Written By Lisa Breslin
By day, Lineboro resident Don Bellusci works for Baltimore County government as chief highway inspector; but during every spare moment, he plays – or does research about – the instrument he loves the most: the bagpipes.
Bellusci expects to play his favorite musical insrument with the Nickol Pipe Band in Baltimore’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m.
Bellusci is an Irish piper who became infatuated with the instrument in 1994. He had already mastered the penny whistle and percussion instruments like spoons, the bodhran, and bones.
With Irish lineage from his mother’s side of the family, German lineage from his father’s side of the family, and an Italian last name, Bellusci jokes that he has “enough Irish in [him] to start a fight, enough German to keep it going and enough Italian to make it loud.”
But it’s the Scottish music that tugs at his heart, especially the bagpipes and the violin. Bellusci has a rich understanding and appreciation for the bagpipe’s history.
“In the 1700s, pipes were against the law,” Bellusci explains. “Punishment was severe if you played. Scotland was under English rule and the ban on bagpipes was part of England’s effort to squelch Scottish culture.”
Nothing can squelch Bellusci’s pride when he dresses in full regalia – kilt, hose, dress jacket – and picks up the bagpipes. He often thinks of the Cameron Highlanders, the Scottish regiment whose bagpipes led men to war.
“No doubt, I’m infatuated with bagpipes,” Bellusci said.
Bellusci, his wife, Caroline, and his brother-in-law and his wife, Glen and Carol Bittner, play Victorian music at various locations in the region. During the Christmas holiday, they offered gratis performances at local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. -L.M.B.
