MOUNT VERNON – This summer, Mount Vernon residents will be treated to the sound of bagpipes at sunset.
The free concerts will be held in Ariel-Foundation Park at 8:30 p.m. every Sunday evening from May 30 to Aug. 1.
Three local bagpipers; Ginny Cameron, Mark Hedge and Gary McCutcheon; will perform on a rotating schedule at the red bridge on the park’s central lake.
Cameron, a retired teacher of vocal and choral music at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, bought her first set of pipes in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“I love the music; I love the sound,” she said of bagpipes. “I married a Scottsman. My family on both sides have Scottish heritage.”
Her favorite song to play is a folk song titled “She Moved Through the Fair.”
“It’s just a very poignant melody,” Cameron told the Mount Vernon News. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful tune.”
Bagpipes are interesting not only for music but for history, she continued. They were often used in battle as a communication tool.
“The reason they chose it is because, just like the bugle, it is capable of being heard over a large area,” Cameron said. “There’s a whole genre of bagpipe tunes called ‘retreat tunes.’ They are tunes that are played as the soldiers are marching away. They were marching at a more leisurely pace. The advance marches were always more brisk.”
Bagpipes are very old, played by the ancient Hebrews and Egyptians, she noted.
“Most modern instruments have been adapted and brought up technically, but bagpipes are still pretty close to what they were a thousand years ago or more,” Cameron said. “Pipers don’t want to mess with that sound very much. They want to keep it pure to keep the history and tradition.”
One good thing about bagpipe concerts is that you can easily listen from a distance.
“It’s a good social-distanced instrument,” she said. “The park is a beautiful place, with the lake. You can watch if you want or you can listen from a long distance.”
You may want to bring your own folding chair to the concert, the park advised in its press release.
“If rain occurs, one of the picnic shelters by the lake will be used,” it said.
The 250-acre Ariel-Foundation Park was built on the site of a former glass-making factory and features walking trails, architectural ruins, a museum and steel sculptures.
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