Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums ensemble is available for parades, concerts, and special events of every sort in many configurations, tailored to meet your needs:
The Fifes & Drums
The Fifes & Drums are a marching musical ensemble of fifers, snare and bass drummers accompanied by a ceremonial Color Guard. The impact of the formal 18th century uniform and precise maneuvering will give your audiences a sight they won’t soon forget.
When the very hot weather makes the wearing of wigs and heavy wool rather…well…unhealthy, we appear in an elegant uniform of 1812, complete with a ‘low topper’.
If your event is threatened by wet weather, we don our hunting frocks, rain hats, and continue on despite the monsoon.
MCV in Tattoos & Major Productions
MCV is very comfortable performing in major entertainment productions, as proved by our well-received feature performances at: 2007 Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the 2009 and 2015 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, the 2010 Edinburgh Military Tattoo Salute to Australia , the 2011 Sweden International Tattoo and the 2012 Basel Tattoo. The entire ensemble is available to perform at any venue either in the United States or overseas. MCV will return to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2018.
Concerts
We are frequently called upon to present full-length narrated concerts, either indoors or out. A regular event is our 90 minute outdoor concert sponsored by the Boston Harborfest each July, and we frequently trek south to Colonial Williamsburg for concerts and special events. 2017 had MCV performing at several high-profile events during Sail Boston. MCV regularly collaborates with the Boston Pops Orchestra as featured artists at both Symphony Hall and the Hatch Shell in Boston and have appeared at Tanglewood. In 2012 MCV performed with The Boston Camerata, world-famous for its programs of early American music in a special Patriots Day offering in Cambridge, MA: “Patriots & Heroes: An American Pantheon in Music”. This marked MCV’s third collaboration with the Boston Camerata.
“Your work was inspiring and musically rewarding for both the orchestra and the audience…”
John Williams, Laureate Conductor, Boston Pops Orchestra – August 2000
Special Events
We also provide smaller ensembles appropriate to special events, especially those indoors. A quartet comprising three fifes and a drum is perfect to welcome conference attendees to a reception or symposium, or to lead your guests from a reception to dinner. Historic uniforms, historic music, all here in historic Boston. Just please remember that even a single drum played indoors is very LOUD!
“We always expect that when we bring MCV with us we’ll bring the house down.”
“Certainly in my 25 years in this profession, they are unique…the musical excellence with which a group of people who do this avocationally can perform is really extraordinary. They’re inspiring to us, they’re inspiring to the audience, and they project a very, very positive image of America through their music.”
Keith Lockhart, Conductor, Boston Pops Orchestra – January 2006
Color Guard
Dressed in the uniform of George Washington’s Continental Infantry, the color guard escorts historical flags with period weapons. This dignified section can be booked separately from the Fifes & Drums, and is most appropriate for dedication ceremonies, or for the Honor Division of parades, accompanied by a drummer if desired.
For more information please download our Quick Facts media kit or contact us today to discuss booking the ensemble.