The Children’s Music Workshop provides some great information about the benefits of music education for youth. The full article is here>>, but there were some key points I wanted to point out as our youth music organization works hard to prepare for our upcoming fundraiser on May 8th. Click the flyer to the left to visit our homepage and purchase tickets.
The article lists four areas where music education provides benefits. It leads to Success in society, school, intelligence and life.
Success in Society: studies have shown that secondary school students who participated in band or orchestra report the lowest lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. It has a noticable impact on reducing teen violence. Music study is credited with broadining understanding and appreciation of the world around you and stimulate and contribute to intellectual development. The College Board in New York lists the arts as one of the six basic academic subject areas students should study in order to succeed in college. Most of the very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry area are, nearly without exception, also practicing musicians. Continue Reading »
We have seen many examples of the positive impact our program can make in kids lives. NWJPB has the biggest fundraiser in our history coming up on May 8th, and it’s important to know that with the number of students in the program now (more than 40) it costs nearly $100,000 per year to keep the organization successful and thriving. Our $55 dinner/concert/auction tickets and your support will provide an important part of the income that helps make our 15 year anniversary a successful year and helps provide stability for the future of a number of youth from the Puget Sound region.
The impacts of music are many and varied. A supportive, nurturing and challenging environment where youth can learn to be leaders, grow their talents as musicians and travel are all things we consider critically important, and this video reminded us of just some of the benefits of the work so many of us do on a daily basis to keep the organization growing and successful.
Please visit http://nwjpb.org to purchase tickets for our 15th Anniversary Mothers’ Day Eve celebration at Lynnwood Convention Center. The deadline to purchase dinner tickets is April 25th.
There were several incredible stories we followed during our Scotland trip in 2008:
- Our own experiences winning two first place trophies at Perth and Crieff and 5th in the World
- SFU winning the World Championships for the 5th time, as well as best drum corps
- Besides SFU, there were three pipe bands from the Northwest and BC including NWJPB, the Keith Highlanders AND the White Spot Pipe Bands; taking on the worlds and placing in the top 6
- The story of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band.
This band included top soloists and instructors from all over the world who were not competing in bands. Several of those performers come from the Pacific Northwest / BC area. Now, a very talented documentary film maker is nearing completion of a story about the band, the obstacles they overcame to compete with the top bands in the world, make it through the qualifier round and ultimately win an incredibly respectable 11th place. NWJPB made a small donation to help John finish this important project, and we encourage our supporters to do the same.
Music, Piping and Drumming can be an incredibly healthy and meaningful activity for youth, and the more opportunities there are for people to become familiar with the superstars of piping and drumming, the more youth will consider this a reasonable option. Please check out the press release introducing you to John McDonald, the project, and please consider donating to the cause. Help us help John bring stories like this into the mainstream!
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker John McDonald, who also pipes with the Pasadena Scots in California, is still seeking enough funding to complete his feature-length documentary on the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band.
Entitled ON THE DAY, the documentary follows the band of elite players during its one and only week together in August 2008, as the group of more than 40 pipers and drummers assembled and practiced for the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Championship at Glasgow Green. The film is set to premiere as part of the week-long Piping Live! festival at the Glasgow Film Theatre on August 14, the day before the Worlds. Adding another dimension to the story, McDonald will actually be competing with his Grade 4 band in the Worlds this year.
An initial donation from a private party enabled McDonald and a cameraman to travel to Scotland, and he has raised additional contributions from the piping and Scottish-American community. “I have given a year of my life working only on this film,” McDonald says. “It has been a labor of love for me, my dream project about the dream team of bagpipers. Every dollar I’ve received has gone directly into the film.” However, with a total budget for the film of more than $200,000, he says he still has a ways to go in order to finish the editing and audio mixing.
Each week McDonald has been offering short clips from the rough cut of the film that feature some of the musicians, such as Roddy MacLeod, Jim McGillivray, Angus MacColl, John Fisher, Niall Matheson, Alasdair Gillies, and Willie McCallum. These “clips-of-the week” are first launched in the ON THE DAY Facebook Group and then later go up on YouTube.
The project has non-profit status through a fiscal sponsorship with the International Documentary Association (IDA), making contributions tax-deductible for US residents. A $100 donation gets you a credit in the film’s titles and a special pre-released first-edition DVD, and for $200 or more you will additionally receive a collectable Spirit of Scotland cap badge. A preview of the film can be seen and donations can be made at www.OnTheDayMovie.com.
Gung Haggis Fat Choy, Seattle; an inter-cultural mash-up event in Seattle on February 24th celebrating Robbie Burns Day and Chinese New Year is a week away, but the event is nearly sold out, even though the seating was expanded to 340!
The entertainment at the event includes Northwest Junior Pipe Band, “Gung Haggis Rap Choy” (Robbie Burns Address to the Haggis performed as a Rap), Traditional Chinese orchestral music by Washington Chinese Youth Orchestra, Don Scobie; bagpiper, Scottish Fiddling, Sing Alongs, Chinese Dancers, and some surprises! Sure to be a memorable evening, make sure to plan ahead and purchase tickets early next year.
See more information on the event, sponsored by Bill McFadden and the Seattle Caledonian/St. Andrews Society here>>. See news coverage of the event here>> and in the Seattle Times “Best Bets for the Weekend” here>>.
The event is a fundraiser for Northwest Junior Pipe Band and the Washington Chinese Youth Orchestra. Northwest Junior Pipe Band is in the final stretch of their fundraising to travel to the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland this August. NWJPB is the first youth band from Washington State to go to Scotland since 1969.
Yep, you read that right. And you don’t want to miss it!
Seattle’s second annual, unforgettable mash-up of Scottish Robbie Burns and Chinese New Year celebration returns February 24th at Ocean City Restaurant, 609 S. Weller in Seattle’s International District. A fundraiser for Northwest Junior Pipe Band and the Washington Chinese Youth Orchestra hosted by the St. Andrews/Caledonian Society of Seattle, this event was one of the highlights of our year in 2007. Gung Haggis Fat Choy has a wildly successful history in Vancouver, BC starting 10 years ago in a living room with 16 attendees and growing into a week-long festival of events with hundreds of attendees.
Visit www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com for more history of the Vancouver events.
The Seattle Event includes performances by the Chinese Youth Orchestra, Northwest Junior Pipe Band, Don Scobie-Bagpiper, Toddish McWong’s Gung Haggis Rap Choy, Robbie Burns Poetry readings, Melody Dance Group youth Chinese dancers, door prizes and raffles. Singalongs of traditional and culturally-tweaked familiar songs, such as “When Asian Eyes Are Smiling”, and “My Haggis Lies Over the Ocean, My Chow Mein Lies Over the Sea.” Traditional Chinese and Scottish Dress, sometimes on the same people.
Northwest Junior Pipe Band will be selling a limited number of tickets. Contact us soon! $35.00 for dinner and show. info@nwjpb.org or 206-508-1261.
More tickets available from the Caledonian Society.
Search using Microsoft’s Live Search and their new site for non-profits, and 10 times per day, NWJPB can earn money for your search.
Play word puzzle games and donate your tickets to NWJPB too!
This requires a “Live ID” or hotmail account, and joining the “Live Search Club”. If you already have one, visit www.searchandgive.com and sign in. Select Northwest Junior Pipe Band by typing in “northwest junior pipe band” under search for a charity. Select us as your charity and check and accept the terms and conditions.
NWJPB members snatched up all available Entertainment ’08 books at practice Thursday night and are ordering more Friday. One band member pre-sold 30 books before the books ever arrived.
NWJPB youth and families will help raise funds to travel to Scotland in 2008 by selling $20.00 Entertainment ’08 books with a total value in coupon savings of over $20,000.00 in the Seattle area and around $14,000 in the Snohomish or Pierce County regions.
Contact a band member and ask to buy a book from them. The Entertainment books are being sold in the Seattle area at a significant savings over 2006 when they sold for $30.00. NWJPB can earn as much as 50% of each book sold!
Buy online by following the link below….there are hundreds of communties throughout the United States and Canada with participating coupon books, and by following the link, Northwest Junior Pipe Band will receive a portion of the sale.
The Northwest Junior Pipe Band 2007 Grade 4 Competition medley recorded at practice a couple weeks ago has been set to a video promoting NWJPB’s “Shop for Scotland” fundraising campaign. Northwest Junior Pipe Band is the first juvenile band from Washington State to plan a trip to Scotland since 1969. Check out the video! Shop for NWJPB with the link from our Merchandise page to Giveline!
A brand new option for supporting NWJPB and the plans to send the band to Scotland in 2008 is available through a unique new opportunity. Giveline is an online shopping resource similar to the others, with one big difference: Every Purchase you make donates funds to the charity of your choice.  If you choose, you can also “donate your discount” to NWJPB, paying full price, but ensuring a larger donation gets put in the NWJPB Scotland 2008 fund.
Support NWJPB youth and help send them to Scotland by starting all of your online shopping here:
Promotional “copy” from Giveline for NWJPB:
“Introducing Giveline as a Revolutionary Way to Support Northwest Junior Pipe Band !
Giveline.com is an online store created for the community-minded shopper, offering more than a million bestselling products including books, movies, music, electronics, housewares, gifts and more. Every purchase generates a substantial donation to Northwest Junior Pipe Band – an amazing average of 16% of store sales, sometimes as high as 33%. Giveline has great products, great service, and great prices – the only difference between Giveline and other major online retailers is that every purchase earns money for our organization. Check it out today, and if you decide to buy, remember that NWJPB will earn significant funds in support of our mission!”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â
Contact information:
Todd Schiele, Northwest Junior Pipe Band President
206-508-1261
president@nwjpb.org
www.nwjpb.org
=====April 5, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE======
NORTHWEST JUNIORÂ PIPE BAND ANNOUNCES NEW SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM TO SERVE YOUTH WHO RECEIVE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
Northwest Junior Pipe Band announced a significant new scholarship program to help members of the band as it prepares its members to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland 2008.
Northwest Junior Pipe Band (a 501(c)3 organization) is a competition and performance pipe band of youth through age 18 committed to excellence in traditional Scottish and Irish music education, and the values of dedication, practice, teamwork, respect, responsibility, community service and tradition.
The music scholarship program is important to improve services to the youth in communities NWJPB serves throughout Western Washington, from Anacortes to Snohomish to Auburn and beyond. Youth interested in joining NWJPB as well as existing members of NWJPB who receive public assistance (from reduced lunches to unemployment insurance or food stamps) are encouraged to apply for as many as five scholarships available to support youth 18 and under interested in learning the bagpipes or drums (including snare, bass, or tenor) from a qualified private instructor. Recipients must be members of Northwest Junior Pipe Band or participate in one of the group lesson programs NWJPB instructors provide.
A second scholarship program was also announced to benefit all members of the band, which will provide workshops to band members, as well as provide opportunities to attend summer camps and workshops for pipers and drummers on a random drawing/rotation basis.
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