PERRYSBURG – When it comes to music, Andrew Bova isn’t afraid to pipe up. Literally.
Currently a senior planning to graduate in May from Carnegie Mellon University, the 2007 Perrysburg High
School grad will be bringing his prowess with the bagpipes for a third annual concert Friday. The
concert is free and a free-will offering will be accepted.
"It’s going to be a really eclectic concert," said Bova. "It will feature music written
300 years ago and music written three weeks ago, so it’s going to be a good mix of traditional and
modern sounds. For a few of the numbers we’re going to feature electronic bagpipes."
At the concert, entitled "Smile!: Andrew Bova and Friends in Concert," Bova will be joined by
fellow bagpiper Reil Becker, of Cincinnati; his brother, Ian Bova, on drums; and Lancaster, Pa.,
resident David Grabowski on piano and synthesizer.
"This year it’s much more experimental with the synthesizer and the electronic bagpipes. There’s
still going to be traditional Scottish music," but also more experimental, he said.
There are two reasons why the concert is called "Smile."
The first, he said, is because he tries to transfer the joy he finds in music to his audience and put a
smile on their faces.
The second is because the concert, like its predecessors, is a benefit for Operation Smile.
"The main goal for me in the concert is to raise money to donate to Operation Smile to help kids
born in developing countries" with cleft lips and palettes. Bova himself was born with a cleft lip,
which was repaired through two surgeries when he was an infant. A third surgery for a related issue took
place when he was a sophomore in high school. As a result of the surgeries, he was able to grow up
feeling very normal and rarely thinking about his condition, playing bagpipe and the flute – things that
children whose condition hadn’t been treated couldn’t do.
"I recognized that I was given these opportunities and talent and I feel very obliged" to pay
that forward and help other children pursue their dreams. The concerts have raised $5,000 for the
organization. This year’s concert will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Maumee, located at 200 E.
Broadway, at 7 p.m.
Bova’s odyssey with the bagpipes began at a young age. He was first inspired to play after meeting
bagpipers while volunteering in the fife and drum corps at Fort Meigs. He begged his parents to let him
take lessons, he said.
"Six months of begging, a little bit of divine intervention," and be began taking lessons,
playing in sixth grade at the age of 11. Beginning bagpipers play on an instrument called a chanter,
similar to a recorder, and Bova moved so quickly along that he was ready for a true set of bagpipes in a
month, as opposed to the six months it usually takes. His bagpipes were his Christmas gift that year.

Bova said he’s drawn to the history and culture of the instrument.
"There is such a rich history with bagpiping," he said. The first known modern piece for it was
written in 1431.
And the instrument itself, despite the fact that a bagpipe has only nine notes, is not a simple one.
"Everything about it is difficult," he said when asked what the hardest part of playing the
pipes was. "It’s not an easy instrument."
Bova’s playing has provided him with a great deal of opportunity to travel. He started competing
throughout the Midwest, and in high school competed in Ontario, Canada, and played with the Windsor
Police Pipe Band, a now-defunct group that was Grade 1, the top rating in bagpiping. Since coming to
Carnegie Mellon, he has largely competed on the east coast.
He has also made three trips to Scotland, where he says he tried to be very humble, noting that there is
a different system in that country with a very high standard of play.
When going to Scotland, "I’m taking it as an educational experience. I go and I play and I
compete." He listens to other competitors, he said, talks to judges and tries to learn more about
the instrument and how it is treated in that country, in order to bring that information back to the
United States.
While he said that some in Scotland scoff at an American playing the bagpipes, others appreciate the fact
that he comes to their country to compete.
"But all in all they’re very receptive to it. If nothing else, we’re putting money into their
economy."
Also a flute player, Bova played with the Toledo Youth Orchestra in high school, and also played with the
Toledo Symphony after winning a contest early in his college career. At Carnegie Mellon, he has played
with their university orchestra, and also with the orchestra’s flute choir, which he additionally
conducts.
The university is one of four institutions offering degrees in bagpiping. Bova said he is the only person
he is aware of who is majoring solely in bagpipe performance, though someone he knows is double-majoring
in it. He is also minoring in conducting.
Bova noted that he gets asked what someone can do with a bagpipe degree.
"I’m the first one to admit the job opportunities are slim," he said. He plans to go on to a
master’s in bagpipe performance at Carnegie Mellon and a doctorate at the Royal Scottish Academy of
Music and Drama to further study the instrument.
"Ultimately, the endgame, my endgame" is to teach at a university and run a Scottish music
program.
"And there’s plenty of universities that have programs that I could ideally get a job with. But that
is my endgame, is I want to work at a university."