Join us on Friday evening, October 15, for a Celebration of Celtic Culture with Great Highland Bagpiping and Breton music & dance. The opening event of the annual Balmoral Classic Weekend begins at 7:30pm with performances by renowned pipers, all judges for the next day’s Classic Competition. At 9:00pm, Bagad New York playsBreton music and teaches attendees the dances of that very Celtic culture. All dances are taught, no experience needed, no partner needed.
Every major town and city in Brittany has at least one bagad and there are over eighty in total. There are also many bagadoù outside Brittany, owing to large-scale Breton emigration throughout France. Our featured band Bagad New York is the first, and so far only, bagad in the United States.
With members from New York City and Upstate New York, the Bagad plays venues from Manhattan to Saratoga Springs, and Festivals in New England, Pennsylvania, even Alaska.
For those unfamiliar with Brittany’s culture, a bagad is a Breton band, composed of bagpipes, bombards and drums. Though inspired by the Scottish example, a bagad plays Breton music, mainly for dancers. The music is evolutionary; new forms and musical ideas are continually implemented.
The venue for the event is the Wyndham University Inn Ballroom, 100 Lytton St, Oakland 15213.
After the Friday night celebration, the Balmoral Classic will continue over the weekend with piping competitions at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (Pitt Campus) on Saturday, a Saturday evening concert featuring award-winning band Eabhalfrom Northern Scotland, and ending with a Sunday morning workshop with Pipe-Master Ian Duncan, free to all pipers.