Last week was the third annual US Juvenile Solo Bagpiping Championships in Pittsburg, PA, at the Balmoral Classic. Thirteen year old NWJPB Pipe Major Alexander Schiele was invited to the event, competing with 15 registered pipers and came back to the Seattle area with 5th place finish in the Piobaireachd competition. The classic was a lively event culminating in a concert featuring the St. Thomas Episcopal School Pipe Band, another top US youth pipe band program, with five Juvenile world championships to their credit, and another trip planned for 2010.
Friday the 13th, NWJPB was invited to perform at the BCPA Knockout competitions; where professional pipers and drummers and a couple of top amateurs are invited to compete. A small band of NWJPB Grade 4 pipers and drummers and a volunteer instructor and alumni tenor drummer performed a short set of tunes following the competition for 50 or 60 attendees and were very well received by the audience.
Today (Saturday November 14th) was the first official day of competition opportunities in the British Columbia Pipers’ Association. Eight of the Northwest Junior Pipe Band solo pipers and drummers, most of whom were promoted to new amateur grade levels after last season, and every one of them placed in the top 6, a remarkable accomplishment.
The results:
Grade 4 piping 2/4 march, 12 competitors: Marcus 2nd, Megan 5th
Grade 4 side drumming 2/4 march, 3 competitors: Morgan M 2nd
Grade 3 side drumming 2/4 march, 6 competitors: Steven W 1st, Bryce 2nd
Grade 2 piping 6/8 march, 8 competitors: Aaron 1st
Grade 2 piping 2/4 march, 8 competitors: Aaron 3rd
Grade 2 side drumming 2/4 march, 7 competitors: Amber 3rd
Grade 1 piping 6/8 march, 13 competitors: Alexander Schiele 4th
Congratulations to all, as well as last year’s graduate of our youth program, Almuni Elliot T. for placing 4th of 11 in the Grade 3 2/4 march.
Northwest Junior Pipe Band had a remarkable weekend at the Pacific Northwest Highland Games on Saturday and Sunday July 26th & 27th, 2009. The band started the season adding one additional event to the Grade 4 schedule, to give us a mathematical “shot” at winning the Grand Aggregate for the season, but it required an undefeated season. Other bands go to two other events on Vancouver Island; the Comox Valley Highland Games and the Victoria Highland Games in May. NWJPB started the season at Bellingham, already down by two victories, which are worth 88 points each, but placed first in Bellingham and won best drum corps for the first time at those games in Grade 4 competitions. Grade 5 placed 2nd of 3 bands.
On to Sons of Scotland, with another 1st place and best drum corps. Vague glimmers of hope began to surface, but the competition in the region is tough, and the band stayed focused on the next competition. BC Highland Games has always been a bit of a challenge for the band, the heat on the rubber surfaces the band practices and performs on seems to raise the actual temperature by 10 degrees or so. The band is also taking on the top bands in the region on their home turf. This year was no different, the heat was taking its toll, but the band performed well. 3 first places and a 4th from one piping judge was enough for the band to win first and best drum corps again. Grade 5 placed 3rd with a 2nd place for the drum corps.
Skagit Valley was next. The Grade 5 drum corps won 1st and the band placed 2nd, but the Grade 4 band won its 4th straight 1st place finish and another best drum corps. On day two, NWJPB won its second Washington State Pipe Band Championship, and challenged up to the Grade 3 competitions, placing 2nd of 5 bands. The next weekend brought the Portland Highland Games, and the 6th straight 1st place victory (5 which are counted in the BCPA standings), this time with two first places from the piping judges, and White Spot won best drum corps.
The band was now two 1st place finishes away from the Grand Aggregate, but had already won more events in a row than ever before in their history. The heat was sure to play a role at the Pacific Northwest Highland Games, but the band performed very well on Saturday and managed to step into 1st place overall for the first time ever. One event remained. NWJPB had now won 1st place at SEVEN straight Grade 4 competitions, more than any other pipe band in our division. The band took the field in high temperatures and played very well. Band Director Kevin Auld praised them for playing well despite the conditions, and noted that they played with great skill, doing what it takes to overcome the conditions. The band results were announced and NWJPB received 2nd place. It was somewhat disappointing because it meant NWJPB would end the season with fewer points than the very talented White Spot Pipe Band from Canada, but NWJPB members recognized they had performed better than any time in their history against a tough field of at least 15 bands in the division. The most 1st place finishes of any Grade 4 pipe band in the BCPA region this year, and the most consecutive wins in NWJPB’s history in Grade 4, and it was a remarkable season for some incredibly talented youth musicians.
Adding to the excitement of the Pacific Northwest Highland Games, the band won 1st and 2nd place finishes in the Quartet competition, and the first ever West Coast Grade 4 Drum Corps Championship win for NWJPB with the drum fanfare, with lead stroke Joseph Y coming back for his first competition after a season-ending injury. Finally, there were 4 aggregate winners at the games and 2 overall Grand Aggregate winners in solos for the season:
Aggregate winners at the games:
Aaron – G3 piping, Alexander – G2 piping, Amber – G3 side drumming, Steven (lead stroke) - G4 side drumming.
Grand aggregate winners: Bryce K, Grade 4 side drumming and Alexander S (PM), Grade 2 piping. See them mentioned on the Pipes|Drums website, the world’s only independent pinping and drumming publication.
Saturday results:
- NWJPB 1st of 9 bands
- Grade 4 Quartets, NWJPB “A” (Alexander, Aaron, Matt, Elliot): 1st place
- Grade 4 Quartets, NWJPB “B” (Kevin, Sterling, Paul, Patrick): 2nd place
- Grade 5 piping 6/8 March: Marcus 3rd, Megan 4th
- Grade 4 piping 2/4 March, group A: Paul V. 5th
- Grade 4 piping 2/4 March, group B: Saul 2nd, Matt 4th, Devon 5th
- Grade 4 piping Piobaireachd: Saul 3rd
- Grade 3 piping 2/4 March: Aaron 2nd
- Grade 3 piping Piobaireachd: Aaron 2nd
- Grade 2 piping Piobaireachd: Alexander 6th
- Grade 2 piping Hornpipe & Jig: Alexander 1st
- Grade 4 side drumming 2/4 March: Steven 1st, Morgan M 3rd, Bryce 4th, Robbie 5th
- Grade 3 side drumming 6/8 March: Amber 1st
- Grade 2 Tenor 2/4 March: Ali 6th
Sunday results:
- NWJPB 2nd of 8 bands
- West Coast Grade 4 Drum Corps Championships: 1st place NWJPB Grade 4, 3rd place NWJPB Grade 5
- Grade 5 piping Slow Air: Marcus 1st, Megan 2nd
- Grade 5 piping 2/4 March: Megan 3rd
- Grade 4 piping Strathspey & Reel, Group A: Paul 5th place
- Grade 4 piping Strathspey & Reel, Group B: Saul 2nd, Devon 3rd, Matt 5th
- Grade 3 piping Strathspey & Reel, Aaron 2nd
- Grade 3 piping Jig: Aaron 2nd
- Grade 2 piping MSR: Alexander 2nd
- Grade 4 side drumming 6/8 March: Bryce 1st, Steven 2nd, Robbie 3rd, Cheyenne 6th
- Grade 3 side drumming 2/4 March: Amaber 3rd
- Grade 2 tenor drumming 6/8 March: Ali 4th, Alexander 5th
Other notable awards and placings:
Best from Washington aggregate scores:
- Grade IV piping: Saul G. (James McNeill Memorial Scholarship–NWJPB founder Charlie McNeill’s brother)
- Grade III piping: Aaron S (also games aggregate)
- Grade II piping: Alexander S (also games aggregate)
- Grade IV Side Drumming: Steven W (also the games aggregate and winner of the David M. Moore –NWJPB’s first drumming instructor– Scholarship)
- Grade III Side Drumming: Amber S (also the games aggregate and winner of the David M. Moore Scholarship)
Eleven Northwest Junior Pipe Band pipers and drummers competed in solo events at the 77th Annual British Columbia Pipers’ Association Annual Gathering Friday and Saturday April 10th and 11th ; the largest turnout of solo competitors to the event in NWJPB history. 10 placed in the top 6, for a total of 15 top six finishes, including:
Piping
- Grade 5 Piping 2/4 March, Megan M 1st Place. 8 registered to compete
- Grade 4 Piping Strathspey & Reel; Elliot T 1st place. Matt A 6th place. 20 registered to compete.
- Grade 3 Piping Strathspey & Reel; Aaron S 5th place. 23 registered to compete
- Grade 2 Piping March, Strathspey & Reel; Alexander S 1st place (William Lamont Memorial Trophy). 25 registered to compete
- Grade 2 Piping Piobaireachd; Alexander S 2nd place. 20 registered to compete.
- Grade 2 Piping Hornpipe & Jig; Alexander S 5th place. 24 registered to compete.
- Grade 2 Piping Aggregate Winner; Alexander S. Heather MacInnes Collins Memorial Trophy and Scholarship to Mastery of Scottish Arts Winter School, presented by the Celtic Arts Foundation
Drumming
- Grade 4 Drumming 2/4 March; Steven W 2nd place, Bryce K 4th place. 11 registered to compete.
- Grade 4 Drumming 6/8 March; Steven W 1st place, Bryce K 2nd place. 9 registered to compete.
- Grade 4 Drumming Aggregate Winner; Steven W. BC Pipers’ Association Shield
- Most Promising Drummer; Steven W. Roderick MacLeod Memorial Trophy and Piping Hot Summer Drummer School of Scottish Pipes & Drums Scholarship
- Grade 3 Drumming March, Strathspey & Reel; Amber S 3rd Place. 9 registered to compete.
- Grade 3 Drumming 6/8 March; Amber S 3rd place. 9 registered to compete.
- Grade 2 Tenor Drumming 2/4 March; Alexander S 3rd place, Ali N 4th. 5 registered to compete
In the Band Competition, Northwest Junior sent two Grade 4 mini-bands for the first time in our history. Each band was larger than the entire competition band in 2004, with 8 pipers, 2 snare drummers, 2 tenor drummers in NWJPB Grade 4 A, and 7 pipers, 2 snare drummers, 2 tenor drummers in NWJPB Grade 4 B. Bass drummer Morgan S. played for both bands (as allowed by the BCPA competition rules) for a total of 24 Northwest Junior Pipe Band members. Bands competing included White Spot Pipe Band, Keith Highlanders Grade 4, Portland Metro Youth, Robert Malcolm Memorial IV and NWJPB A and B.
Results:
- Northwest Junior Pipe Band “A”, winning the Malcolm Nicholson Shield for the best Pipe Section, and the John MacKenzie Memorial Trophy.
- White Spot Pipe Band
- Keith Highlanders’ Pipe Band
- Northwest Junior Pipe Band “B”
- Portland Metro Youth Pipe Band
- Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band IV
The top three bands all competed and placed at the World Pipe Band Championships in 2008, so the competition is very close in this grade level. Northwest Junior Pipe Band greatly appreciates the hard work of the dedicated volunteers of the British Columbia Pipers’ Association for their work staging an incredible event featuring hundreds of pipers and drummers from the Northwest. Full results from the event will be posted soon at www.bcpipers.org/results.html
NWJPB 2009 Ceilidh Tickets are SOLD OUT
THANK YOU! Our Event is now SOLD OUT. 2010 (our 15th anniversary) promises a new location that will seat more people. We hope to see you then, stay tuned for information
SOLD OUT: Buy tickets online now by clicking the photo above, or contact us at concert@nwjpb.org or call us at 206-508-1261 for 4 or 8 person table reservations. Adult tickets are $40.00 each or reserve a table of 8 for $300.00 until April 23rd. Youth 6 to 18 are $30.00, 5 and under free with paid adult. Sorry, this event is SOLD OUT
Entertainment:
- Karen Shelton Highland Dance
- The Bucketmen
- Northwest Junior Pipe Band
- and more!
Lake City Way Elks
14500 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
May 9, 5:00 to 9:00 pm.
Help us spread the word by printing your own flier! Click the thumbnail below:
Party with NWJPB May 9th!
We found this video after our return from Scotland. We’ll continue searching for video, pictures and stories, because one thing about our trip to Scotland that has many of our members eager to go back again, was the welcoming attitude and the warm, open arms the people of Glasgow, Perth, North Berwick, and Crieff, the Piping Live! Festival organizers, and the RSPBA and the organizers of the World Championship events showed us on our first visit to Scotland. Passers-by were talking about the band’s talent and using phrases like “I thought they were Scots,” reporters, photographers, and the BBC seemed to be watching us at every event, and we were often asked to pose for photos.
The Evening Times / The Herald published this video on YouTube, which featured NWJPB performing in George Square as the opener to the story about the week long Piping Live! festival.
August 16th, the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow Scotland. The day NWJPB had been planning, fundraising, and practicing for for years for had finally arrived. There is no pipe band competition like the World Championships anywhere. The field was enormous; there were 224 pipe bands competing and 23 bands in NWJPB’s grade, Novice Juvenile. There was a light rain falling occasionally, but for the most part the sky stayed free of it. The band’s qualifier started at 9:00 AM so the band arrived, unloaded instruments and got to work tuning up and working through the music. Seeking out competition arena 4, the band approached the final tuning area to play their three tunes that comprise the “MAP” tune set, or a required set of marches all Novice and Grade 4 bands play in order to qualify for the championship round, when they then play a longer set of tunes.
Performing in the Qualfier
Northwest Junior Pipe Band placed third in the qualifying round, and only one point behind the two bands who tied for first place in “Qualifier 2″ which included 11 bands. NWJPB advanced on to the finals feeling jubilant at the recognition of their hard work and clean sound.
NWJPB goes on to the championships
White Spot Pipe Band was there at the qualifier to cheer on NWJPB, as were many of the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band. Some NWJPB members went to watch the Keith Highlanders compete in their qualifier round, in which they were placed first by both MAP judges in Grade 4B. The next stop for NWJPB members was the Juvenile competition to hear White Spot compete in their field of 10 Juvenile bands. White Spot put on a solid performance in Arena 5 at 10:30. Many members also went and watched the Keith compete.
NWJPB performed again at 12:12 PM. It was a strong performance and the band was hopeful. The rest of the day was spent watching many of the bands around Glasgow Green, especially the Grade 1 bands, including the exciting new “Spirit of Scotland” pipe band with some of the best known names in piping and drumming that weren’t in bands, including Jacquie and Jamie Troy, Craig Calhoun (Hoss, creator of Hosbilt tenor and bass drums) on bass, Roddy MacLeod, John Fisher, Alasdair Gillies and more. The band was one of 5 Grade 1 bands to go on to the final round of the championships out of 14 to attempt it, but they did it with only a week of practice together as a band. Congratulations to Simon Fraser University Pipe Band for being the obvious winner in the Medley, according to many who heard them play. Some members also stayed around to hear the other Novice bands compete, and the ultimate Novice World Champion Bucksburn and District was an amazingly good Novice band who played without any noticeable mistakes, as well as an impressive performance musically.
Thanks also to the people of Scotland for opening their hearts and arms to the youth of NWJPB. There were literally hundreds of comments overheard and given directly to us at each of our performances and competitions about how talented the band was, and photographers and newspaper reporters almost everywhere we performed and competed. Many told the band’s leadership that the kids had a great chance at it. We’ve got many more stories to share, keep an eye on our blog to get them over the next couple weeks or so, or join our mailing list by visiting our contacts page.
NWJPB lead instructors and musicians at the 2008 World Pipe Band Championships
Northwest Junior Pipe Band wins fifth
The band came in seventh in the field of 11 competitors, which considering the challenges faced tuning the drones while they filled with water, and rain dripping off of faces and chanters, causing for slippery fingers and finally the water wheel effect of the tenor mallets flinging rain back into the faces of our mid-section, wasn’t bad. Combine all these elements with the adrenaline and nerves brought on by the pure wonder and awe of the first competition for a Washington youth pipe band in Scotland since 1969, the band was happy to end up near the middle of the grade. Below you you can see a good shot of the band, followed by a closeup of the rain.
The band and rain at North Berwick Highland Games
The close-up:
Close-up shot of the rain on the competition field
The band also challenged up to Juvenile to compete against their friends to the North, White Spot Pipe Band. In a field of seven competitors, NWJPB placed 5th, one behind White Spot performing their Selection Medleys. The rain stopped in the afternoon, and the Grade 2 and 1 bands had a much easier time of the afternoon. North Berwick is a beautiful city by the sea, and some band members managed to make their mark at North Berwick in other ways as you can see by the photo below. More photos of North Berwick are now posted in our photo album.
NWJPB leaves it's mark at North Berwick
Sunday morning brought a new day and a new opportunity to perform as well as possible. The forecast predicted a low chance of rain, we reached final tuning and the rain began, but lightly and briefly. The air was warmer and fingers managed to keep their feeling. The band competed in Grade 4 (as they do in the US and Canada) since there was no Juvenile competition. The band was a little intimidated by the huge class of 24 pipe bands in Grade 4, a competition so long that the judges were given a half hour break from judging after twelve bands. In addition, we had no preparation in advance that the group would be this large, because Perth and the RSPBA did not post information in advance of the games about the number of bands who were signed up. NWJPB arrived and unloaded the instruments from the coaches and dived in to prove that they could do better than Saturday. Saturday’s competition was now a distant memory as the tuning and warm-ups took over.
The band was drawn to play 6th of the 24 bands, which made some members nervous. The judges would need to really remember the band’s performance through several hours of judging talented band after talented band, from all over the world. The Royal Army of Oman pipe band was parked next to NWJPB and several members took pictures with them and received lapel pins. The Oman pipe band is a military band from Oman, with the most unique and beautiful uniforms (Best Dressed Band at Perth).
Washington’s Keith Highlanders Grade IV band was at the games when NWJPB arrived, and they were drawn to perform just after NWJPB. The bands compared notes about the games, the rain, the North Berwick Games, and the many KHPB members who flew in Saturday evening after 10:00 pm after spending more than 30 hours on flights to get to Glasgow.
Royal Army of Oman Pipe Band
The time flew by and NWJPB’s turn on the competition field was near. The pipes well set, the drums tensioned and dried after a few sprinkles, and the band approached final tuning just after the rain had started coming down, so with plastic covered drums, the band practiced and touched up tuning on the drones and drums. The steward called for the band to enter the field, and the rain had stopped. Taking the line with confidence, the pipers and drummers of NWJPB put their game faces on, and performed the March Medley as well as it has ever been performed in competition. Most of the band stayed behind to watch the Keith Highlanders perform, then returned their instruments to their cases on the coach so they could have lunch and watch more of the bands. Oran Mor is a Grade 1 band in the Eastern US Pipe Band Association, competing in Grade 2 in Scotland. Back in June, they had a fire on their tour bus going to a competition in Ohio. The band asked to borrow a bagpipe cover from us (possibly because they haven’t fully recovered from the losses suffered in the fire), and we were happy to loan one to them. Oran Mor came in first in their competition, and our bagpipe cover was “there to hear it” as they competed. We’re proud to support another US band going to Scotland and playing very well.
Massed Bands was enormous. There were 42 bands on the field, which was the center of the horse track at Perth. The announcements began with the Drum Major competitions and moved to bands. They announce Grade 4 first, then placings from top to bottom. Grade 4, 1st place: Northwest Junior, USA! After a brief moment of confusion, screams of excitement, pride and joy erupted from the band and supporters around the field. Our once ”little” pipe band from Shoreline, Washington had come to Scotland and won in a field of 24 pipe bands from around the world.
The Grade 4 bands competed in “the winners circle” at the racetrack. We went back there for photos with our Perth Band Trophy, and took group shots as well as individuals with the trophy. The most poignant moment of the day was when a piper and a couple of drummers, Elliot, Bryce and Stephen stepped into the competition circle and began playing the Streaker hornpipe and Paddy’s Epic Journey, a favorite tune set from the band’s 2007 Medley Selection. Some looked around wondering what was going on, but this was a spontaneous and joyous celebration of the events of the day, and piper after drummer after piper quickly made their way to join in on the fun in the circle, playing the tunes from the heart and truly enjoying the last moments for the band in Perth, Scotland on a day the band members will not soon forget.
First place Grade 4 of 24 bands at Perth, Scotland, UK
NWJPB, Number 1 at Perth, UK
NWJPB Pipers in the Winners' Circle
NWJPB Grade 4 snare drummers at Perth
NWJPB Grade 4 Midsection
NWJPB arrived at Seatac airport at 4:30 AM Tuesday morning, to learn that Houston was having flight delays as well as Chicago the night before. The Continental staff really had their hands full, but ended up getting us checked in on time after a few hours of hurrying up to wait for them to “just get through it”.
The band arrived in Newark, New Jersey expecting a 3.5 hour layover and ended up with approximately 5 hours and one gate change.
The flight crew into Glasgow commented to several of the parents and other travelers that our kids were one of the best groups of kids they’ve ever had on the airplane. They were respectful and friendly and generally great on the flight to Scotland. One of the flight crew told several different adults in our party how great the kids were.
But we arrived in Scotland at approximately 9:00 am Wednesday morning, got checked into our rooms and met for our first practice to make sure the instruments still work correctly after all that time on an airplane. We practiced under the “M-8″ expressway to stay out of the rain, about 4 blocks down hill from our lodging. While we were practicing under the M-8 Wednesday, a reporter drove by, who then contacted the National Piping Centre thinking it might be an interesting story for a Glasgow News magazine he works for. The Piping Centre emailed us and we’re hoping their reporter shows up to our practice Friday morning. Here’s a camera-phone picture of us at practice under the bridge, right next to the offramp from the M-8 to the Great Western Road (A82):
NWJPB practicing out of the rain, under the M-8 freeway in Glasgow
The rain is coming down here occasionally, a lot like spring in Seattle was this year; gray overcast, mist, light showers and occasional heavy rains all day long Wednesday. We’re all exhausted after the travels, but got up for 10:00 AM practice Thursday morning (9:00 for Snare Drummers). The rain held off for the most part Thursday. We’ve found a place only three blocks away that will let us do morning practices indoors while we’re here, it acts as a bar only on Fridays and Saturdays and hosts performances with the Glasgow School of Art students. It’s a nice change from the Freeway overpass when we get to use it for our morning practices. Picture below. Thanks to the very kind people at the Glasgow School of Art, Margaret MacDonald House for helping us get in at this unique space and to Colin and his co-workers at “The Vic” for scheduling it for us and letting us in when we arrive and ring the bell.
NWJPB in our morning practice space at "The Vic"
The Shoreline Enterprise newspaper posted the below story about the Northwest Junior Pipe Band trip to Scotland that begins Tuesday, April 5th. Follow the band’s progress in Scotland by signing up for updates.
Click the photograph by Enterprise photographer Jeff Faddis for the story.
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