A Note Regarding Sessions and Classes
➤ ➤ Normal drumming sessions have been cancelled, but we are offering an online course with Eric MacNeill, snare, and Hannah Boyles, tenor/bass. The cost of the course is $250.
- Sunday, June 28th: 4pm-5pm: Orientation/welcome, meeting/connection, test
- Monday, June 29th-Thursday July 2nd:
↪ 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.: Small group class sessions
↪ Lunch break
↪ 1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.: Workshop session
↪ 2:30 p.m. -3:30 p.m.: Performance evaluation and 1-on-1 feedback - Thursday, July 2nd: 3:30pm: School wrap-up
A Message About COVID-19 and NAAPD
The decision to hold the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming school when many of our peers will not, is one of the most challenging decisions we have made in our 50 years of working with musicians of all ages. Despite this, we know conducting the school brings risks and uncertainty that cannot be eliminated even with the best intention and preparation. Now that we have made our decision, your decision whether to attend NAAPD… or not, should only be made after careful thought, considering your individual situation and definition of reasonable risk. We are following the restrictions and phased openings set out by the Governor of North Carolina. We are also following guidance and recommendations by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, if not more stringently. They recommend arranging sleeping spaces so that physical distancing can be achieved to the extent possible, with 6 feet between camper’s heads while in bunk. We are going to severely limit the number of registrations so that we can assign one person to a room, unless they are family members who are coming from a home that they share. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Resources also recommends promoting frequent use of hand washing and hand sanitizer for students and staff and encouraging all employees and students to wear a cloth face covering when they may be near (less than 6 feet from) other people. As always, we will keep class sizes small to allow for distancing. If you decide to participate in a session of NAAPD this year, we ask that you observe the above recommendations for your health, the health of your fellow students and instructors, and that of the employees of the Valle Crucis Conference Center.
The Valle Crucis Conference Center has been working hard to come up with the following procedures and policies to address everyone's concerns and to keep both their guests and their staff healthy:
- Stagger meal times
- Have kitchen staff serve from the line instead of self-serve (eliminating many hands touching the serving implements)
- They have installed hand sanitizing stations across campus
- Sanitize all common areas and classrooms twice a day
- Clean and sanitize private bathrooms at least once during guests' stay, and common bathrooms twice a day
- They use commercial-grade sanitizing spray
- All staff will be wearing cloth masks, and they encourage their guests to do the same
That said, we want folks to attend, but we want you to carefully consider your own situation. You should not attend if you are unwell or if you are vulnerable. You should not attend if you knowingly become exposed to the coronavirus within 2 weeks of your arrival to your session. We want to have a happy, but healthy and safe time in Valle Crucis!
The piping and drumming school was started by the late John McFayden, of Glasgow, Scotland, and Pipe Major Sandy Jones. The school's professional instructors conduct one-week classroom instruction on all aspects of piping and drumming.
