A gig for the Stadspijpers?
The new King and Queen of the Netherlands are visiting 's-Hertogenbosch on
June 12th. It is well known how much the city of Den Bosch values its Stadspijpers, so surely they will be called on to don their
splendid livery and serenade the royals with their shawms and sackbuts. Let's hope for a report in due course.
International Waits' Festival 2014
Simon Pickard of the Gloucester Waites, in association with the Gloucester Civic Trust, Folk Museum and Cathedral,
is planning the Sixth Festival of the International Guild of Town Pipers in Gloucester over the "Heritage Days"
weekend, 12-14 September 2014. Watch the website's Festivals page as plans develop.
IGTP Weekend Workshop in October
The IGTP is organising a two-day workshop on October 26-27 at the
Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek, Staffordshire.
Previous IGTP workshops at Doncaster, Newark and Colchester have been very successful, so put this one in your
diary now. More details are on the linked the workshop web-page. We will have Tim Bayley of
The York Waits directing,
cornettist Sam Goble as specialist brass tutor, the involvement of
master shawm and curtal maker Eric Moulder and his band Piva
plus bagpipe maker Sean Jones.
Authentic instrument cases
In the pursuit of authenticity, Lincoln Waite Al Garrod is interested in the cases or packing
materials used for larger instruments such as sackbuts, bagpipes and the larger shawms in 15th and 16th century. He would
appreciate any descriptions or images, ideally from dated sources. Having had little success with major instrument
museums, he is appealing to the wider early music fraternity.
Chester Minstrels' Court 2013
A few years ago the medieval tradition of holding an annual court in Chester to grant licences to minstrels to permit them
to perform throughout the County Palatine of Cheshire was revived. Minstrels, including some IGTP members, have
gathered since to re-enact this rite at St. John's Church in Chester city centre, and this year it takes [place on June 15th.
They process through the streets to the church, playing as they go. The pieces for this year's procession, Thoinot Arbeau's
Branles d'Ecosse and Branle "Charlotte" are on line for anyone
thinking of participating. The event concludes with an evening concert at the church.
Member Bands in Leeds Concert Series
Three IGTP member bands, Doncaster Waites,
Leeds Waits and
De Mowbray's Musick are performing in free lunchtime concerts in May-June at
St John's Church, New Briggate, Leeds. Other concerts in the series include multi-instrumentalist Peter Bull, trio sonatas
by Essercisi Musici, lute songs by Musicke in the Ayre, baroque violin by Gina Le Faux, and voice and viols with Eleanor Rastall
and the Manton Consort. The church was built in gothic style in 1633-4 and is in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust.
The concerts are free, but donations to TCCT will be appreciated.
Pipe and Tabor Festival 2013
Our friends the Taborers are holding their annual Pipe and Tabor Festival in Gloucester from 6-8 September
this year. For those among our own IGTP members who are practitioners of the mysteries of the three-hole pipe,
as well as others interested in this early form of one-man band, this news item points to the festival web page.
Chalemie Summer School 2013
Chalemie summer school 2013 will take place in Headington, Oxford from 13-18 August 2013. Music
tutors will be Tim Bayley of The York Waits (shawm, curtal, recorder), Matthew Spring (lute, viol, hurdy gurdy),
Katie Hodges (natural trumpet), Bill Tuck of the Baggeshotte Waytes (pipe and tabor, sackbut), Atsufumi Ujiie
(recorder, pipe and tabor, percussion, keyboards) and Sarah Stowe (voice).
Dartington Summer School 2013
Week one of Dartington 2013 looks interesting for waits, with members of The City Musick leading courses -
William Lyons directing the course on early reeds, bagpipes, recorders and flutes aided by Nicholas Perry on
those plus cornett and Richard Thomas on cornett, trumpet and bagpipes. Running in parallel at Dartington is
another course directed by Gawain Glenton on cornett and Emily White on sackbut.
York Mystery Plays 2014
The Guilds of York will again bring forth the traditional wagon-based performance of the Mystery Plays
in 2014, and waits are invited once again to participate. The dates are now confirmed as July 13th and 20th.
Could any bands wishing to play on either or both dates please let me know? As those who have done a circuit or
two in the past will be aware, it's hard work but great fun, and at the end of the day it's what waits do!
Performance listings and news items
The Events page is now available for listing public events by member bands up to the end of November 2013. Email details
to waits.events@btinternet.com. to make sure they are
publicised by the IGTP. It is after all one of the benefits of membership. The Latest News section is also
available if your member band has anything particularly newsworthy, so send such items to the same address.