Masters of Scottish Arts concert plays to audience of more than 2,200

The seventh annual Masters of Scottish Arts Concert took place in Seattle, Washington, on Febrauary 6, 2004, before a crowd of more then 2,200 at the Benaroya Hall. The event is thought to be a record for a non-band piping concert.

The concert was the culmination of the week-long Mastery of Scottish Arts School, and featured a “Dream Team” pipe band, led by John Wilson, Paisley, Scotland, and including Alasdair Gillies, Pittsburgh; Bruce Gandy, Halifax; Jack Lee, Vancouver; Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland; Roddy MacLeod, Glasgow; Mike Cusack, Houston; Jori Chisholm, Seattle; Jim Kilpatrick, Ashgill, Scotland; Tyler Fry, Kincardine, Ontario; and Kathryn Tawse, bass drummer with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band.

According to John Wilson, It “was the most incredible audience response I’ve ever seen. It was a real thrill for me to lead a band made up of the top players.”

The fiddler Alasdair Fraser and Alasdair Gillies performed a duet, with Gillies playing a bagpipe tuned to A. At one point in the show, four of the pipers and two fiddlers played “Round the Kitchen Table,” where they worked with practice chanters and fiddles to show off a few informal tunes.

Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

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