2024 ASF TARTAN WEEK EVENTS
A great way to begin parade day as pipe bands from near and far join us with great music and dance. Once again we will be filling the air with the sound of bagpipes in the run up to the Parade.
Event Information
- DATE: Saturday April, 6th, 2024
- TIME: 10:30 AM - 12.45 PM
- LOCATION: Bryant Park
- TICKETS: No tickets required. The event is for all the community.
Musical program includes:
- Shot of Scotch
- Lindsay School of Dance
- Noisemaker & Ainsley Hamill
- Robert Gordon Pipe Band, Scotland
- NYU Pipe Band
- Noisemaker with guest Ainsley Hamill
- Stony Creek Fife and Drum Corps
- Merchiston Castle School Pipe Band
- Shamrock and Thistle
Performers
Shot of Scotch, Highland Dance Troupe
The members of Shot of Scotch all have solid backgrounds in competitive highland dance and many are teachers with a wide range of skills including Scottish country dance, singing, guitar, fiddle, tap dance, acting and more that allows them to explore far beyond the expected bounds of a Scottish highland dance troupe!
Shot of Scotch has been seen performing all across the lower mainland and around the world. A highlight of 2016 was an invitation to Paris France to perform and teach at the 8th Annual International Body Music Festival, a large international gathering of top caliber artists from all across the globe.
The dance company has worked with Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas, the Royal Academy of Bhangra, the Seaforth Highlanders, RCMP Division “E” Pipes and Drums, popular Celtic band Blackthorn, Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra, among may other pipers, fiddlers and renowned musicians. The dance company has also collaborated with other ethnic dance groups including Serbian and South Asian troupes for a unique multi-cultural persenation.
Shot of Scotch brings innovation, showmanship, and passion for highland dancing to every event.
Joy Dunlop
Raised in the small village of Connel on the west coast of Scotland, Joy was steeped in the musical traditions of Argyll since childhood. While maintaining a deep connection to these roots, she has risen to great honours as a vocalist, with a string of awards including the Royal National Mòd Gold Medal and two consecutive nominations as Gaelic Singer of the Year.
A passionate ambassador of Gaelic language and culture, Joy is also in demand as a television presenter, dancer, journalist and educator. She recently joined acclaimed Scottish duo Twelfth Day on the collaborative album Fiere and has also lent her talents to recordings with numerous other international artists.
A seasoned and spirited live performer, Joy has toured from Europe to North America to New Zealand and performed at international festivals including Celtic Connections and Celtic Colours.
Seán Heely
Seán Heely is a U.S National Scottish Fiddle Champion as well as an award-winning Irish Fiddler, singer, and harpist in the folk and Gaelic traditions of Scotland and Ireland. Seán holds a degree from University of South Carolina in Classical Violin Performance and was a 2019 Artist in Residence at Strathmore Music Center in Maryland. An educator in demand, Seán is an Adjunct Instructor at American University, he has also been on the faculty at several summer camps such as Acadia Traditional School of Music and Arts, Boxwood Music Festival, Upper Potomac Fiddle Retreat, and Fiddle Hell Festival. He has performed in Scotland, Ireland, South America, Germany and at prestigious venues in the U.S such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and Strathmore Music Center.
Seán is this year's 2024 New York City Tartan Week Mòd song competition winner.
Kevin Elam
Kevin Elam is a multi-instrumentalist and 2019 All-Ireland Champion in Men's Singing. Although he boasts a strong background in classical piano and a degree in Jazz studies, Kevin is rooted in Irish traditional music. In addition to playing the tin whistle, guitar, mandolin and banjo, Kevin has also honed his skills as a singer and interpreter of Irish traditional song, cultivating a significant repertoire of ballads. This intensive practice and study of the tradition were formally recognized in August of 2019, when he was awarded first place in Men's English Singing at the 2019 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, held in Drogheda, Ireland, and took home the coveted “Dalaigh Shield”, an award only won by one other American in its 62-year history.
Noisemaker
Noisemaker is the award-winning writing partnership of Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie. Both graduates of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the pair work throughout the UK and internationally to create and develop innovative, original stories that celebrate and challenge the form of musical theatre.
Now ten years later, Noisemaker have worked across the globe: from Glasgow to New York, London to Chicago, we’ve collaborated with a wide variety of companies and artists to find new and compelling ways of storytelling and further explore how music and song may be used to connect with and affect our audiences.
As a Scottish partnership, we began writing and developing our work in Glasgow initially before expanding to theatres and audiences throughout the UK. In 2015, we were chosen by Walt Disney Imagineering and NMI Inc. for their New Voices Award. This scheme recognises the most promising new writing talent in the field of musical theatre and resulted in a concert of our work in Burbank, Hollywood plus expert songwriting mentorship. It also began to share our work on an international scale.
Ainsley Hamill
Ainsley Hamill - One of the UK's leading and most diverse singers, Ainsley has a long list of nods including the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Finalist and Gaelic Singer of the Year Finalist at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.
She was recently named in The List’s Hot 100 Scottish artists.
Shamrock and Thistle
The Shamrock and Thistle Pipe Band was founded in February 1974 under the direction and tutelage of Pipe Major Dennis Staer and Drum Sergeant, William King, Sr.
The original idea for the band was that of James Curry, Esquire, a Toms River attorney whose love of bagpipe music, although not a player, promoted the initial gathering of prospective students. Through long and tedious lessons, and countless hours of practice, the band began to emerge.
After 49 seasons the Shamrock and Thistle Pipe Band has compiled an admirable record, including numerous appearances at festivals, ethnic affairs, and bicentennial events. The band attended dedications all over New Jersey and New York , including the New Jersey Vietnam Memorial, Gulf War Veterans in Seaside Heights, and the 175th Anniversary in Freehold for the Adelphia Fire Company.
The bright yellow color of the dress MacLeod Tartan, the "skirl" of the pipers and drummers led by Drum Major Thomas J. King, Pipe Major William J. King, Pipe Sergeant Keith A. Tice, and Drum Sergeant John J. King, will surely strike a thrill in your soul. Our instructor for piping is: John Cumming for beginners. Drumming instructors are: Drum Sergeant John J. King for snare drummers, Thomas J. King for bass, and Tim Cook for tenor drummers.