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 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!

www.myspace.com/nwjpb

I’ve heard people suggest that kids shouldn’t start with a pipe band until they’re 10 or 12.  We’ve removed the 8 year old minimum requirement from our recruiting statement because we’ve seen some very talented kids joining the band, or starting starting lessons younger and younger.  Techniques for teaching kids at younger ages are definitely different with a 5 year old than a 12 year olds, but there’s no question in my mind that the earlier you start on an instrument, the better it can be for the youth in the long run.  Obviously, attention spans vary and some very young kids may not want to continue, but I believe you should give every youth an opportunity to start, whenever they’re ready.

See this amazing video of 2 and 4 year old drummers:

NWJPB’s first Scotland Fundraiser at “Gung Haggis Fat Choy” at Ocean City was a huge success! There were more than 120 people in attendance at the “inaugural” Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy event; a unique merger of Robbie Burns night and Chinese New Year. NWJPB marched in with some favorite marches, doing a great job and wowing the crowd. We were then treated to an amazing performance by two youth musicians from the Chinese Symphony. “Toddish McWong” performed on the accordion (as well as the “Gung Haggis Rap Choy” performed with the Bag’N'Pipe hoppers drummer). We were led in several fun sing-alongs including “When Asian Eyes are Smiling” as well as “My Haggis Lies Over the Ocean.”

Everyone was laughing, clapping along with the music from all the musicians, and several people commented on NWJPB’s impressive sound. I talked a bit about the plans to go to Scotland in 2008 and what we need to raise in order to accomplish that goal. Connor R. and Matt A. “passed the hat” around the audience while the band played. The hat contributions combined with Todd Wong’s posters of the Chinese Zodiac which were “given away” for a donation to the band, we raised $677!! What a great first big boost to the Scotland trip! Next Stop, April 14^th Concert and Silent Auction!!

The money is going directly into the Scotland savings account. This is enough to at least cover almost two weeks worth of lodging for two members if we get similar rates that we’ve been hearing for University dorm lodging!

Everyone played very well, while laughter, pride and enthusiasm were shared by all.

The Northwest Junior Pipe Band has been invited by The Caledonian & St. Andrews Society of Seattle to participate in the first ever Gung Haggis Fat Choy event in the Seattle area.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy has been a remarkably successful, exciting event in Vancouver BC, featured on CBC Television and has grown to four events over a two week period celebrating cultural diversity and raising money for important charitable causes. The event is a unique blend of Scottish culture and traditional Robbie Burns celebrations with Chinese New Year and culture.

The Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner information:

• Sunday, February 18^th
  
• 5:00 - 9:00 PM
  
• Ocean City Restaurant, 609 S. Weller St in the International District
  
• Tickets: US $35.00 and include dinner
  
• Contact Bill McFadden (206) 364-6025 to purchase tickets
  
• Toddish McWong
  performs Robert Burns’ “Address tae the Haggis” rap
  
• Northwest Junior Pipe Band
  
• The Bag’n'Pipe Hoppers, “Highland Bagpipes & Beats like you don’t know…”
  
• Other entertainers
  

======February 2, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE======

Northwest Junior Pipe Band announces fundraiser to send competition band to Glasgow, Scotland in 2008

Shoreline, WA - It’s been nearly 40 years since the last youth bagpipe band in Washington State planned a trip to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Northwest Junior Pipe Band announces two fundraising concerts and silent auction on April 14, 2007 to raise funds for a trip to the “Worlds” in 2008. The last time a youth pipe band from Washington competed, the Seattle Scottish Boys Pipe Band won the Juvenile World Championships in 1969.

33 musicians under the age of 18 and as young as seven years old are learning dedication, focus, respect, perseverance, and commitment. They are now demonstrating their desire to compete with the best pipe bands in their class from all over the world. Join Northwest Junior Pipe Band, Piper’s Creek Celtic Ensemble, Professional Bagpiper Keith Paton, and the Karen Shelton Highland Dancers for a unique experience including Bucket Drumming, Cuban rhythms, Highland Dancing, and of course, the Great Highland Bagpipes and traditional Scottish and Irish music.

• Saturday, April 14^th, 2007
• Shorecrest High School Performing Arts Center

  15343 25th AVE NE Shoreline, WA 98155

• 2:00 Auction premium and early bird bidding begins
• 3:00 - 4:30 Family Matinee - $7.00 youth/senior, $10.00 Adult
• 6:00 Silent Auction Re-opens
• 7:00 - 9:00 Full Concert - $10.00 youth/senior, $15.00 adult
• Group rates available
• Program Advertising opportunities available

To purchase tickets and for more concert information, visit www.nwjpb.org or email concert@nwjpb.org

Scheduled Performers:

Karen Shelton Highland Dancers: http://www.sheltonhighlanddancers.com

Keith Paton: http://hmaschool.org/paton.htm

Northwest Junior Pipe Band: http://www.nwjpb.org

Piper’s Creek: http://www.piperscreekmusic.com

World Pipe Band Championships: http://www.gotoglasgow.com

####

Additional story information, press passes or other questions, contact Todd Schiele, NWJPB President, president@nwjpb.org.

Northwest Junior Pipe Band’s second annual concert tickets on sale now!!  Credit Cards and Paypal accepted online.

Saturday, April 14th 3:00 and 6/7:00 PM. 

3:00 PM Matinee will feature a reduced version of the 7:00 PM show at a reduced rate.  Children under 8 are free with Paid Adult admission.*  Silent Auction items will be available to preview and available for “Buy It Now” at a premium. 

Auction begins at 6:00 PM.

Evening full performance:  6:00 pm Silent Auction, to complete during intermission.  7:00 PM concert starts.

All tickets sold through the web site will be held at will call to avoid mailing costs and loss problems.  Our members will also be selling tickets, so if you are friends or family of one of our band members, you can purchase them directly without the handling fees, and get the tickets directly from them.

*NOTE:  for free 8 and under youth tickets to Family Matinee, order your adult tickets, then please email your receipt to concert@nwjpb.org to let us know how many free tickets you will need.  Unfortunately the Paypal shopping cart doesn’t allow us to list Free items. 

** Groups of 10 or more are eligible for 15% discount, email concert@nwjpb.org for information, please do NOT attempt to purchase tickets via paypal or credit card on this site.

 

Adult Ticket for the 7:00 Concert (Come for the Silent Auction at 6:00 pm) 15.00 plus 1.00 handling fee.

Youth/Senior Ticket for the 7:00 Concert (Come for the Silent Auction at 6:00 pm) 10.00 plus .50 handling fee.

Adult Ticket for 3:00 Family Matinee 10.00 plus 1.00 handling fee.

Youth/Senior Ticket for 3:00 Family Matinee 7.00 plus .50 handling fee.

        

View your Shopping Cart:

We have had a difficult time finding a good concert venue that was available in May 2007 on a Saturday as we wished to have this year.  During Sunday’s Grade 4 practice, Weatherly talked with the theatre manager for Shorecrest High School and we ended up tentatively penciled in for April 14th.  This makes the first two weeks of April VERY busy for us, with the first competition of the season happening on the previous Saturday, but this is a great theatre at a very good price, and the only availability we could find that met the criteria established after last year’s concert.

We will likely confirm the date tomorrow (Tuesday).  It’s been added to the calendar already.

We got a late invitation for a few pipers and drummers to show up at the Rat City Roller Girls year end championship bouts.  Most of our current Grade 4 members were able to attend.  We weren’t sure what to expect, and some of us were a little apprehensive, but it was a really fun night.  The competition was FIERCE, we had no idea how hard/painful this sport is.  Check out RCRG’s media page or, the MSNBC video.

We marched on, leading the Sockit Wenches up to meet their competitors for champions, the Derby Liberation Front (DLF).  We were very threatening. 

The Sockit Wenches took the lead and ended the first period ahead (sorry, I can’t remember by how much). 

During half time, we saw an amazing performance by the Aerialistas. You MUST check out the videos on their site.  Some photos taken by “DjBones” here.

The last event of the night was the second bout between Sockit Wenches and DLF.  The Sockit Wenches led through most of the period, but it was unbelievably close, and very exciting to watch.  The Sockit Wenches won, and we played for them during their victory lap.  We posed with them, and almost all of them thanked us for playing.  Kevin went back for the ”after party”, and several of them told us that “we were the reason they won….we put them over the top”.  A lot of fans came up and told him we rocked.  :)  Thanks everyone!   We’ve told them that we had so much fun, we would love to do it again some time soon.  Their season starts up again around January, but I definitely think we should do a full band performance at their championship bouts next year.

Rat City Roller Girls do need your help though, please click this link to learn what you can do to save their performance space at Magnusson Park!  This is one of the last large public buildings in the city, and it would be a shame to lose such a unique place for all kinds of artists and performers around our region.

See pictures on our site:   http://www.nwjpb.org/photos/thumbnails.php?album=33

Links to great pictures found in the RCRG forums:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/type2b/sets/72157594339984970/detail/?page=5

http://seattlebuskers.com/rcrg-102106/pages/DSC_2868.htm

http://seattlebuskers.com/rcrg-102106/pages/DSC_2870.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=277094793&context=set-72157594340996462&size=l

http://www.flickr.com/photos/type2b/sets/72157594342591165/

Rat City Forums.  (note, this is managed by the roller girls, and while language is mild, sometimes language is a bit “strong”)