Northwest Junior Pipe Band started off the week learning they are the only youth bagpipe band from the United States scheduled to compete at the ultimate competition for pipe bands, the World Pipe Band Championships on August 16th, 2008.  33 youth pipe bands from around the world will compete, with the young band from Washington as the only US entry.   The recent draw listing the order of play for the two qualifying competition heats puts NWJPB up first at 9:00 am.

Northwest Junior Pipe Band Grade 4 then went on to wrap up a two day competition at the sunny Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mount Vernon, WA on July 13th, winning the title “Washington State Grade 4 Pipe Band Champions.”   The band placed 1st of 5 bands on Saturday and 1st of 3 bands on Sunday, winning best drum corps both days. 

The Grade 5 band performed very well Saturday, turning in one of their best ensemble performances of the season and finishing with a first place award.  The beginner drum corps wowed and surprised the crowd Sunday, winning the drum salute competition in a field of 3 drum corps entries from Grades 3, 4, and 5.

Solo competitions were a great success for band members as well, with many top placings in both piping and drumming. 

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Posing with the Grade 4 Trophy at the BC Highland Games.

Northwest Junior Pipe Band Grade 4 won best drum corps and first place of seven bands at the British Columbia Highland Games on Saturday June 28th, 2008.  2008 marks only the third season of competing at this level after receiving a promotion from Grade 5 in 2005, and this is the first first place victory in a BC Pipers’ Association sanctioned Highland Games.

The band Saturday consisted of 8 side drummers, 3 tenor drummers, a bass drummer, and 10 bagpipers.  The age range is from 9 to 18, and includes the adult band director Kevin Auld.

The Northwest Junior Pipe Band - Grade 4 members will be the first youth band from Washington State to ever compete in the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in August, and only the second youth band from Washington to travel to Scotland for any competition since 1969.  The band is growing to a crescendo of membership and talented bagpipers and drummers 18 and younger.

Seven pipe bands competed, three focused on youth pipers and drummers, and four bands either focused on adults or largely or with a majority of adult members.  Two Canadian youth pipe bands; Robert Malcom Memorial, and White Spot Pipe Band Grade 4 joined the Keith Highlanders from Bellevue, the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada- a Canadian military pipe band founded in 1910, the Kamloops Pipe Band Society from British Columbia, and the Bellingham Pipe Band from Washington.  During bagpipe band competitions, four judges critique piping, drumming, and ensemble, or how well the pipes and drums perform and sound together.

In the Northwest (British Columbia, Washington and Oregon) pipe band competitions are based on skill rather than age.  Youth bands compete against adult bands, and are judged by the top pipers and drummers in the world who provide valuable feedback to the bands to help them improve their skills.  Northwest Junior Pipe Bands; Grade 4 and 5 travelled north to Coquitlam British Columbia, into the heart of piping and drumming in the Northwest, where the largest numbers of talented pipers and drummers hone their skills, supported by a long tradition and celebration of Scottish culture and pipe band competitions.  Northwest Junior Pipe Band Grade 4 won first place overall and received recognition for fielding the “Best Drum Corps” at the British Columbia Highland Games on Saturday June 28th, a major milestone for the Seattle - area youth pipe band founded in 1995. 

Northwest Junior Pipe Band youth were enthusiastic about their performance on Saturday, but are maintaining laser like focus on their ultimate goal of performing well during their August trip to Scotland.  The band will compete in 4 competitions throughout their two week stay, but the World Pipe Band Championships is the biggest challenge for any bagpipe band, attracting the most talented bagpipe bands in the World, who travel to Scotland every year for this event.  

Band Director Kevin Auld is a full time performer and instructor of the Great Highland Bagpipe, and begain working with the band in 2002.  After Saturday’s performance Kevin told the band “Regardless of the outcome, you performed your best today, and that’s what makes me proud of our performance.”  Mid Section Director Marcie MacRae was one of the founding instructors with the band, and was thrilled with the performance.  Drumming Director Steve Roy leads a large snare drum corps of 8 members, who performed in near-perfect synchronization Saturday. The youngest snare drummer in the Grade 4 band is 9, and the oldest is 16. Steve is a full time percussionist and instructor who has been volunteering with Northwest Junior Pipe Band for four years.  Other volunteer instructors include Rick Rich, working with our Grade 5 snare drummers, and Ben Little, who graduated from the Northwest Junior Pipe Band in 2007 and has been working with the Grade 5 competition band as leading the band as Pipe Major at Highland Games competitions this year.  Former band members often return to help teach the members of Northwest Junior Pipe Band.

The next competition for the band is in Mount Vernon at the Skagit Valley Highland Games on July 12th and 13th.  The band’s full schedule is available on www.nwjpb.org/schedule.

Northwest Junior Pipe Band has been rapidly growing and steadily improving over the past few years since gaining a promition to Grade 4 from the beginning Grade 5 class.  With over 50 members and the second season fielding two pipe bands, The first competition of 2008 started out strong for the band.  This is a historic year for what was once a struggling youth pipe band from Washington, and band members felt a lot of pride in their musicianship and teamwork when they completed the first event of the year with the highest ever combined ranking of bands in our history.

Grade 4 competed in a class of 5 bands, three youth and two combined adult / youth organizations, placing 2nd overall, with first and second rankings from the two piping judges, 2nd in drumming and 3rd in ensemble.  Watch the video of the best performance in the band’s history:

The brand new Grade 5 band for 2008 performed incredibly well placing first of three youth bands.  The majority of them have been playing for less than one year, and one member just started on pipes in April after learning the music on the practice chanter.  This is a truly remarkable feat.  The band gained first place rankings from three judges and “Best Drum Corps”, continuing the string of 1st place finishes that an almost completely different beginning band won last year before most of that band worked hard to gain the promotion to our Grade 4 band.  See the video here:

NWJPB at the Bellingham Highland Games in Ferndale, WA

NWJPB closes a busy week filled with multiple performances, today: appearing LIVE on King 5 this morning, appearing on Northwest Cable News, and getting a special “web” version of a performance posted on King5.com.  The video features our newest instructor and recent graduate leading the band; Ben Little, two of our newest pipers and three of our most experienced pipers, and several members from our Grade 4 drum corps.   The story played live, then again at 12:40 on the King 5 noon news.

Photographer Ellen M. Banner from the Seattle Times took the below photo of one of our 11 year old pipers and posted it online in a photo album of shots from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

We have pipers scheduled to perform on the air on “The Ron & Don Show” on Kiro 710 AM, available streaming live on their website  by clicking the  710 Kiro icon under “On the Air”.

Part of our appearance at the parade made it to YouTube as well. We were the biggest bagpipe band at the parade. It’s hard to believe we had just a dozen members 3 or 4 years ago.  It’s even harder to believe that we’re going to be the first youth bagpipe band from Washington in nearly 40 years to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships!

The British Columbia Pipers Association Board unanimously approved the recommendations of a special panel of experts to re-grade the Triumph Street Pipe Band as Grade 1 for the 2008 competition season.  Congratulations to their organization for their efforts!

Congratulations to Skye Richendrfer, Director of the Skagit Valley Celtic Arts Foundation in receiving the Governor’s Arts & Heritage Award. The Arts and Heritage Awards recognize individuals and organizations for their significant contributions to the creativity and culture of Washington.

Skye K. Richendrfer, a former piper with Simon Fraser University Pipe Band is the founder of the Celtic Arts Foundation and the Skagit Valley Highland Games, which draws 10,000 attendees annually. His impact in the community is also demonstrated through is work to support the restoration of the historic Lincoln Theatre in downtown Mount Vernon, worked on fundraising to support the McIntyre Hall on the Skagit Valley College campus, and creating the “Celtic Stage” in Mount Vernon’s Edgewater Park.

Skye and the Celtic Arts Foundation have both been long time supporters of Northwest Junior Pipe Band, most recently helping us purchase new drums when the band began experiencing significant growth.

Northwest Junior Pipe Band is a Shoreline, WA based non-profit organization for youth 18 and under. Positively driven, the band is focused on improving access to Great Highland Bagpipe and Scottish Drumming education for youth, and increasing the visibility of one of the most recognized traditional music legacies of Scottish culture and history. The hard work of many volunteers and talented students continues to attract attention.  With dozens of students now enrolled in Northwest Junior “Pipe Band School“, which provides the opportunity to learn from NWJPB’s talented instructors in a group lesson environment at a reasonable cost, as well as a scholarship program supporting private or group lessons for students who qualify for public assistance, and 50 members now listed on the Northwest Junior Pipe Band membership roster.

The rapid growth has been consistent for the last several years Continue Reading »

Zee Grega posted a second blog about NWJPB after the Grade 4 band’s Whidbey Island Highland Games victory, and mentioned a very important part of what NWJPB does; almost unconsciously, as part of our mission to teach youth to play Scottish Bagpipes and drums.  NWJPB and other similar youth music organizations give kids a place to belong, something that is more valuable than watching TV or playing a video game, and generally help combat the problems kid face when they’re “bored”.  To be a very good piper or drummer takes significant practice, focus, and dedication.  NWJPB members spend as much as two or three practices a week together (more during some weeks), most take private lessons besides that, and many practice daily.  Since January, there has been 3.5 performances or competitions per month; almost every week.  They meet other kids interested in similar things, and many of them visit piping and drumming camps such as the Highland Musical Arts school, Piping Hot Summer Drummer, the Couer d’Alene Summer School of Piping & Drumming, or the Mastery of Scottish Arts School coming up in February 2008.  Many NWJPB members attended these schools in 2007.  At these schools, you not only get to work with some of the best instructors in the world, who truly love teaching Scottish piping and drumming, but you learn that there are many more youth who love what you love, too. 

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