Your monthly news from the New Hampshire Scottish Music Club

Volume 36, No. 8, April 2025

“Having fun with Scottish Music”

Our April 13th Gathering

This month, after missing last month’s gathering due to scheduling conflicts, we will finally have the opportunity to play some original tunes written by club members: Romance by Debby DellOrfano, First Try and A Reel for Vince by Sylvia Miskoe, and Sponge Candy and The Rumble by Annelise Papinsick. For the music, click here.

The new tunes we will be adding to our repertoire this month are a typical Scottish waltz, Lovely Stornoway, and a driving pentatonic reel called Harris Dance. For the music for these two tunes, click here.

Last but not least, be sure to have the most recent version of the concert music at the ready, as we will spend the bulk of our gathering rehearsing for our spring concerts.

Tune Tales

Each month our Tune Master, Alan Wilson, researches the history of the new tunes we will be playing at our gathering. In this edition of Tune Tales, learn about traditional Hebridean music — and some that isn’t that traditional after all.

Concert Rehearsal Schedule

We will be putting on two concerts this year:

• May 10th at Bass Hall in Peterborough

• May 17th at the Portsmouth Library

To prepare, we will be rehearsing several times over the next few weeks:

• Sunday, March 30th

• Saturday, April 5th

• Sunday, April 27th

• Sunday, May 4th

All rehearsals will be at 1pm at Anne’s house. For more information, click here.

Smyth Trust Grant

We have received a grant from the Frederick Smyth Institute of Music through a Smyth Trust Grant. Marion C. Smyth founded the Smyth Trust in 1949 in memory of her husband Frederick Smyth, former governor of the State of New Hampshire from 1865 to 1867. In addition, Mr. Smyth was a four term Mayor of the City of Manchester from 1852 to 1854 and again from 1863 to 1864. Mayor Smyth was instrumental in the planning of Manchester's municipal infrastructure.

The Smyth Trust provides annual grants for New Hampshire music education and performing organizations. Any New Hampshire organization established for the musical education, enrichment and enjoyment of the citizens of the State of New Hampshire may apply. We are very grateful to have received $1000 to help offset some of the costs of running the workshops.

Join Us for Board Meetings

Ever wonder what your Board does? Join us for Board Meetings! All meetings are open to our members. We meet (usually) the first Wednesday of the month at 7 PM on Zoom. Meetings are an hour or less and we would welcome anyone who is interested to see how we run the organization. Send an email to nhscottishmusic@gmail.com and we’ll send you the Zoom link.

Back Issues of Granite Skyes

If you are new to our organization and would like to learn more about us, or you have been with us for many years and are waxing nostalgic, you can read many years worth of our monthly newsletter, Granite Skyes, here.