Tuesday, May 29, 2012

 Largest bagpipe orchestra: Bulgarian pipers set world record (PICS & VIDEOS)

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- 333 bagpipe players of all ages and from all over the country performed live in Sofia in front of an ecstatic audience , setting the world record for the Largest bagpipe orchestra, according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/.

  Photo: The World's Largest bagpipe Orchestra.
Photo: Reuters
  ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness world record for the largest harmonica ensemble involved 6,131 participants for an event organised by the Tom Lee Music Company Limited in Happy Valley Recreation Ground, Hong Kong.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most concerts performed by a symphony orchestra: 14,000- by the New York Philharmonic (USA) over the last 162 years. The orchestra's archive has the first performance on 7 December 1842 and the 14,000 on 18 December 2004.

  The event, which attracted thousands of spectators to the capital's biggest concert hall, united music ensembles and individual players from all over the country.

  The 333 Bulgarian folk musicians gathered in central Sofia, blowing their kaba-gaidas -- bagpipes from the Rhodope mountains in the south of the Balkan country -- to set the first such world record.

  Dressed in traditional colorful Rhodope costumes, bagpipers started with a famous folk song -- Delyu Haidutin -- which was included in a Voyager golden record with the songs and sounds of our planet and sent as a message to space by NASA in 1977.

  The origins of the bagpipe are unclear and are certainly not to be found in Bulgaria. Many believe the instrument first appeared in the Middle East around 1000 BC. But Bulgaria is certainly one of the countries where it is most popular.
  Photo: 333 bagpipers perform together during an attempt for the largest bagpiper orchestra in Sofia. Photo: AFP ( enlarge photo )

  It has a central role in many folk melodies and songs, especially in the southern Rhodope Mountain. Pipers from this area of the country who took part in the event have promoted their music all over the world.

  The event also aimed to bring a spot of joy to a nation which a survey showed was among the most unhappy on the planet.

  Having joined the European Union in 2007, it is still the bloc's poorest member and recovering from a deep recession.