SL78FH’s Seanchaidh concert first in Ontario in nine years

When the Scottish Lion 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band takes the stage of the Mississauga Living Arts Centre on November 17th with its production of “Seanchaidh,” the concert the band originally mounted in 2003, it will mark the band’s first formal concert in Ontario since 19958, when it was known simply as the 78th Fraser Highlanders.

Sharing the stage with the Celtic Accent Dance Company, Seanchaidh features “more than 30 pipers, 15 drummers, a throng of dancers and a whole slew of instruments,” according to a news release from the band.

“This show is not merely a pipe band concert. It’s an extravaganza of music and dance, knitted together with a story line made manifest in narration and program notes,” Bill Livingstone, the band’s Pipe-Major, commented. “Think Riverdance – with guts!”

Livingstone said that the band’s 2007 World Champion drum section will perform “the greatest drum fanfare for pipe bands ever written.”

The band has taken measures to enlist stage production and technical professionals, including Alan Burnham who will manage the sound. Lighting will be handled by Greg Bride, who is flying in to handle the show. Mike Walsh, who is a stage manager with the Stratford Festival, will direct the production.

Tickets prices range from $25 to $45 and are available online from the Living Arts Centre’s box office or by phone: 888-805-8888. The band has coordinated a group rate at a hotel, and information can be found at its website.

In addition to winning the drumming, the Scottish Lion 78th Frasers placed fourth as a band at the 2007 World Pipe Band Championships competing with a record 30 pipers. Livingstone has indicated that he plans to reduce the total number of pipers on the band’s roster by as many as 15 over the winter.

The band’s last ticketed concert in the Toronto area was at the Cardinal Carter Academy for the Performing Arts in North York in 1994, and before then in September 1988 at Massey Hall in downtown Toronto.

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