Manhattan College Pipes & Drums Band To Make Special Appearance In Naples, Florida St. Patrick’s Day Parade On March 15

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College Pipes & Drums, an award-winning college pipe band, will make a special appearance in the 30th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Naples, Fla., on Saturday, March 15.

The appearance was made possible due in large part to the support and efforts of Jim Connors ’57, who was instrumental in planning the parade festivities and also helped to organize lodging and financial support for the group.

“I am very proud to play a part in this March celebration and remain in debt to the Manhattan College Pipes & Drums members who are making personal sacrifices and adjustments in their schedules in order to represent Manhattan College in a very public way,” says Connors, a resident of Bonita Springs, Fla.

The Pipes & Drums is quartered on the campus in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The band was formed in 1981 under the guidance of Brother Kenneth Fitzgerald, F.S.C., and the musical training of Captain Robert Hogan ’82 of the Pipes & Drums of the New York Police Department’s Emerald Society. Pipes & Drums includes 30-40 pipers and drummers. John Carey ’56 is the moderator, while Michael Hogan ’91 serves as director.

“What makes the Manhattan College Pipes & Drums special is that it is comprised of students and alumni, a mix that separates us from other college bands, which are often all students,” says Thomas McCarthy ’06, who serves as pipe major, the lead musician for the band. “We are about 60 percent alumni and 40 percent students. The youngest person in the band is 17, and the oldest is 73. The band’s composition is representative of the great history of Manhattan College.”

The Manhattan College Pipes & Drums consists of a mix of current students, alumni and faculty. Members are trained in the fundamentals of bagpiping, drumming and marching. The band is well represented by first generation Irish Americans and welcomes all members of the College community, regardless of background. Their musical repertoire draws from the traditional airs and marches of Ireland, as well as from contemporary and traditional American selections.

The band makes regular appearances at a number of parades and social events in the New York metropolitan area, in addition to the annual march up Fifth Avenue on St. Patrick’s Day. It has performed in the Bunker Hill Day Parade in Boston, opened for the Mighty Mighty Bostones in Roseland Ballroom in New York City, played the Holiday Express Benefit Concert Christmas Spectacular at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., and performed in consecutive years in Frank Patterson’s annual show held at Carnegie Hall.

Honored with numerous awards, the Pipes & Drums was one of the few American-based organizations to participate in the 1995 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, and has often earned first place for college pipe bands in several New York City St. Patrick’s Day parades.

Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning, offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science, along with graduate programs in education and engineering. For more information about Manhattan College, visit www.manhattan.edu.