We're Performing with Estonian Piper Ando Kiviberg
as part of Annapolis’ Sister City program
Tuesday, April 12

We're looking forward to meeting Ando and seeing if we can jam with him on a number or two.
I'm not sure what key the Estonian "torupill" can play in, but it's sure going to be a lot of fun!
--Jeff Holland

Piper Ando Kiviberg of Tallinn, Estonia, will perform a concert of traditional folk music at the First Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, April 12, as part of Annapolis’ Sister City program. He’ll be joined by us!

The concert, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Church located at 171 Duke of Gloucester Street, at the intersection of Duke of Gloucester and Conduit Streets in Annapolis, will be followed by a reception featuring Estonian refreshments and wine. Admission is $10 per person, and tickets will be available at the door. There’s plenty of parking in the Hillman Garage across the street.

Kiviberg, who was awarded Estonia’s National Culture Award in 2004 and the Fifth class Order of the White Star in 2001, will perform on the Estonian bagpipe known as a “torupill,” which dates back to the 16th century. This common village instrument, considered essential for dances and especially weddings, where the piper had to take part in certain parts of the ceremony, had a bag made of the maw of a grey seal, with a wooden mouth-pipe, chanter and one or two drones.

The concert is made possible with a grant from the Maryland Baltic European Council, and will be produced in cooperation with Betty McGinnis, president and founder of World Artists Experience, based in Arnold.

The music for the Estonian bagpipe, particularly a comic tune called “Vidriku Liisa’s Ailing Teeth,” has much in common with the melodies of old Estonian “runic” songs, and was often accompanied by a jew’s harp and rhythmical scraping of a broomstick against the floor strewn with ashes. An old Estonian folk saying likens the sound of the bagpipe with ‘one goose cackling with two voices.”

The Republic of Estonia, an Eastern European country bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia, is slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined.

As part of the Sister City program, Them Eastport Oyster Boys will travel this summer to Viljandi, Estonia, to serve as Annapolis’ musical ambassadors at the Viljandi Folk Festival, where outdoor stages nestled in ancient castle ruins provide the setting for concerts.