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www.celtic-connection.com
DECEMBER 2013/JANUARY 2014
VANCOUVER POLICE PIPE BAND
Celebrating 100 Years of Piping and Drumming
The Vancouver Police Department and band look forward to celebrating and commemorating this outstanding achievement throughout 2014 and to
providing many more years of service to the Vancouver Police Department and citizens of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Information about the band is available on its web page at: www.pipeband.ca.
THE VANCOUVER Police Pipe Band in 1916 before they had kilts and were still wearing police uniforms. It shows the band marching past the still existing Beatty Street Armoury.
CELEBRATING 100 years in 2014, The Vancouver Police Pipe Band has come a long way. The band now wears full Highland dress uniforms.
Winter Harp: An annual tradition
By JOHN BRIGGS
VANCOUVER - In 2014 the Vancouver Police Pipe Band will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
The band was formed in 1914 at the request of Chief Constable Malcolm MacLennan starting with 10 constables learning bagpipes and five beginner drummers. Eight of the new pipers had never fingered a pipe chanter before.
The band made its first public appearance in April 1915 wearing police uniforms and the new peaked police hats in place of the customary VPD Bobbie helmets. The only tune all band members could play was, Mackenzie Highlanders.
By 1918 the band was in full Highland dress uniforms wearing the Davidson tartan in honour of Chief Constable MacLennan who had been killed in the line of duty in 1917.
The band currently wears the Prince Charles Edward Stewart tartan. This privilege was officially conferred upon the band by King George VI during his 1939 Royal visit to Vancouver.
As it nears its centennial year the band has over 30 members with a sizeable repertoire of traditional and contemporary pipe tunes. Band members include serving and retired Vancouver Police members, RCMP members, fire fighters and civilians.
The band performs an average of 70 performances a year at a variety of events throughout Vancouver and out of town. Almost from its inception the band has been the City of Vancouver's official band.
It has proven to be an excellent ambassador for the Vancouver Police Department, the City of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia while traveling throughout the province, nationally and internationally.
Two significant early trips in the band's history included traveling to San Francisco for the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 and to Mexico City in 1939.
The band has twice performed in the Royal Edinburgh Mlitary Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1980 and 1999.
It has also taken part in other notable international military tattoos and music festivals in Holland, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and throughout the United States. On several occasions the band has also performed in Hong Kong, Japan and Guangzhou, China.
While the band was in Hawaii in November 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
The governor of Hawaii requested the band perform at a retreat ceremony in Honolulu for a state tribute to the slain president.
Four pipers were also dispatched to play a lament on the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. In recognition of these two performances, each band member was later presented with a commemorative silver medal.
The band is proud of the fact that in 2014 it will be the only police pipe band in the world to have achieved 100 consecutive years of service under its original name.
VANCOUVER - It all started in a small chapel in Vancouver in 1993, when harpist Lori Pappajohn and poet-narrator Alan Woodland got together to develop an idea they thought just might catch on.
Now, 20 years of touring, thousands of audience-members, TV and radio shows and 12 CDs later, they have been proved very right, and the phenomenon that is Winter Harp is still going strong.
The 20th anniversary tour, with 14 shows in 11 western Canadian towns and cities, concludes on the Lower Mainland with shows in North Vancouver on December 18 and 19, in Vancouver at St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church on Saturday, December 21 and in Maple Rdge for two shows on December 22.
So what has kept audiences enthralled and coming back to the Winter Harp experience over the last two decades?
"One of the reasons Winter Harp has been a 20-year success is that it gives people Christmas," says Pappajohn.
"The familiar carols and the touching stories take people home - home to Christmas, with its rich and cherished memories."
That the concerts evoke a special holiday feeling is undisputed, but it is also true that the ensemble delivers a jaw-dropping show.
On a stage lit by dozens of candles,
LORI Pappajohn brings Winter Harp, a magical Christmas tradition, back to the Lower Mainland this month with candelight concerts and resplendent medieval attire.
Winter Harp's narrator Adam Henderson, along with musicians and vocalists clad in resplendent medieval attire, perform against a breathtaking backdrop of cathedral and snow.
The concert takes on the look of a luminous pre-Raphaelite painting, with golden Celtic and classical harps, drums, tambourines, temple bells, flutes and an assortment of ancient and rare instruments.
Audiences experience the ethereal-
sounding bass psaltery (the only one like it in the world), the organistrum (an early form of the hurdy-gurdy), and the Swedish nyckelharpa.
Performances feature a marvelous collection of music, songs and stories in celebration of winter and Christmas. The musical repertoire ranges from heartwarming carols and songs to Celtic, medieval, and world tunes.
This year, they include the Wexford Carol, Coventry Carol, Carol of the Bells, and the all-time show-stopping audience favorite Desert Caravan, which portrays the kings in their camel caravan travelling over the dunes.
For fans of Celtic music, the ensemble performs Prayer for St. Bridget, Butterfly Jig and Morning Dew.
Says Pappajohn, "It is hard to believe that what began as an idea and a dream became a wonderful reality that has grown and thrived for two decades.
"A milestone such as this provides a great opportunity to look back, to appreciate the warmth with which Winter Harp has been received and to thank everyone for sharing in our celebration of the spirit and joy of Christmas.
"Co-founder Alan Woodland (our original narrator) and I feel blessed that our creative alliance of music and stories has blossomed and grown for 20 years."
For full information on the Winter Harp 20th anniversary tour and how to get your tickets, visit winterharp.com.
A magical journey into the heart of Christmas with carols & stories to warm the soul
(JJinreR \ )dRp
Harps, flutes, medieval instruments, percussion, poetry & song
Dec. 18 & 19, Capilano University Dec. 21, St. Andrew's-Wesley, Vancouver Dec. 22, The ACT, Maple Ridge
Ticket info at www.winterharp.com
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