We are delighted to announce that a gift of £200,000 secures the vibrancy of this site in perpetuity. The intention of the donor is that it seed a permanent endowment, the purpose of which is to ensure that this resource remains inclusive, imaginative, and uplifting forever. The fund will be managed jointly by two departments within the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: Traditional Music and Research and Knowledge Exchange.
As a specialist university, the Conservatoire will always retain the essential mission to foster research within its fields of interest. It is answerable to government through mechanisms like the Research Excellence Framework and the Research Integrity Concordat. This accountability, stimulating research and knowledge exchange of international excellence, provides an assurance that the endowment will continue to inspire innovative directions for pibroch, fresh insights into its processes and practices, and new perspectives on its role in our economies, cultures, and ecologies.
Income from the Pibroch Network Endowment may be spent as follows:
- to foster artistic vigour and innovation in classical Scottish piping;
- to support the impact and interdisciplinarity of the Pibroch Network, its partners, and its successors;
- to drive innovation in research, performance, education, access, and outreach involving pibroch in its broadest sense; and
- to engage with diverse organisations and communities, building strategic partnerships and an inclusive culture in which people with different perspectives are able to connect and collaborate, so that all constituencies are behind the endeavour.
Today, the Conservatoire published this media release. The Louis Sterne Trust previously supported this resource through the University of Cambridge, paying for the digitisation of manuscripts and recordings of Gaelic pronunciation that enabled David Hester and I to complete Phase 1.
The new look of the website has been a whole-team effort: Jamie Green and Abe Millett leading on technical aspects; Kate Carpenter on design and branding; James Carnegie on strategic thinking; and Josh on editorial streamlining (he crafted our beautiful new homepage). We thank all our colleagues at the Conservatoire who made the endowment possible, particularly Julie Reynolds, Alan Smith, and Stephen Broad. My role has been one of support, making sure the endeavour is fun to be part of, energising and meaningful, healthy and wholesome, serving a diverse global community.
In this video, Josh and I give a quick tour of the rejuvenated site, looking back with gratitude and forwards with anticipation.
