Well, after a week in the beautiful sun of Maui Hawaii, it was a cold re entry to chilly Dartmouth as I went through a 65 degree temperature change from airport to airport. This was my first trip to Hawaii and hopefully not the last but it would not have happened without the help of Michael Riedel arranging this workshop and my two very gracious hosts Alan Davidson (Pipe Seargent of the Isle of Maui Pipe Band)and Norman Mizuno (Band Manager) Thanks must also go to David Asher for hosting the workshop at his beautiful home. This group of Pipers and drummers do all they can to remain inspired by the music which I imagine is rather difficult due to their isolation. Currently the Isle of Maui Pipe Band has 10 active pipers and 7 drummers and most were at the workshop. For the past several years, Jack lee has come out to Maui to do a "band" workshop so it was decided that I would do an "open type" workshop that would hopefully appeal to more of the pipers in the area, many of them showing up to learn all sorts of new tunes and a Piob, as well as learning some of the theory around timing and pulsing tunes. This band is not well funded and it is a tremendous effort that goes into raising money to host these types of events and a tribute to their eagerness to continue to learn.
Overall, a great week of learning for the students and warm weather for me as well. Oh yeah, playing golf at Kapalua was pretty damn good too. Can't wait to go back !
