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Clan Currie Society to Celebrate the 250th Birthday of Robert Burns with Three Nights of Scots-Themed Television Programming
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, the Clan Currie Society will host a weekend of Scottish television programming on HomeTowne Television (Comcast Channel 36 and Verizon Channel 33*) throughout central New Jersey. Screenings will be held Friday - Sunday, January 23 - 25. Featured programming includes famed Burns interpreter Christopher Tait starring in "Robert Burns Live," highlights of Clan Currie's Tenth Annual production of "The Pipes of Christmas," as well as several short films profiling Scotland’s crafts, the Homecoming 2009 initiative and the upcoming worldwide Gathering of the Clans in Edinburgh. “Given the challenging economic times we are living in, we felt it best to forego with the expense of our annual Burns Night dinner dance and try to find an appropriate and economical means by which to share Burns with as large an audience as possible,” said Robert Currie, president of the Society. “By celebrating Burns over a cable television platform we have made Burns both affordable and accessible. The combined reach of these three broadcasts should exceed 300 thousand cable subscribers.” “The Burns Weekend program provides an ideal way to showcase the Pipes of Christmas highlights program,” said Fred Honold, President and CEO of HomeTowne Television. “We believe it is especially significant that the 2008 Pipes of Christmas will be aired on Robert Burns’ birthday, Sunday, January 25th. Burns’ birthday will be celebrated around the world that evening in the form of traditional Burns Suppers. In Scotland, January 25, 2009 also marks the beginning of Homecoming 2009 which aims to welcome home Scotland’s far flung Diaspora. The centerpiece of the year-long schedule of events will be The Gathering – the world’s largest gathering of the clans to be held in Edinburgh July 25-26, 2009.
A new website www.burnssupper2009.com has been created for people everywhere to register their plans for celebrating this landmark Burns Night in a bid to establish a new World Record for the greatest number of Burns suppers ever held. The Clan Currie Burns weekend is included in this online registry of Burns events. An Award-Winning Collaboration Hometowne Television and the Clan Currie Society first began working together in 2002 broadcasting highlights of the Pipes of Christmas. Since that time, the program has been the recipient of four Telly Awards and a 2003 Videographer Award for video production excellence. The 2003 Pipes concert was televised live as a fund raiser for the station.
About Christopher Tait and “Robert Burns Live” Chris Tait is Scotland’s top Robert Burns impersonator, performing for audiences from the USA to Russia. He explains why he loves playing Scotland's most famous poet. "I've been performing in costume as Robert Burns for over 15 years and professionally for 10 years. My passion for Burns' poetry started however in Primary school in Edinburgh, where I won the Burns’ Federation competition for excellence in recitation of Scottish poetry.
"I was reciting poetry at Burns Suppers in Edinburgh when I realised that to add more theatre to my performance I should offer audiences the unique chance to watch Burns himself perform his own works. So, I had a period costume and wig made for me and soon made a name for myself!" "I love performing Tam O' Shanter. It's full of power and passion. I add the famous missing lines to this piece, which makes my rendition quite unique. The lines were deemed politically incorrect at the time the poem was first published. They were later included in centenary edition copies of Burns' works but have never been added to modern day copies. You can hear my rendition in my film, Robert Burns Live" "Although he was born in 1759, the words of Robert Burns still ring true in 2008."We continue to use the words penned by Burns today. ‘The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley', 'Oh wad some pow'r the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us'. These are immortal words." Given that the words of Burns are still so relevant to today's society, Chris thinks Burns would be enthusiastic about Scotland’s current music and literary scene. "Burns appreciated all that was good in Scotland. He would be fascinated by the advances in musical technology and devour the modern day classics of Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and J K Rowling. Chris also appreciates his homeland and would recommend anyone to come and live here, "Scotland is a nation rich in culture and history. We are producing world-renowned academics and are at the forefront of pioneering new advances in medicine and technology. "There is surely no better place to visit, live and work than Scotland." Copies of “Robert Burns Live” can be ordered directly from Chris Tait’s website at www.robertburnslive.co.uk. *Comcast TV-36 reaches the NJ communities of Summit, Millburn/Short Hills, Springfield, New Providence and Berkeley Heights. Verizon TV-33 reaches all of the above as well as Chatham, Cranford, Florham Park, Kenilworth, West Orange, Maplewood and Union, NJ.
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