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Ireland Meets Scotland, Dear Brother, and Jury Duty

Ireland Meets Scotland, Dear Brother, and Jury Duty

Good Morning from Prince Edward Island, 

Put the kettle on, let’s have a tea and talk about musical things….

Summer has hit. What a wacky season. I do not remember ever turning the furnace on July 1 before, only to have 4 four days later a sweltering heat wave.

We are excited to share the fact that in our Garden Theatre will host the show IRELAND MEETS SCOTLAND, a high-calibre celebration of Celtic heritage, music and dance. 

The show will be performed Wednesday evenings July 17-Aug 28 8 pm. $20 adults, $15 seniors, $10 children under 12.

IRELAND MEETS SCOTLAND tells the compelling story of Irish and Scottish immigrants leaving their homelands in the 1800s and meeting in the New World, many of them here on Prince Edward Island. The story is told primarily through music and dance, with just enough prose and poetry laced with humour to set the scenes in the mind’s eye of the audience.

This year Ireland Meets Scotland features Sean Kemp and Tristan Jeffrey on fiddle, Amanda Mark on flute & tin whistle, Kevin Jeffrey on guitar & vocals, and Celtic dancers Abigail Rogers and Madelyn Murdock.

Ireland Meets Scotland show is significant since it celebrates the Scottish and Irish heritage of Prince Edward Island, and new immigrants settling on PEI. The 2019 season will be a reunion of original cast members from the show’s critically acclaimed run during 1999-2002.

You have to love the Celts. This video, Dear Brother, celebrates brothers first and foremost. 

By the time this arrives in your mailbox, we will be on our way to see the worlds largest annual indoor show, the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It got me thinking, where did the word Tattoo for a musical extravaganza come from? Over to Wikipedia and lo and behold. A tattoo is a military performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks

A wee taste of a tattoo...

This Sunday at 11:45 in our Garden Theatre, the Winnipeg Youth Chorus will perform for 20 minutes or so.  The WYC has an innovative style believing that choral excellence is achieved through proper training, hard work and instilling within the members a love for what they do, an enthusiasm for performance, and pursuit of excellence. I am sad, we will miss it.

“I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity...to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.” ~ Paul McCartney

In the spirit of this writing, I have been listening to one of my favourites, Loreena McKennitt. 

Apple Editors' Notes

Loreena McKennitt's songs unfurl like medieval tapestry, revealing vibrant colour and mystical detail that seem beyond the capacity of earthly mortals. The Canadian singer can hold a note as long as anybody, and on "The Mystic's Dream" (1996) she draws out a heavenly vibrato over a track that rumbles like the end of the world: Celtic and Moroccan instruments weave a dense web of sound over baritone Gregorian-style chants. These fusions are her forte. "The Gates of Istanbul," for instance, from 2006, dances over a tight, syncopated beat while lyrics portray music itself as a cosmic North Star. Take a listen here.

So many of you have stopped me at the shop to say, you enjoy reading my blogs. I certainly appreciate the encouragement that you all offer.

(Hi to Lorraine from Maine.) 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead. Stay cool. 

With love from Prince Edward Island.

Sincerely, 
Bruce

ps. 
Judge: Is there any reason you could not serve as a juror in this case?
Juror: I don't want to be away from my job that long.
Judge: Can't they do without you at work?
Juror: Yes, but I don't want them to know it.

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Comments

Judith - August 7, 2019

A thank you for your blog. Love it all but, of late, have appreciated the jokes above all. Why? On our hour’s drive to my husband’s eighth bladder cancer surgery this morning we quoted your jokes and laughed our way there. A merry heart does do good like a medicine. Thank you and God bless you!

Norma Adams - July 8, 2019

Reading your blog reminds me of our delightful time on our Canadian cruise in general and PEI specifically. We enjoyed the jams and preserves we purchased in your store greatly and look forward to a return trip when we can stay longer.

Carole MacMillan - July 7, 2019

Hi Bruce, Every Saturday I look forward to your blog.
This week I was so touched by the Dear Brother video.
i have three sons, two have passed in tragic accidents.
I have one son remaining and he had that sort of relationships with his younger brothers. Although Tim has been gone eleven years and Chris four, out family still misses them acutely, even though we believe they are together in our Lord. God Bless you and yours, Bruce. Carole

MURDOCK MORRISON - July 7, 2019

Hi Bruce and thanks for this very informative update on the many exciting things happening in the theatre this summer as we will try to attend the Wednesday performance of Ireland meets Scotland and take friends as well. So much to enjoy in this blog as the video and you musical selection of Loreena McKennitt as good as it gets . WHEW!!! murdock

Gillian Keane - July 6, 2019

Good morning -here in Ottawa looking forward to our PEI holiday in August. We will be checking out the new show for sure.
I am a huge fan of Loren’s McKennitt. Have a wonderful day

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