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"

Our first competition is Saturday August 9th, beginning at 10:00 AM in North Berwick (2:00 AM Pacific), which means a 6:00 am wake-up call for the band and scrambling out to the coaches to load up and head out.  The bagpipes are still adjusting to the change in humidity and temperature, and have caused practices to be interrupted repeatedly to re-set reeds and tape and try to get the good tone we had this summer in the Northwest back.  Heavy rains are in the forecast.  We learned recently that we may not have the coaches actually at the games to keep us dry, they’re parked about a mile away.  We’ll hope for good weather, but may call the coaches to come and get us for a couple hours in the afternoon before closing ceremonies and the parade through North Berwick if possible, and if we can’t escape the rain in other ways.

Perth on Sunday August 10th has a 20% chance of rain, mostly cloudy.  They’ve moved the Perth games to a race track rather than the traditional location because it was rained out last year and they didn’t want to repeat the problem of last year.  Hopefully the friends of NWJPB who said they’d be coming to some of our competitions will be aware of the change.  The venue change posted in the news on the RSPBA website as well as Pipes|Drums, although the Perth Games website seems to be down while writing this Blog entry.

On Monday, August 12th, NWJPB will be one of the first acts to perform “Piping Live!” and ”opening” the week of bagpiping and drumming related festivities, performing at George Square at 11:00 AM.  Information about Piping Live! is available on their website www.pipinglive.com and their schedule is so full, we almost don’t know where to start.  It’ll be a very full week for many of us, but every day is a new experience and a memory we won’t forget.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    
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 JUNIOR 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.

Northwest Junior Pipe Band is the only youth pipe band serving Western Washington. An award winning band of more than 30 musicians, they are enthusiastically preparing for the band’s 2008 trip to Glasgow, Scotland to compete in one of the largest of all Scottish cultural events, the World Pipe Band Championships. Catch these talented musicians at their upcoming concerts April 14^that Shorecrest High School Performing Arts Center. NWJPB competes against both youth and adult bands and often places in the top 3. The drum corps tied for Best Drum Corps in Grade 4 at the Pacific Northwest Highland Games in 2006.

NWJPB is holding a 1 – 1½ hour family matinee at 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm Silent Auction, and 7:00 pm full concert on Saturday April 14^th to raise funds for the Scotland trip next year. A selection of silent auction items will be available for preview and premium bidding from 2pm to 3pm, full auction 6:00 pm.

The full concert includes these additional talented acts:

• Pipers’ Creek Celtic Ensemble
• Karen Shelton Highland Dancers
• Keith Paton, World Class Piper
• Irish Dancers!! Scoil Rince Slieveloughane Irish Dance members

Northwest Junior Pipe Band has a remarkable core of talented and dedicated volunteer instructors building life skills, self confidence, dedication, and a sense of accomplishment in Puget Sound area youth. These widely respected musicians have been donating hundreds of hours per year to Northwest Junior Pipe Band members during the average two practices per week year round. Along with these instructors, Alumni teach beginners during band practices and current youth leaders learn valuable teaching skills and also are given opportunities to teach beginners. Additional world class instruction is brought in for workshops and band practices throughout the year.

Kevin Auld is the Band Director and has been teaching Highland Bagpiping for 18 years in the Seattle area. Kevin served as the Pipe Major for the Washington Scottish for three years, leading them to many successes in Northwest competitions before resigning to fully focus his attention on the Northwest Junior Pipe Band.

Steve Roy is a multi-talented percussionist who began his pipe band career with the Grade 1 Seattle Pipe band as a teenager. Last year he travelled to the World Pipe Band Championships with the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band and also participates in a wide variety of Latin, Rock, and other bands bringing his unique percussion talents to thousands throughout the Northwest.

Marcie MacRae is the band’s talented Tenor and Bass Drum instructor. She has been playing the tenor drum since she was 7, having been raised in one of the most active and influential piping families in the Northwest. Marcie has played both tenor and bass drum with the Washington Scottish Pipe Band and has been teaching private lessons and instructing local pipe bands for more than 10 years.

Release references:

Northwest Junior Pipe Band: www.nwjpb.org
Northwest Junior Pipe Band Scholarship information:  www.nwjpb.org/members
Band Director Kevin Auld: www.seattlepiper.com
Lead Snare Drum Instructor Steve Roy: www.steveroydrumming.com
Lead Tenor/Bass Instructor Marcie MacRae: www.macraedrumming.com

Shorecrest High School Performing Arts Center: www.shorecrestpac.com
World Pipe Band Championships: www.gotoglasgow.com
Pacific Northwest Highland Games: www.sshga.org
BC Pipers, Northwest Regional Piping organization: www.bcpipers.org
Keith Highlanders Pipe Band: www.khpb.org
Washington Scottish Pipe Band www.wascots.com

# # #

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John Scullion is one of the premier Scottish Drumming instructors, performers and leaders anywhere in the world. He’s coming to town in February for Masters of Scottish Arts Concert and Winter School (a highly recommended event), and we’ve managed to snag him for some of his time in the area. NWJPB is funding a portion of the cost of a three hour drumming workshop.

John’s time is in great demand from other pipe bands, the MSA organization and other programs, so the only time we’ve been able to confirm so far with John is Thursday night, February 8^th, we’ll cancel drumming practice (only drumming practice though) and hold the workshop from 6 to 9 PM. All NWJPB Drummers, beginners and students are encouraged to attend. Participants will receive a preview edition of John Scullion’s upcoming book, “a Fairly Together Programme”, and the fee will go directly to John, to offset the publishing costs of this exciting new book for drummers of all skill levels.

Details:

• John Scullion Drumming Workshop
• February 8^th, 2007
• Shorecrest High School (exact location still being worked out, could change)
• 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• $25.00 for Northwest Junior Pipe Band Members
• $50.00 for non-members

More info: ellen@steveroydrumming.com

credit card & paypal (5% surcharge, checks and cash accepted on the day of the event, made out to Northwest Junior Pipe Band)

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The first in a series of workshops taught by Colin Gemmel from Olympia was a great success Sunday (even though we had some issues with Seahawks traffic!), with 10 attendees. Photos have been posted.

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