28 April 2012 marks the 34^th year of the Southern Maryland Celtic Society Festival Saturday, in beautiful Calvert County Maryland. This is the oldest Celtic celebration in Maryland!

I hope you’ll come to the competition, whether you compete or not. If you want to compete you’ll find the online registration (there will be no onsite registration) on cssm.org/harp. And if competition performance is not for you, come out anyway – we always need volunteers (who get complimentary admission to the games – just leave me a comment if you are interested).

Our Festival was chosen in 2000 by Congressman Steny Hoyer to represent Southern Maryland in the national “Local Legacy” project of the Library of Congress’ Bicentennial celebration.  The Southern Maryland Celtic Festival and Highland Gathering highlights the heritage of the Breton, Cornish, Irish, Manx, Scots, and Welsh.

The Festival is centrally located to the mid-Atlantic.  Our Harp competition has had competitors from as far as North Carolina to the south, Michigan to the west, and upstate New York to the north – and I hope this year will be no exception. The Festival is held at Jefferson Patterson state park with the field overlooking the Patuxent River which is stunning and delightful – a lovely location for a games.

When final details, like the time, have been updated  for 2012, I’ll post them here.

It was a fine soft day with a Nor’easter blowing at the Meadow Highland Games and Celtic Festival, the site of the 2011 US National Scottish Harp ChampionshipTM. Inside the tent the competitors guesses on the temperature ranged from 30 – 40F. Either way, despite the rain, the wind and the chill, all the competitors played wonderfully, with excellent airs and marches and dance tunes that raged!

Clan Currie, the Title Sponsor, was represented by President Bob Currie and we were fortunate to once again have this delightful bardic clan with us. Clan Currie sponsorship is vital to the ongoing success of the competition. Virginia Harp Center was the Prize Sponsor and with their generosity, every competitor went home with a prize.

I am so pleased to tell you that the 2011 SHSA US National Scottish Harp ChampionshipTM winner is Kelly Stewart Brzozowski! She played a beautiful set including the air, Where Does the Bonnie Lass Sleep Tonight? and a rousing SMR (that’s a Strathspey, March, Reel – which is a twist on the traditional piping set) of Scotch Mist, Arniston House, Blair Atholl.

Stand by for the upcoming announcement of the location of the 2012 SHSA US National Scottish Harp ChampionshipTM. Be sure to keep an eye on the SHSA website (http://www.shsa.org/) and the Kilt and Harp (an exclusive benefit for SHSA members) for the full results and for other upcoming competitions.

And throughout the year, I’ll share thoughts about how you can prepare to compete – whether you decide to enter or not – competition (or the promise of it!) will help you build your repertoire and your “chops” to perform anywhere.

The Scottish Harp Society of America’s US National Scottish Harp Championship will be hosted at The Meadow Highland Games outside Richmond, Virginia and is open to all SHSA members. This year’s judges are the renowned Ann Heymann and Sharon Knowles. Rules and categories are available on www.shsa.org. For more information on the 2011 Championship, visit http://www.meadowceltic.com/.

The day’s Official Schedule of Competition –

9:30 am Onsite Registration/Sign-in
10 am SHSA Nationals Competition begins
Noon Lunch break
1 pm SHSA Nationals Competition continues

If time allows, after the competition there will be Open Mic/Judges performances.

Special thanks to the Title Sponsor of the National Scottish Harp Championship of America – Clan Currie Society.  The Clan has generously agreed to sponsor the National competition through 2014. It is especially rewarding to be supported by a clan with such an ancient and distinguished history of Gaelic poets and musicians.

Robert Currie, president of the Clan Currie Society, described this as partnership as a perfect fit, saying “The founders of our Clan were the celebrated MacMhuirich bards of Medieval Scotland and the instrument of the Bard was the clarsach.”  The MacMhuirichs served for over 700 years as professional poets to the Lords of the Isles and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald among other prominent Highland clans and families.

Over the past several years Clan Currie has sharpened its focus on the arts and not only sponsors our competition, but also has established an annual harp scholarship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland.  To learn more about Clan Currie, go to: http://www.clancurrie.com/
 
Be sure to thank competition organizer Jo Morrison and welcome the 2012 organizer Denis Sadat while you are registering, volunteering or audiencing!

We couldn’t have had a better day in Southern Maryland for the Celtic Festival Harp Competition – it was mild and bright and beautiful! We held a Scottish Harp Society of America Sanctioned competition modified for a Celtic field (music from any of the Celtic nations).

Our judge was Sharon Knowles who is a great comment writer. Comments are the real meat of any competition – and Sharon is particularly good at providing excellent feedback for improvement while also pointing out the very best of each performance.

And we had some fantastic performances by the competitors – Sharon remarked on the enhanced standard of play – and she is right. We had a very accomplished field. Remember that the SHSA rules establish a competition against a standard rather than against the other competitors which includes the possibility of no one winning. But that wasn’t possible here – the play was just too good! And the scores were very close indeed. The results:

     Beginner          First Place: Jennifer Plunk
     Novice             First Place: Mary Abbott
                            Second Place: Donna Bennett
     Apprentice       First Place: Barbara Costello
     Journeyman     First Place: Mike Connors
                            Second Place: Saori Nystrom
     Master             First Place: Caroline Kemper

Congratulations to all the winners!

Throughout the day, after the competition, we had many other harp activities. Sharon taught a workshop before she performed on two separate stages. In addition we had an impromptu jam session as well as joining other musicians for a session for the country dancers before the ceilidh.

I’d like to thank Sharon for her wonderful judging. I’d also like to thank the volunteers who helped make the day run so smoothly – Sue Richards – steward, Linda Rice-Johnson – photography, and David Narkevicius – harp schlep, handyman, and gopher as well as John Knowles, wrangler and Donna Bennett, movie extra.

We had a lovely time and I hope you’ll come out to compete next year.

You know that I LOVE competitions! From the excitement in the air, the stress of performing, and the camaraderie of my fellow harpers, to the haggis and chips and Scotch eggs – I can’t wait! The best things about competition, for me, are the urge to master new tunes, to push myself to play under a deadline, to incorporate feedback from judges who are so careful to make competitions a growth experience, and to get to cheer for everyone else!

 

I know competition is not for everyone – and I respect that we all have different paths and goals. But, now it’s nearly spring and I can smell the games season gearing up in my area. And I am honored to be coordinating a lovely one day competition that is near and dear to me.

– I CAN’T WAIT!

So I want to invite you to the Celtic Society of Southern Maryland 2011 Celtic Festival on Saturday, 30 April in beautiful Calvert County Maryland. We are centrally located to the mid-Atlantic and have had competitors from as far as North Carolina to the south, Michigan to the west, and upstate New York to the north – and I hope this year will be no exception. The Festival is held at Jefferson Patterson state park with the field overlooking the Patuxent River which is stunning and delightful – a lovely location for a games.

We will have a Scottish Harp Society Sanctioned Competition (rules are available at http://www.shsa.org/events/handbook.html) . Our judge will be the wonderful Sharon Knowles. And we are fortunate to again have the Virginia Harp Center as our Prizes Sponsor this year.

I hope you’ll come to the competition, whether you compete or not. If you want to compete you’ll find the online registration (there will be no onsite registration) on cssm.org/harp . And if competition performance is not for you, come out anyway – we always need volunteers (who get complimentary admission to the games – just leave me a comment if you are interested).

We’ll get back to more about our amazing Harp the Highlands and Island Tour next week. 

This week is sandwiched in between judging gigs at the Stone Mountain Highland Games “The Friendly Games” Harp Competition in Atlanta and the

No tidbits this week – I’m at the Ohio Scottish Games judging the Harp Competition and then participating in the Ohio Scottish Arts School in Oberlin Ohio.  I’m learning a ton of new stuff and sharing a little as well.  I look forward to “seeing” you next week!

It is coming summer and we’re well and truly in the thick of the Scottish Games season. I hope that you are polishing your tunes, learning your history and getting ready to enter a Scottish Harp Society of America sanctioned harp competition near you!

I love to compete – I love the drive to master new music, pushing myself to learn tunes that will meet the judge’s expectations and my own, and putting together a performance of which I can be proud.

In addition, I love competitions because they are friendly. I enjoy cheering for my friends (long held and newly met). And at nearly every competition I’ve entered I have had the opportunity to ask a fellow competitor to teach me a wonderful tune that I fell in love with on first hearing. In addition, I really enjoy that the camaraderie is more important to most competitors than the win – they just genuinely enjoy being there and hearing one another play.  Of course, its nice to win too.

Competition, while not for everyone, surely helps us push ourselves just a bit harder, to excel and to grow. We learn not only the music but also the “what” behind the tunes we select. It’s just this thirst to learn about the history and culture behind the tunes that lead to our Harp in the Highlands and Islands tours!

I am very pleased and honored to have been invited to judge the Ohio Scottish Games at the Lorain County Fairgrounds on 26th June. Ohio is a fun games and I have a special place for it in my heart because it is the first competition I ever entered. I made a fellow competitor (and now lifelong friend) in the parking lot! And I look forward to participating because I have so many friends there and such fond memories!

I hope you’ll come out and compete.  In addition to being a fun and enjoyable games, Ohio has a lot of wonderful prizes.  The rest of the Games is good.  I’ll be teaching a workshop.  And right after, you could attend the Ohio Scottish Arts School!  (more on that later).

Come join me – here’s the link: http://www.ohioscottishgames.com/2010Harp_Entry_form.html

Well, it would have been very clever of me to include the photos in my last post! They are here, in this post, to assure that you call see the outcome and our excellent competitiors.  I hope it will encourage you to come participate next year! Photos courtesy of Jo Morrison.

It was a “fine soft day” in Southern Maryland, characteristic of changeable spring. And while authentic, the weather was not perfect for a bustling Celtic Festival. But the Southern Maryland Celtic Society Festival went on. And stalwart harp players came out to share their music with an enthusiastic audience.

Judge Jo Morrison adjudicated the competition, sanctioned by Scottish Harp Society for the first time. She also provided an excellent concert with Port Righ before the competition and a workshop as well. They used the opportunity not only to delight the audience with great tunes but also to educate them on the music, the instruments, and the Celtic nations themselves. Jo also delivered a wonderful workshop – increasing everyone’s Strathspey repertoire by one!

The competition was well attended and the competitors all played very well. Results:

Beginner 1st Place: Marilyn Newman

Novice 1st Place: Donna Bennett

2nd Place: Mary Abbott

Journeyman 1st Place: Caroline Kemper

2nd Place: Mike Connors

Harper of the Day: Mary Abbott

In addition we were very pleased to have this competition selected as a venue to award a Scholarship to Somerset Folk Harp Festival. This scholarship supports an Apprentice Harper to participate in the Festival this summer. The winner of this coveted scholarship was Donna Bennett – although she entered her first competition at the Novice Category, she performed solidly at the Apprentice level.

Also special thank you to our Prizes Sponsor – Virginia Harp Center. All our competitors received incredible prizes in addition to medals and the traditional Southern Maryland etched glass mugs.