Bagad New York : Breton Music lives in the USA too!
People who know more than a bit about Pipe Band ensembles may have heard of the 
Bagadou; the Pipes and Drum orchestras from Brittany which play traditional Breton music using Highland Pipes, drums and their own unique instrument the Bombarde.
Like the Scottish Pipe Band ensemble, they do play structured ensemble music, which is played at competitions, using Great Highland Bagpipes and loud competition Pipe Band drums, but that’s about where the similarity ends. A Bagad is split into 4 sections : Scottish Pipes, Snare drums, Percussion & Bombard (the loud Breton oboe). While Traditional Breton Music and singing are known to be a couple of centuries old, the Bagad orchestra became popular only after the second world war.
Bagad New York begain in 2009 after a group of American pipers and drummers played with a “real” Bagad in competition and then came home and said, “why can’t we do that here?” By building a “Bagad” in the US, our main goal is to grow awareness and interest in traditional Breton music and dance here. While the local pool of highland pipers is pretty large and the local pool of Bombarde players is almost zero, right now our biggest challenge is building the bombard section, headed by Alex Bartholomew in New Paltz, NY.
Most of our members are musicians and Breton music lovers from the Northeastern US. We also have members who are non-musicians who help us with logistical and administrative duties. All of our members are amateurs and volunteers.
There are no barriers to entry. Everyone is welcome, and multiple skills are needed to support our organization. To find out more visit our web page.
We’re already having our 2nd anniversary Fest Noz (or night of music and dance festival). The festival will feature many Breton musicians from all over North American and also Bagad New York and other local musicians who play Breton Music. It will be from 4pm to 11pm at the Hungarian House in NYC. Come and join us and see what Breton music is all about!
This is very cool.