The Piobaireachd Society of Antigonish

Press Release
October 08, 2004

The Piobaireachd Society of Antigonish will host an evening recital of bagpipe music on Saturday, October 16th at Immaculata Auditorium, St. Ninian Street, beginning at 7:30 PM. The featured performer will be internationally renowned piper, Jim McGillivray (www.piping.on.ca ) of Aurora, Ontario. Opening for Mr. McGillivray will be two fine young performers, Tiber Falzett and Andrea Boyd, both students at St. F.X. University.

Tiber Falzett will open the program with a selection of light music on Highland pipes followed by selections on a set of Hamish Moore’s Border Pipes accompanied by Inverness fiddler Robert Fraser. Originally from New York State, Falzett’s family recently moved to Summerside, PEI. For the last year, he was a member of the 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band and travelled with them to Scotland where they competed for the Grade 1 World Championship. Falzett is pursuing a degree in Celtic Studies while at St. F.X.

Rounding off the first half of the two-hour recital is Antigonish’s own Andrea Boyd. Boyd advanced quickly through the amateur grades and was selected to represent Atlantic Canada at several international invitational competitions. She now competes with a great deal of success at the international level in the Professional category. She is the first local piper ever to be accepted to play in the Silver Medal competitions in Oban and Inverness, Scotland. Boyd spent the last three summers in Scotland, returning home each fall to resume her studies at St. F.X.

The third performer for the evening will be the featured piper, Jim McGillivray of Aurora, Ontario. A full time professional teacher of bagpipe music at St. Andrews College in Aurora, McGillivray is one of the few Canadian pipers to have won both Gold Medals (Oban and Inverness) and the Clasp at the Northern Meeting. He was, for a brief time, Pipe Major of the City of Guelph Pipe Band that won high acclaim in Grade 1 contests in the early 1980s. McGillivray is much in demand for workshops, summers schools and recitals across Canada, in the US and in Europe. He is in Antigonish conducting at two-day workshop for pipers in the region.

The doors open at Immaculata Hall at 7:00. Tickets are available at the door.