London, Ontario – May 5, 2012 – The first sanctioned PPBSO Champion Supreme event of 2012 took place here as part of the large Kiwanis Music Festival. The event was organized by the PPBSO’s Western Branch and featured a full slate of amateur solo events in the morning and a small mini-band contest in the afternoon.  The contest was open to non-members of the PPBSO or affiliates to compete, but only members are eligible for Champion Supreme points. In addition to PPBSO scoresheets, competitors received feedback from the adjudicator after each event.

 

Callum Harper was most successful, with three firsts and a third in the top-level amateur piping events.

 

Solo Piping

Senior Amateur Piobaireachd

1st Callum Harper

2nd Andrew Hutton

3rd Tyler Johnson

4th Mike Allegretti

5th Alex Adams

6th Marcus Tonogai

 

Grade 1

March

1st Callum Harper

2nd Tyler Johnson

3rd Dylan Whittemore

4th Kaitlyn Kimove

5th Andrew Hutton

6th Alex Adams

 

Strathspey & Reel

1st Tyler Harris

2nd Dylan Whittemore

3rd Callum Harper

4th Tyler Johnson

5th Marcus Tonogai

6th Justin Steele

 

Jig

1st Callum Harper

2nd Tyler Harris

3rd Tyler Johnson

4th Kaitlyn Kimove

5th Alex Adams

6th Cameron Cox

 

Intermediate Amateur Piobaireachd

1st Teresa McNeil

2nd Aidan Maher

3rd Thomas Bruce

4th Edward Watt

 

Grade 2

March

1st Aidan Maher

2nd Edward Watt

3rd Ellie Hastings

4th Thomas Bruce

 

Strathspey & Reel

1st Edward Watt

2nd Thomas Bruce

3rd Aidan Maher

4th Ellie Hastings

 

Jig

1st Ellie Hastings

2nd Edward Watt

3rd Thomas Bruce

4th Aidan Maher

 

 

Junior Amateur Piobaireachd

1st Cameron Cox

2nd David Vermeulen

3rd Sid Baker

4th Chris Buchanan

5th Alastair Hutton

6th Janelle Bird

 

Grade 3

March

1st Marshall Chamerlain

2nd Alastair Hutton

3rd A.J. Lunn

4th Chris Buchanan

5th Dan Vinter

6th Teresa McNeil

 

Strathspey & Reel

1st Dan Vinter

2nd Marshall Chamberlain

3rd Teresa McNeil

4th A.J. Lunn

5th Michael House

6th Alastair Hutton

 

Novice Piobaireachd

1st Hunter Bruce

2nd Marshall Chamberlain

3rd Ron Taylor

 

Grade 4

1st Caleb Thibodeau

2nd Rowlan Hill

3rd Hunter Bruce

4th Stacey Dye Williamson

5th Cameron Beggs

6th Carter Beggs

 

Grade 5

1st Gavin MacKay

2nd Don Gale

3rd John Lynes

 

Solo Drumming

Grade 3

MSR

1st Joe Bruce

 

Grade 4

March

1st Mackenzie Chamberlain

2nd Matthew Page

3rd Allison Williamson

 

Amateur Bass

1st Drew Ellis

 

Mini-Bands

Grade 4

1st London Fire Fighters

2nd York Regional Police

 

Grade 5

1st Chatham-Kent Police

2nd London Fire Fighters

3rd 27 (City of London) Air Cadets

Judges for all events were Lynda MacKay and Gail Brown (piping); Craig Stewart (drumming); and  John Cairns (ensemble).

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A Solo Piping Competition is to be held as part of the Finmere Festival 2012 in the church of St Michaels and All Angels
Finmere, Buckingham MK18 4AT on Saturday 1st September 2012 at 2pm

Competitions will be held for:
Junior (12-14), Junior (15-18)
Amateur March, Strathspey and Reel
Open March
Open March, Strathspey and Reel
Open Jig and Hornpipe

Entries to Pipe Major Steve Duffy by e-mail:steveduffy@yahoo.com  or Tel:01295 252375

“The final of the Scots Guards Knockout Piping Competition was held on 06 May at the Scots Guards Club and was won by Keith Bowes in a close contest with Craig Muirhead. We would like to thank our audience for their support throughout this year, we will be starting again in October with another excellent line up of pipers.” Jimmy Banks

Recitals – Pipe Major Gordon Walker will give a recital at the Scots Guards Club 10 June commencing 4pm tickets £10.00 and curry will be served. Club number 0131 337 1084

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Oban, Scotland – May 5, 2012 – Gordon McCready of Renfrew, Scotland, enjoyed a first and a second in the A-Grade events at the annual Highland & Islands Festival competitions.

 

Piobaireachd

1st Gordon McCready

2nd Fiona Manson, Glasgow

3rd Finlay Johnstone, Glasgow

4th Jenny Hazzard, Edinburgh

5th Euan MacCrimmon, Oban, Scotland

 

MSR

1st Gordon Bruce, Edinburgh

2nd Gordon McCready

3rd Alisdair Henderson, Dunoon, Scotland

4th Finlay Johnstone

5th Jenny Hazzard

 

Hugh MacCallum and Iain MacFadyen judged both events.

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For competing pipers and drummers in the know, “ScottishPower” means the top-tier Grade 1 pipe band from Scotland. But ScottishPower the massive energy company is a sponsor smart enough to extend the marketing-value of the band, and the company’s latest connection is to offer a special performance by a member of the ScottishPower Pipe Band as a prize for a winning primary school or nurseries in the Dumfries & Galloway region as the area gears up for the British Championships in Annan on June 30th.

 

ScottishPower Renewables, a green energy sub-brand of the company, is inviting pupils to respond via letter, poem or artwork to the question, “What can the power of the wind be used for?” The school with the winning response will receive four family passes to the British Championships and a piper’s performance at the school at the end of the 2012 summer term.

 

“This competition is a great way for nurseries and primary schools in Dumfries and Galloway to get involved and show their creativity with their interpretation of what wind means to them,” said John Alexander, project director at ScottishPower Renewables.

 

The company is also a sponsor of the 2012 British Championships.

 

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The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland has announced that they will be performing once again at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow to launch their new concert Legacy. Following on from the success of Illumination in 2011 the band is again looking forward to performing at one of Scotland’s top live venues.

Legacy will see the band include four themed sets revolving around historical periods in Scotland’s history as well as performing many other brand new sets and suites which have been arranged specifically for this event. The concert will once again feature the wonderful vocal talents of Catriona Watt and a special performance by the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers who will be performing together with the NYPBoS Drum Corps.

Please purchase your tickets early to avoid the disappointment of missing out as last year’s Illumination concert was a sell out. Tickets for this fantastic event are £12/£8 concession and go on sale on Tuesday 8th May. Tickets can be purchased by calling 0141 353 8000 or online by following this link.

Approximately 100 people paid their last respects to Donald MacPherson, the legendary piper who died on April 21st in his ninetieth year. The service was held in Edinburgh at Mortonhall Crematorium at 2 pm on May 2, 2012.

 

One of MacPherson’s longtime pupils, Iain Speirs, provided the entry music on the pipes with a rendition of “Lord Lovat’s Lament” as guests filed in.

 

The traditional hymn, “Will Your Anchor Hold,” was played – a piece connected with the Boy’s Brigade, paying tribute to MacPherson’s boyhood membership in the group, and a recording of “Rhapsody in Blue” was played for the great piper’s affinity for George Gershwin’s music and his fondness for playing the harmonica.

 

Several recordings of Donald MacPherson were part of the service, including a selection of light music and the ground of “The Big Spree.” A recording of MacPherson performing his composition “The Love of My Life” with the Kirkintilloch Pipe Band was also played.

 

Among the high profile pipers who attended the ceremony were Murray Henderson, Hugh MacCallum, Allan MacDonald, Colin MacLellan, Roddy MacLeod, Willie McCallum and Robert Wallace.

 

Donald Macpherson was one of the greatest Highland pipers in history, with prodigious competitive records that include nine Clasps at the Northern Meeting and 15 Senior Piobaireachd titles at the Argyllshire Gathering. He was the composer of several now-standard tunes, including the jig, “The Curlew.”

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New product from McCallum Bagpipes; Practice chanter and goose combination. 

As you can see from the photographs you can play it as a practice chanter or you can seperate the practice chanter and add it to the goose bag and play it as a goose.  It is also better value than buying the items separately.

It is available with the McCallum PC1, PC2 & PC4.  Please contact your local distributor for info.

The weekend of the 28th and 29th of April saw members of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland drum corps have a 2 day collaborative workshop with the Mugenkyo Taiko Drumming Group who are the only professional group of this kind in the UK. The purpose of the weekend was to expose our very talented young drummers to a different style of drumming and to put together a new collaborative piece that would be performed at the bands major concert in November which has been titled “LEGACY”.

It was a fantastic weekend for everyone involved and definitely worthwhile as our drummers learnt new skills and were able to create a new section for our fanfare. The members of the NYPBoS drum corps would like to thank Mugenkyo members Miyuki and Fiona for their professionalism and enthusiasm with this new concept and look forward to performing with them and the rest of the team in November.