Washington Pipers’ Association

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 Keith Highlanders competed at the Perth Highland Games, placing 5th in a field of 24 bands.  They followed this strong performance with a first place in the World Pipe Band Championships qualifier for Grade 4B, and a third place finish in the final.  Results from the RSPBA are available here>>.

The Northwest Junior Pipe Band competed at North Berwick Highland Games, Perth Highland Games, Crieff Highland Gathering and The World Pipe Band Championships.  The band placed 5th in Juvenile and 7th in Novice Juvenile at North Berwick, First of 24 bands in Grade 4 at Perth, first of 11 Grade 4 bands at Crieff, third in the World Championships qualifier, and fifth in the world at the World Pipe Band Championships.  Results for NWJPB from the RSPBA are available here>>.  A growing Blog about their Scotland trip is available here>>.

Combine these incredible top results for Washington Pipe Bands with the other results from our region from White Spot Pipe Band from BC, who placed sixth in Juvenile at the World Championships, and Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from BC, who won the title of World Champion AND best drum corps, the Northwest and BC are truly among the most talented areas of the world for the top talent in bagpipe bands.

Two bands from Washington are competing in Scotland at the World Pipe Band Championships on Saturday, August 16th.  The Keith Highlanders and Northwest Junior Pipe Band.  NWJPB competed at North Berwick and Perth, and KHPB competed at Perth.  Northwest Junior Pipe Band placed 7th in Novice Juvenile and 5th in Juvenile at North Berwick, playing under extreme weather conditions, then won first in Grade 4 at Perth, with the Keith Highlanders also doing well, placing 5th out of 24 bands from around the world.  See the news from NWJPB on the NWJPBlog>>.  The placings at Perth on the RSPBA website>>. 

Congratulations, and good luck at the World Pipe Band Championships Saturday!!

NWJPB with the Perth Trophy:

Washington Scottish Pipe Band will perform at this Saturday’s Washington Pipers’ Association mini-gathering around 11:00 am, after Adult piping begins. The Washington Scottish Pipe Band is a Grade III band based in Seattle dedicated to the promotion of Scottish culture through performance and education. Washington Scottish traces their roots back to the late 19th century, making them one of the oldest pipe bands in the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks to volunteer and WPA Board Member Jonathan Farrell for inviting top Northwest pipers and drummers to adjudicate for us again this weekend. 

Judging drumming Saturday is Cameron Reid.  Cameron started drumming at age 10 with the Comox Valley Pipe Band Society. He joined the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band in 2001 and won the Juvenile World Championships in 2003. Cameron placed 3rd at the 2004 World Solo Drumming Championships in the Juvenile Class, won the grade 2 World Pipe Band Championships in 2006 with RMM, and last year won the grade 2 North American Championships in 2007 with Triumph Street Pipe Band. Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band was promoted to Grade 1 this year and is one of the first bands in North America to secure new “band naming” sponsorship in recent years.  Since announcing the new band, they rapidly received sponsorship from three major businesses.  For more on this story, see this article on pipes|drums  from December 2007.  There are only 39 Grade 1 pipe bands in the world, and two of them are based in the Northwest.

WPA drummers benefit from detailed feedback and suggestions about their performances from many of the top drummers in the Northwest and around the world.  Thanks Cam for joining us this weekend!

Cameron is joined by band mate Alex Galloway. Alex grew up in Vancouver, BC and started piping in 1986 with instruction from Jimmy Wilson and Jack Lee. After moving up through the amateur grades with competitive success he was invited to compete at the Nicol Brown amateur invitational in Albany, New York. Alex moved into the open class in 2001 and continues to compete in the local circuit. Alex has played with the White Spot Pipe Band, Maple Ridge Legion, Robert Malcolm Memorial (gr 2) and now with Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band. He has won both the World and North American championships in the grade 2 band level. Alex continues to teach piping and serves on the BCPA board of directors.

The awards, sponsored by the Seattle P-I and Microsoft Corp., have honored community involvement in Washington state since 1977. The program was founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard to recognize the special dedication, sacrifices and significant accomplishments of individuals in service to the American people. The awards also strive to motivate new leaders in public service.

Five people will be selected from the nomination list to receive Jefferson Award medallions honoring their contributions to community service.

Spencer Nelson, Snoqualmie — Has been a Seattle firefighter for five years, after serving three years with the Phoenix Fire Department. When he arrived in 2003, he discovered that Seattle did not have department bagpipers to play at celebrations and funerals. Using his own bagpiping skills, he was the inspiration for the Seattle Firefighters’ Pipes and Drums, which now has 21 members from firehouses throughout Seattle.

See more of the nominees in the Seattle PI story. 

Northwest Junior Pipe Band performed on live television today for St. Patrick’s Day on King 5, and recorded a story for Northwest Cable News.  See the NWJPBlog for details, and catch some of the video online.

We’ll post links or info for any Washington Pipe Pand or piping and drumming news about our members, contact us to let us know about it!