1 June 2012
Craig clears the pipes for visit of The Dalai Lama
University of Dundee student Craig Weir will greet His Holiness The Dalai Lama with a bagpipe piece written in his honour when he makes his historic first visit to the city next month.
Craig (19), who has been piping for the past 10 years, has written 'The Dalai Lama's Welcome to Dundee' especially for the occasion, and will play it as he pipes His Holiness on to the Caird Hall stage on June 22nd. Craig will enter the recording studio at Dundee College's Gardyne Road campus this afternoon to record the track, and a copy will be presented to The Dalai Lama as a memento of his time in the city.
Craig, who lives in Newbigging, near Dundee, has just completed the first year of a Community Learning and Development degree at the University. He has been a member of the Arbroath Royal British Legion Scotland Pipe Band for eight years, and of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland for the past three.
The NYPB consists of the country’s top players under the age of 25, and Craig has toured several countries with them, and played at the state opening of the Scottish Parliament.
He is also the frontman of the local celtic rock band Gleadhraich and, as a solo piper has shared a stage with Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd, X Factor winner Matt Cardle and Scots indie band Twin Atlantic.
Craig says, however, that meeting The Dalai Lama and piping him on to the stage at the Caird Hall will be the highlights of his career to date.
"It is a great honour to have been chosen to welcome His Holiness to Dundee, and to have had the opportunity to write a special piece commemorating the occasion is amazing," he said.
"I’m really excited about the whole thing and looking forward to giving The Dalai Lama a traditional Scottish welcome. I hope he likes the piece I have written for him. Being chosen to do this really is the proudest moment of my life."
The Dalai Lama will deliver this year’s Margaret Harris Lecture on Religion on the afternoon of Friday, June 22nd. His Holiness will visit the city as part of a tour of the UK, and give his talk, entitled ‘Education of The Heart: a new world order of compassion’ to a sold-out crowd at the Caird Hall.
School children, community groups and members of the public will join Craig in welcoming The Dalai Lama to Dundee and presenting him with gifts.
University Chaplain Rev Dr Fiona Douglas, who was instrumental in helping to bring His Holiness to Scotland, said she was delighted that Craig and other locals would be able to meet with one of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders and welcome him to the city.
"As well as being one of Scotland’s top young pipers, Craig is also a student at the University and is from the local area so he was the perfect candidate for this job," she said.
"It was important that we involved the local community as much as possible, and this is why we have put together our own welcoming party and events. Instead of the traditional welcome for The Dalai Lama, which would see monks chanting before he delivers his lecture, we have a programme that features Dundee school children and community groups.
"We did this because we wanted the event to be a celebration of Dundee, and so the welcome we afford to His Holiness The Dalai Lama will be very much a local one. I’m sure he will appreciate the piece Craig has written to mark his visit and I’m very much looking forward to hearing it myself."
Craig helps to teach younger members of the Arbroath Royal British Legion Scotland Pipe Band and, with the NYPB will perform at a number of high-profile events this year, including several to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Gleadhraich will be welcoming the Olympic Torch to Dundee on June 12th, and will be playing a number of festivals this year.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
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