THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 2, 1996 TAG: 9609020031
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: 49 lines
Scotland's national loss will be Old Dominion University's gain.
One of Scotland's leading bagpipe players has agreed to teach at ODU after neighbors in his hometown of Perth labeled his work ``noise pollution'' and complained to authorities.
``I am annoyed that they should call it noise pollution, especially in Scotland. The pipes are our national instrument,'' said Gary Stronach, one of only 25 professional bagpipe teachers in Scotland.
``I am extremely bitter that I have got to leave Scotland to do this,'' Stronach said. ``It is my country, and it will be extremely hard to leave.''
Stronach, 28, plays his pipes for up to four hours a day to keep his place as one of Scotland's best pipers. He made the decision to come to Norfolk after his local council warned him about practicing at home.
Neighbors in Perth, 430 miles north of London, said Stronach's music can be heard up to a half-mile away. They complained to the Perth and Kinross council.
``We had contact from some of Stronach's neighbors earlier in the year and they tried to deal with the matter through the local residents' association,'' said a spokesman for the council. ``There are no set rules as to what constitutes noise pollution - there is no difference between someone playing the bagpipes and a ghetto blaster.''
Stronach is bitter.
``I am really angry with my neighbors,'' he said. ``I would have assumed that they would have come 'round to see me face-to-face if they were upset with the noise.''
Instead, ``The first I knew of it was when someone turned up on my doorstep from the council saying that they had received complaints,'' Stronach said. ``I told them I wouldn't stop playing, as I had a major competition to practice for.''
U.S. authorities have already awarded Stronach a green card because they regard him as an ``exceptional ethnic musician.'' He is due to fly to Norfolk in about a week.
He has been playing the pipes since he was 11 and was a member of the award-winning Vale of Atholl Pipe Band for 14 years. Until recently he was chief piping instructor at Glenalmond College in Perth. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
Gary Stronach is leaving his homeland to teach at ODU after
neighbors in Scotland complained about the noise from his bagpipes. by CNB