A sure sign of a very bright future for Washington State piping and drumming, four young competitors between the ages of 11 and 16 head to Pittsburgh, PA this weekend for the Balmoral Classic, the US Junior Solo Bagiping & Snare Drumming Championships. Our best wishes for great music and great experiences go with all of these fine young Grade 1 pipers and drummers: (listed alphabetically) Alexander Schiele (14), BCPA Grade 1 Piping 2nd...
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Learn from many of the masters of piping, drumming and fiddling at the 2011 Celtic Arts Foundation Winter School in Seabeck, WA. Applications and more information available here>> Fiddlers and Smallpipe/Border Pipes sessions: January 30 – February 3rd Bagpipe & Drumming session: February 5 – 9th Piping Instructors: Brian Donaldson, Cardenden, Fife, Scotland Bruce Gandy, Hallifax, Nova Scotia Alasdair Gillies, Pittsburg (via Ulapool, Scotland) Murray Henderson, Scotland (via New Zealand) Stuart Liddell, Inveraray, Scotland...
Many thanks to all of the judges and the competitors who made time for our events this year! This month, we had a miscommunication with our drumming judge and unfortunately needed to cancel drumming competitions. Thank you William Nichols for coming down from Blaine to judge our piping events. Will started piping in Alaska at the age of 6 and travelled down to Washington for the Mastery of Scottish Arts Winter School (Now Celtic Arts Winter...
Welcome John Dally and Scott Robertson back to WPA events this Saturday. John Dally is one of the founding members of Washington Pipers’ Association, if not the reason we began at all. A master of bagpipes from many regions with a wealth of historical and musical knowledge, John has performed regularly around Western Washington and beyond since the age of 14. Contact information for John is available here>> Scott Robertson is enthusiastic about his return to...
The last event of the season is upon us. Thanks to our award winning and “BCPA certified” adjudicators for coming down from British Columbia this weekend! I will post more about these adjudicators with the results, but David Bowman was the runner up in the 2009 BCPA Drumming Knockout events, an award winning solo drummer who plays with the 2008 World Pipe Band Champion and World Drum Corps champions, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. Hal Senyk will be judging piping. Hal is...
Thanks to Brian McKenzie, local piper and instructor who is among the top professional pipers in the world in solo competitions, recently winning 3rd in 2008 and 2nd in the 2007 Midwest Highland Arts Fund & MWPBA US Silver Medal Piobaireachd Competition at Winter Storm, Thanks also to Steve Roy, multi-talented percussionist, instructor and drumming director for judging Snare and Tenor drumming Saturday. Our new location was very well received, and we look forward to...
Eight pipers and drummers from Washington State–all recent members of WPA–received promotions in their competition grade from the British Columbia Pipers’ Association, announced on September 27th, 2008. The Promotions announcements are available here>> Congratulations to these members for the recognition of their hard work last season. Grade 2 to Grade 1 piping: Christopher Donald Grade 3 to Grade 2 Piping: Alex MacLeod James Makinson Alexander Schiele Grade 4 to Grade 3 Piping:...
Congratulations to the Northwest Junior Pipe Band and the Keith Highlanders Grade 4 pipe band for their great showings on their recent Scotland trips. Both bands were the top bands from the United States in their competition grade. The Keith Highlanders was the top Grade 4B band from the United States at the World Championships, and the Northwest Junior Pipe Band was the top US youth pipe band from either Novice or Juvenile. The...
Aggregate awards were handed out at end of the May 3rd gathering. To receive the award, competitors must not have won in the same grade previously, and must have competed in 4 of 5 events. Points were awarded in reverse order for the top 6 positions at each event. 1st place: 6 points, 2nd place: 5 points, 3rd place: 4 points, etc. Chanter: Paul Vegors Grade 5 Piping: Sean Sele Adult Piping: Rochelle Eldredge...
Sorry for the delays getting these posted. We had a last minute challenge with scheduling judges, but ended up with two judges who needed to leave early, so we scheduled simultaneous competitions. Thanks to Patrick Downing and Colin Gemmell for jumping in at the last minute to make the day a success. Thanks to Stephen Farrell for joining us again to finish the season’s drumming competitions. Northwest Junior Pipe Band Grade 4 performed in...
