For Immediate Release
Contact information:
Jeff Kruske, President MHAF
8000 Foster Street
Overland Park, Kansas 66204
phone 913.909.0924; jeff@mhaf.org

Chicago, Illinois, 6 November 2004 – Midwest Highland Arts Fund, host of the Winter Storm Weekend of piping and drumming competitions and concerts, is delighted to announce sponsorship of its Fourth Annual Winter Storm Workshop by the MidWest Pipe Band Association.

“On behalf of the Directors of Midwest Highland Arts Fund, we are extremely pleased to have the support of the MidWest Pipe Band Association”, said Jeff Kruske, President. “The MHAF Winter Storm is one of the most unique piping and drumming events in the world, and we hope to host all our friends and fellow members of the Association at the upcoming weekend”.

The Workshop, to be held January 15 – 16 at the Marriott – Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, features instruction by the World’s Greatest Pipers and Drummers, including Pipers John Cairns, Mike Cusack, Ken Eller, Alasdair Gillies, Jack Lee, Stuart Liddell, Willie McCallum, and Andrew Wright, and Drummers Scott Currie, John Fisher, Tyler Fry, Duncan Gibson, Jim Kilpatrick, J. Reid Maxwell, Haggis MacLeod, and Barry Wilson. Expected to attract 300 students from the lower 48 states and six Canadian provinces, details of the Winter Storm Weekend and registration can be found online at http://winterstorm.net/.

The Workshop is the second partnership between these heartland organizations; the Third Annual MHAF & MWPBA US Silver Medal Piobaireachd Competition will be held during the weekend, January 14th. This contest, unique in North America, features over thirty of North America’s best young pipers performing the traditional classical music of the great highland bagpipes.

Also featured during the weekend are the KC St. Andrew Society – MHAF Gold Medal Piobaireachd Competition, the Tone Czar Bagpipes – MHAF North American Gold Medal Drumming Championship, and the new TyFry – MHAF Gold Medal Tenor Drumming Championship, followed by that Saturday evening's WINTER STORM: The Pipes & Drums Concert, performed by the workshop faculty. According to fifteen time World Solo Drumming Champion Jim Kilpatrick, the concert “is considered by many to be the ‘must see’ piping and drumming concert in the world.”

Midwest Highland Arts Fund incorporated as a non-profit in 2001 and promotes the Scottish Highland performing arts in the United States, primarily through workshops, concerts, and competitions. Augmenting the excellent instruction available from local pipe bands, MHAF brings world-class musicians to Kansas City. The Fund’s goal, to be a national leader in Highland Arts instruction, has been achieved.

MidWest Pipe Band Association formed in 1964 with ten pipe bands; membership currently covers fifteen states, with over 50 bands and 300 solo pipers and drummers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. Committed to consistency and excellence in grading standards, MWPBA fosters piping by overseeing a dozen sanctioned games in the Midwest yearly.