northern virginia firefighters' emerald society pipe band
fire fighting irish
Thank you to the city of Manassas for an excellent St. Patrick’s Day Parade! The band welcomed three new members to the street today:
Angela Taury on snare drum
Tom Donovan on pipes
Eamonn Radburn on pipes
Here’s to many more parades!
The band also joined together with members of the Williamsburg Pipes and Drums and Washington Scottish Pipe Band to play some tunes post-parade, including “Highland Cathedral”, “Wings”, and “The Rowan Tree”.
Thank you to all of the friends, family, and supporters who came to cheer us on at The Ballyshaners 42nd Alexandria St. Patrick’s Day Parade last weekend! The band played some Irish favorites, including “Let Erin Remember”, “20 Men from Dublin Town”, “Sean South of Garryowen”, and “Wrap The Green Flag ‘Round Me Boys”.
This was one of our new member’s, Paul Durning on snare drum, first parade with the band. Welcome to the circle, Paul!
See you all at the Manassas St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 8th!
The Northern Virginia Firefighters’ Emerald Society Pipe Band will be doing a St Patrick’s Day pub crawl ON St Patrick’s Day (March 17). We are going to be using this for a fund raiser so please come out and support us. Below is our schedule of pubs:
3:45 – 4:30ish — PJ Skidoo’s (Fairfax city)
5:00 – 6:15ish — Ned Devine’s (Herndon)
6:30 – 7:00ish – P.J. Mulligans Social House (Herndon)
7:15 – 7:45ish – Bar Louie (Herndon)
8:00 – 8:45ish – Sully’s Pourhouse (Herndon)
9:00 – 9:30ish – Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern (Herndon)
10:00 – 10:30 – Patriots Pub and Grill (Fairfax City)
Hope to see you there!
Steve Boulton has served as the Pipe Major for the Northern Virginia Firefighters’ Emerald Society Pipe Band for the last two years with distinction. Under his tenure, we have acquired an excellent piping instructor and through both their efforts the band is sounding better than it probably ever has. Steve has decided that it is time for someone else to take over the reigns of the band and while he is not leaving the band, he has stepped down as Pipe Major. Thank you Steve for all you’ve done for the band!
Our new Pipe Major will be Jason Allen, who was elected at the Annual Membership Meeting on January 29,2020 and will serve a two year term. Jason was a former Drum Sgt in the band and then took up the pipes and has become an excellent piper. Congratulations to Jason as he takes on his new role!
The band held its Annual Membership Meeting on January 29, 2020 and elected its new Board of Directors for the 2020 year. The new board is:
President – Matt Lopez
Vice President – Bill Bryce
Treasurer – Tom Clappi
Secretary – Jim Kraftchak
Member-at-Large – Jim Ryan
Congratulations to the new board as they start the new year!
The Northern Virginia Firefighter’s Emerald Society Pipe band is excited to announce that we will be playing with The Chieftains on Thursday March 19 at the George Mason Center for the Arts at 8PM! Irish music legends, The Chieftains, return to the Center for a thrilling night of their signature blend of traditional Celtic and contemporary. The six-time Grammy® Award winners are celebrated for reinventing traditional Irish music and popularizing the form on a global scale. Now, audiences get a chance to celebrate this musical talent on “The Irish Goodbye” tour. The group has made numerous cross-over collaborations with artists like Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Alison Kraus, and Luciano Pavarotti. Since forming in Dublin over five decades ago, these cultural ambassadors have been linked with seminal historic events, such as being the first Western musicians to perform on the Great Wall of China, participating in Roger Water’s “The Wall” performance in Berlin in 1990, and being the first ensemble to perform a concert in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Don’t miss your chance to experience a memorable evening of music, song and dance on this final journey.
For more information and to purchase tickets click here.
Sadly, Sandy Keith is leaving the band for now as his job is moving him to Germany for at least 3-5 years and potentially longer. Sandy has been a staple with the band for quite a number of years and had served as the Secretary for the last 2 years. We said goodbye to Sandy at an “open rehearsal” at Patriots Pub and Grill in Fairfax and it was a complete surprise for him. How we managed to keep the secret is a good question! He will be continuing with his piping when he gets to Germany by joining the Stuttgart University Pipe Band. You will be missed brother! Safe travels and stop by if you get back into the area and bring your pipes!
At our 35th Alexandria St. Patrick’s Day parade, John Bidegeneta was promoted to Drum Sergeant. This is a well deserved promotion as he is the drumming instructor and is always there for the band and its mission. Please join me in congratulating John on this promotion.
On February 6, 2019 we had our annual meeting, which was delayed a week due to snow, and elected new board members. Our new board members are:
Congratulations one and all!
