Highlander Band to Stage Bloody Battle
Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that the Picts were fighting the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dunnichen, or, as I like to call it, the Battle of Nechtansmere? Well, it wasn’t. It was in the year 685.
And the Highlander Band will reenact (presumably with music) the glorious victory of (SPOILER ALERT) the Picts at the Tom Landry Classic tomorrow. For full details,
The marching performance will be a musical depiction of an historical event, the Battle of Dunnichen, which led to the formation of Scotland. The bloody clash between the Picts and the Northumbrians took place May 20, 685 A.D., at Nechtansmere.
The band will commemorate the victory of the Picts by performing an original score entitled The Battle of Dunnichen, written specially for the Highlander Band by noted band composer Key Poulan. The performance will make its debut Sept. 1 at the Tom Landry Classic in Texas Stadium, where the football game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. It will also be performed during this year’s UIL marching competition show, scheduled for Oct. 10 in Midlothian, during the Blue-Out game at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, and throughout the competition season.
In order to dramatically depict the battle, the brass section (representing the Northumbrians) will wear one color kilt while the woodwind section (representing the Picts) will wear an opposing color. Colors for the kilts have been chosen to show the bitter duality between the fighting factions. In addition, the color guard and percussion will wear costumes in keeping with the theme. The kilts worn by the band members will not be the traditional tartan plaid kilts, and the performance kilts will be worn from September 28 through the remainder of the competition season.
Highlights for the show will include a ‘heartbeat’/bagpipe introduction, French horn solos, and full Highlander Band sound.
The Highlander Band Booster Club is once again supporting the Scots football team through its annual ‘Blue-Out’ fund-raiser, which will include barbecue catered before the game by Peggy Sue BBQ. Blue-Out T-shirts are available by visiting www.blueout.com or contacting Blue-Out chairs Rexanne Dumar (214-368-7590 redumar@aol.com) or Susan Redfield (214-265-7323 vredfield@sbcglobal.net). Shirts are $10, and the boosters will deliver them for an additional $5 per order. Volunteers will also be selling the shirts, sponsored by Lee Oden of Cowboy Toyota, before each Scots home game prior to October and in the HPHS Cafeteria during lunch hours.