tir Na Nog, and City of Auckland Morris Dancers.

Kumeu Showground is an ideal festival site, with a large flat camping area, plenty of parking, hot showers and both flush and portable toilets.  On site catering is provided and off site, there are shops and restaurants within walking distance.

Yours truly will be there for the weekend. 

see here

http://www.aucklandfolkfestival.co.nz/

and at

MOUNT MAUNGANUI

GAELIC FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND DANCE

on the 24th January

In "The Amphitheatre Area"

Coronation Park.   1 to 4pm

Pipe bands And Highland Dancing

Contact kevin nally for more info- 07-5791689

AND

see my website has been up dated again

I can do lots more Highland dress & accessories now

have a look see

www.celt.co.nz

and and

still got World pipe band champ dvd and cd here.see the web

PLUS

we sold out of `The Red Hot Chilli Pipers`

more coming soon

bob

This looks good.Please read on.

Hello from Anne-Marie,

I've taken an enormous leap of faith and managed to persuade two absolutely fantastic international musicians to give a house concert on Saturday 17 January 2009. I REALLY do need your help so PLEASE all come to this concert and tell your friends so that I can give them a good return! Please pass this email on to anyone you can think of who may be interested in early and/or traditional music.

Chris Norman was the flute player on the film Titanic. They are on route to the boxwood festival.

Date:                Saturday 17 January 2009

Time:                4.00 pm open mike

7.00 pm concert

Location:           198 Waikoukou Valley Rd

Waimauku 

(2km off SH 16 - turn right at the Muriwai intersection)

Cost:                $15 per adult

                        Children under 15 free of charge

Contact:            Anne-Marie Forsyth - 021 180 6230

                        anne-marie@easybooktours.co.nz

BYO Picnic - Plenty of parking is available. If you are coming long-distance then camping is also available.

There will be sales at the door but it would be helpful if I could have some ideas of numbers please.

Thanks so much in advance,

Anne-Marie

ABOUT

Chris NORMAN - David GREENBERG: DUO

Two of the most imaginative and dynamic performers in traditional and early music join forces to present a program that runs the gamut from renaissance, baroque, traditional and original music incorporating flutes, violins, vielles, pipes, keyboards, and voice. David Greenberg has gained the reputation in Cape Breton music circles as being one of the few people from outside the Nova Scotia island to have achieved a fluent command of the Cape Breton idiom. He has been lauded as "one of the most impassioned folk-fiddlers you'll ever hear" (James Manishen, Winnipeg Free Press). These two extraordinary performers have played together as sparring partners for more than a decade on the concert stage and recording studio.

David GREENBERG

. . . taught himself folk fiddle tunes by ear as a young child growing up in Maryland. He learned conventional classical violin through his teens, and in the mid 80s he studied baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie at Indiana University's Early Music Institute. DG spent the 1990s performing and recording with Tafelmusik while developing a specialty in Scottish baroque-folk music, recording three groundbreaking CDs in this genre with his group Puirt A Baroque. Immersing himself in Cape Breton traditional music, he also co-authored at this time the DunGreen Collection, a treatise on Cape Breton fiddle music, with his wife Kate Dunlay. He lives with his family in Halifax, Nova Scotia, dividing his time among various regular collaborators and an irregular one now and then just for fun. He directs the Tempest baroque ensemble in Halifax. www.dungreen.com

CHRIS NORMAN

Hailed as one of the finest flute players of our time, Chris Norman proves over and over again that the simple wooden flute is the original- and still unsurpassed- woodwind of expression, passion, joy and subtlety. His influential work as a performer, composer, recording artist and teacher has brought the simple wooden flute to the forefront as an alternative voice to the modern orchestral instrument.

Born in Halifax Nova Scotia, he began his musical studies at the age of ten. His interest in the traditional music of Maritime Canada; Scottish, Irish and French Canadian Styles, drew him from his early path studying classical flute. Chris embarked upon a quest to learn the music from the tradition bearers, travelling across North America and Europe. His subsequent work has redefined the boundaries of both traditional and classical styles, forging a synthesis that has been embraced by audiences, scholars, and critics of both schools.

Norman's flute playing can be heard featured in the Oscar winning soundtrack of Titanic as well as other films including Stone of Destiny and Soldier. His solo CD releases have received unanimous praise from critics and audiences alike. His debut Man With the Wooden Flute made the Billboard crossover charts for 12 weeks. Since that time Norman has collaborated, toured and recorded with some of today's most seminal artists in the genres of early music and traditional folk music.

Chris regularly teaches master classes and has conducted symposia at many schools of music around the world. He has inspired thousands of musicians both young and old as the founder and director of the Boxwood Festivals and Workshops. Boxwood has established a worldwide presence celebrating and sharing the music and traditions of the flute, inviting a multicultural and multi-disciplinary dialogue between performers, teachers, scholars, students, and makers of the flute through annual week-long festivals taking place in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and Rotorua, New Zealand. In each case, Boxwood's participants join with members of the local community for music, concerts, dances, classes, and informal sessions creating a tightly woven bond for an experience to be treasured. Under Norman's guidance Boxwood has followed the paths of musical oral tradition in Scotland, Ireland, Cape Breton, Quebec, and New England, as well as exploring music of Breton, Galician, Cuban Charanga, Native American and classical Indian styles by inviting tradition bearers, top players and musical visionaries to share their music. In short, Boxwood aims to present ideas that encourage musicians to leave the printed page and find their own voice.

ok be quick .still time for xmas pressies.

`RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS

NEW CD `BLAST`ALSO ON DVD.

AND SOME AWESOME `CHILLI PIPERS` T SHIRTS

STILL GOT SOME WORLD PIPE BAND CD`S AND DVD`S

IDEAL STOCKING FILLERS

AND

ALSO

SHARON SHANNON

GRADA

WOLFSTONE

OLD BLIND DOGS

SHOOGLENFITY

PHONE ME ON 078569501 AND IT CAN BE AWA TO YOU FOR XMAS

BOB

Well another year draws to a close,where do they go.

Still time to shop online for that elusive present.right here

www.celt.co.nz

The New Year starts with us at Waipu.Hogmanay in the street with friends.magic so hope to see you at the games at least.If you have not been to Waipu Games its time to treat yourself.

Also this year we have a Celtic festival starts in Waipu right after the  Games

see here

http://www.waipumuseum.com/html/attractions.htm

and while you are there you might want to wander the new look Waipu site.

And here`s advance warning of MacNeil Clan Gathering in Christchurch on the 21st and 22nd of March 09.  

Scottish Clan Gathering.doc

Slainte`

Well yes its been a busy month

 St Andrews looming this weekend

A month today is Christmas.(sigh)

 so get oot this weekend and enjoy

2 offerings locally

Me mate Noel has put together a great night out

 Celtic Arts and Heritage  Waikato Trust

presents

St. Andrews Day Ceilidh

St Andrews Church Hall, Te Aroha Street,Hamilton

Sat 29th @. 7.30

Tickets in here  $20 or from Noel

Band is Tamlin plus Support

Time to get the Kilt out

AND

Te Aroha Caledonian Society

present

at Te Aroha RSA

an Afternoon `St Andrews` Delight

from 12 to 4 pm. 30th November

MC George Inglis

Haggis ceremony

Piper Ronnie Craig

Variety of other Entertainment

A great way to finish the month off

Remember if you are at a bit of a loose weekend come to Hamilton gardens and see `Whats happening`at the Rosebowl Festival.see here for he programme.

http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/index.asp?PageID=2145852783

great photo of our own Julie.

DONT MISS THIS EVENT AND THE GREAT JOB THE STAFF HAVE MADE OF THE GARDENS.

AS PART SPONSERS OF THE EVENT,WE WILL HAVE A STALL ONSITE  AS WELL

SEE YOU THERE

and here`s a review of the main singers event at 5pm.thank you to Beverley and the New Zealand Folk Group.

If you like a bit of politics with your folk music, don't miss the chance to

catch Alistair Hulett and David Rovics in concert.They are both

thought-provoking and brilliant songwriters and fantastic performers.

What a night we had in the Bunker last night! Best music I've heard in

years.And the place was full of animal rights activists and anarchists. I

wondered where all the usual folkies were.

Alistair's music is known and loved by most of us and it's always great to

see and hear him again. He delivered an hour of great songs, some

traditional some self-composed, all delivered in his wonderful throaty

burr.A special treat was to hear him with his former musical cohort Jeanie

Reid and her daughter Andrea.

Highlights for me were his take on The Wife Of Ushers Well,Buy Us A drink

and Playing For Traffic.

Dave Rovics was a bit of an unknown quantity but soon put paid to that. He

is a relentlessly thought provoking writer of songs, pulling no punches when

making his point, but delivering his political material with humour and his

love songs with sensitivity, tho never enough to ruin the mood of the songs.

Topics were wide ranging and pertinent, covering not just American issues

but those around the world and of concern to us all. And somehow he had us

all singing subversive choruses about burning things down and going "har har

har" like pirates. Standout song for me was What Would Jesus Bomb, a

stunning take on the politics and religion argument.

Do not miss the rare chance to hear these two compelling and superb

songwriters if they pass through your town.

Beverley Young.