Two years ago, Terry Oldfield wondered if he had the physical and mental stamina to meet all the requirements to play the bagpipes in the 2024 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif.
The Rancho El Dorado resident passed that long-awaited test with flying colors, only to lose the love of his life, wife Bonnie, less than three weeks later to brain cancer. You may remember this story from the May 2024 issue of InMaricopa. Now 78, Oldfield has doubled down on his musical efforts, culminating in his recent, grueling participation in the prestigious Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, France.
Prestigious because the Hugh O'Conor Memorial Pipe Band, based in Tucson, was the only U.S. group invited to the 10-day event. The festival celebrates the seven Celtic regions -- Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and Galicia which share deep historical and cultural ties to Celtic traditions.
Grueling because it involved four parades, five concerts and five lengthy "music nights," along with several other performances during the early August celebration. Oldfield had never participated in the music nights before, but quickly learned they began at 9 p.m., featured his band from roughly 10:45 to 11:30 p.m., and concluded with a finale around 1:30 a.m.
"That was the most difficult," he recalled, speaking of stamina. "For me and some of the other older guys, our goal was to get a shower and go to bed. I would get up in the morning, go down to the lobby of the dorm where we were staying and some of the young kids had been up all night.
"It was very busy -- but a fun busy."
Before the trip, Oldfield wrestled with some of the same doubts that had surfaced a year earlier.
"I think, more or less, I surprised myself. Am I going to be able to learn all this new music and memorize it?" were the primary concerns. "As I practiced more, I became confident I could keep up."
Oldfield credits Len Wood, pipe major of the Hugh O'Conor Memorial Pipe Band and an internationally recognized performer, with fueling much of his drive. Oldfield had reached out to Wood -- whom he had known only by reputation -- for help learning the new music required for the 2024 Rose Parade performance.
"I said to Len in June 2024 that I might be interested in joining a band. The next thing I knew he drafted me, said we were practicing such and such days and that was it. Last August we were not sounding very good, but Len turned us unto a good band."
Wood began playing at age 12 and was already teaching others as a teenager. Like Oldfield, he served in the Navy and is also a widower. The two have grown close, with Oldfield proud to note he is the oldest member of the band -- by just one month over Wood.
The Hugh O'Conor Memorial Pipe Band is named after an exiled Irishman who founded Presidio San Agustín del Tucson, which later became Tucson, in 1775. The band performed in late August at Tucson's 250th anniversary celebration. Formed in 2006, the band had been dormant from 2012 to 2021 before Wood revived it.
Today, its members come from Tucson, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Scottsdale and beyond. Several even fly in from Seattle, Oldfield said. The group practiced every Sunday for more than a year in Scottsdale, where several local firefighters are part of the roster, and held a fundraising concert last year to help cover travel costs.
One of the new tunes Wood introduced to the band was titled Festival Interceltique les Cousins d'Amérique, a piece commissioned especially for the French festival's host city. That may have helped the O'Conor Band earn the honor of opening the event.
Whether it influenced the selection or not, Oldfield said the French audiences "just loved the song."
For their festival performances, the O'Conor Band was paired with a group from Limerick, Ireland. Oldfield said blending the two groups wasn't difficult since everyone already knew the music -- the main challenge was simply making sure they were all in tune together.
In addition to playing the bagpipes, Oldfield joined two colleagues for special performances as a small ensemble they formed for the occasion. He accompanied their small pipes and bodhrán drum on guitar, an instrument he has played since his teens. One of their sets even took place aboard a private yacht dating back to the early 19th century.
Though well acquainted with the guitar, Oldfield admitted that playing Irish music on it was a new experience. As always, he said, the key was practice.
"The thing about music, whether it's singing, playing the guitar or playing the bagpipes, the more you do it, the better you get at it," he said. "I practice every day, 30 minutes with the practice chanter and an hour on the bagpipes. If I can, I treat myself to an hour on the guitar.
"You can't put the bagpipes away for a week and expect to come back and have it sound the same. Playing music, for me, helps keep the brain going."
Oldfield has experienced many musical highs over the years, but for now he's simply looking forward to the next one.
He wouldn't be surprised if Wood is already planning another European trip for the O'Conor Memorial Band. The group competed in the All Ireland Pipe Band Championships in 2023 and has already been invited back to the Lorient festival in two years.
A year ago, Oldfield had considered taking part in an annual Navy parade in Hawaii in 2025. But once he committed to the Tucson band, that became his sole focus.
"I'm looking forward to the next adventure with this band. I hope to have a lot more experiences," he said. "Most bands I have been in have had drama. This one does not. Most people get along, and I don't need any drama."
Terry Oldfield extended his French adventure by a few days with a visit to Paris beginning Aug. 10. His first trip there had been in the mid-1980s while serving in the U.S. Navy.
"One of my main goals was to see the new Notre-Dame Cathedral," he said, referencing the rebuilding that has taken place since a devastating fire in 2019. "I remembered going into the cathedral back then and it was like a tomb, really dark.
"I had heard since the renovations that it was really beautiful. Everything is bright and the stained glass pops out. There is still work going on outside, but the restoration methods used inside were similar to when it was built in the 12th century."
Oldfield also visited the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and the Church of the Sacred Heart. Those stops came after several days spent assisting a fellow musician who fell and broke her hip on the last day of the trip.
He made sure she was well cared for and worked with the insurance company to arrange her safe return to the U.S. The experience, he said, taught him a valuable lesson: Purchasing travel insurance for such a trip is well worth it, as it proved invaluable for his bandmate.
Back home, Oldfield hasn't given up on forming a small pipe band in Maricopa. He has a few interested players and has given presentations at local high schools. He calls it a work in progress.