2010 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
EXCELLENT START TO 3 YEAR ANNAN DEAL

27th June 2010

The British Pipe Band Championships were held on Saturday 26th June 2010.  This was the first in a three year deal at the championships new home in Annan.

Once more the championship was graced by the sunshine and spectators flocked to Annan in their thousands bringing a massive injection to the local economy.

115 pipe bands including bands from Australia and Belgium and over 40 drum majors battled it out in the sunshine for the title of British Champions 2010.

The Adult Drum Major event saw Paula Braiden (pictured below) from Ballycoan improve on her 2nd place at the Scottish Championships last month to take the title. Stephen Gilchrist made it a Ballycoan double taking the Juvenile Drum Major title whilst Zoe McDowell of Lisnamulligan took the Novice title.

Field Marshal Montgomery followed up their Scottish Championship victory in May with the British Championships.  They narrowly beat Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia who once again took the runners up spot. Pipe Major Richard Parkes is pictured below.

The drumming title in Grade 1 went to Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia who beat Scottish champions The House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead. Leading Drummer Gordon Brown is pictured below.

Other British Champions crowned on the day:

Grade 2 Band - Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary
Grade 2 Drum Corps - Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary

Grade 3A Band - Cullen
Grade 3A Drum Corps - Deeside Caledonia

Grade 3B Band - Geoghan Memorial
Grade 3B Drum Corps - Rothesay and District

Grade Juvenile Band - Dollar Academy
Grade Juvenile Drum Corps - George Watsons College

Grade 4A Band - Fraserburgh RBL
Grade 4A Drum Corps - Kilsyth Thistle

Grade 4B Band - Portlethen and District
Grade 4B Drum Corps - Camelon and District

Grade Novice Band - North Lanarkshire Schools
Grade Novice Drum Corps - North Lanarkshire School

Full summaries of the event can be found here.

Ian Embelton
Chief Executive Officer

2010 SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
SCORCHING START TO SEASON

23rd May 2010

The 100 Pipers Scottish Pipe Band Championships kicked of the major championships on Saturday 22nd May at Levengrove Park, Dumbarton.

Blistering sunshine graced the entire day bringing thousands of spectators to the event to see 131 pipe bands and 35 drum majors from across Europe competing.  The event is reported to have brought in £1.3 million to the local economy.

2009 Adult Champion of Champions Drum Major Brian Wilson from Lomond and Clyde (pictured below) started 2010 as he finished 2009 taking the title. Linzi Hamilton from Killeen took the Juvenile title and Victoria Catterson from Quinn Memorial took the Novice title.

The Grade 1 event saw Field Marshal Montgomery from Northern Ireland take the title after both piping judges placed them first with the drumming and ensemble judges placing them second. Pipe Major Richard Parkes is pictured below receiving the trophy.

Field Marshal Montgomery finished 7 points clear of Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia, who had their best finish since the British Championships in 2007. All three Boghall bands wore a red ribbon in tribute to their late bandsman Neil Cranston.

The Grade 1 drumming title was won by The House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead, who performed on the day with two bass drummers.

The other Scottish Champions crowned on the days were as follows:

Grade 2 Band - Grampian Police
Grade 2 Drumming - Buchan

Grade 3A Band - Deeside Caledonia
Grade 3A Drumming - Deeside Caledonia

Grade 3B Band - Quinn Memorial
Grade 3B Drumming - Manor Cunningham

Grade Juvenile Band - Dollar Academy
Grade Juvenile Drumming - George Watsons College

Grade 4A Band - Ballyboley
Grade 4A Drumming - Ballyboley

Grade 4B Band - Upper Crossgare
Grade 4B Drumming - Upper Crossgare

Grade Novice Band - George Watsons College
Grade Novice Drumming - George Watsons College

Complete summaries of the event can be found by clicking here.

Ian Embelton
Chief Executive

2010 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
TICKETS NOW ON SALE

6th May 2010

Tickets for the World Pipe Band Championships 2010 are now on sale. Booking can be made over the telephone on 0141 353 8000 or purchased online using the links below:

• Grade 1 Seating

• General Entry

Due to high demand in previous years the Grade 1 seating for 2010 has been extended but like in previous years these seats will sell out so ensure you get yours.

Ian Embelton
RSPBA Chief Executive

SPBA / RSPBA HISTORY
NEW SECTION NOW ONLINE

26th March 2010

We have now opened this new section of the website which is intended to provide a brief insight into the history of The Scottish Pipe Band Association/Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association; and also to provide information about some of the key individuals who have influenced the development of the Association over the years.

The content of the section represents primarily the work of the Association's Historical Research Group. Additional historical information about individuals, events, Pipe Bands etc will be added as and when available.

The new section is available in the menu system above or by clicking here.

Alistair Aitken
Historical Research Group

NATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING
PRESEASON GRADING CHANGES

10th February 2010

The National Council met on Saturday 6th February and as always at this time of year Gradings was one of the main agenda points.

After this meeting there are 3 changes to this original proposed changes at the October Meeting.  The changes are as follows:

• Kelty & Blairadam new band graded Novice Juvenile
• Linlithgow and District now regraded 3A
• Stockbridge new band graded 4B

Kevin Reilly
RSPBA Chairman

SCOTTISH WEEKEND - ALDEN BISEN 2010
1000 EURO TRAVEL BURSARY

21st December 2009

The Scottish Weekend celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2010 for the Pipe Band Championship! You’ll find us in Alden Biesen as usual.

This year, Scotland is the central theme for this event on the 10th, the 11th, and the 12th of September 2010.

For this occasion, the organisation is offering €1000 towards the travelling costs, exclusively for  each of the first 30 Scottish Pipe Bands which register to participate in the Belgian Pipe Band Championship 2010.

Subscription can be done on www.scottish-weekend.be

The program will be on:

Friday evening September 10th

• International Folk evening

Saturday September 11th

• The Belgian Pipe Band Championship
• Grade 4-Grade 3-Grade 2-the open Grade

Sunday, September 12th

• The Solo Piping & Drumming Competition M/S/R-H/J

Celebrate with us and the organisation of the Scottish Weekend in Belgium our 25th anniversary!

If you are being interested in the whole program, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Gust Battain (member of the P.B.C.B –working group )
PB-Coordinator - Pannehoeve 58, B-3290 Deurne-Diest
Tel. 0032 (0)13 66 60 73 -  Fax.0032 (0)14 86 25 25 - E-mail: mail.pbcb@scarlet.be

PR/Press information: Rudi Schils 0032 (0)478 98 2303 – E-mail: rudi.schils@schotsweekend.be

BREAKING NEWS ......... THE WORLDS
BBC SCOTLAND GOES GLOBAL AGAIN

23rd July 2010

Live streaming of the World Pipe Band Championships from BBC Scotland will be available across the world for the second year running.

Scottish ex-patriates, piping enthusiasts in countries where there is a strong interest in traditional music such as the United States, Canada and Australia, and newcomers to the music, enjoyed all the excitement of the event's Grade One arena last summer, during the Year of Homecoming.

Following the success of last year’s web offering, BBC Scotland, which has been host broadcaster of the event since 2006, will again provide live streamed coverage from the Grade One Arena at the event on Saturday, 14 August.

The championships will attract 8,000 pipers and drummers from16 countries and a crowd of 40,000 is expected to see them compete for the honours at Glasgow Green.

This year's programme on BBC One Scotland which will transmit on the weekend following the event will be presented by Jackie Bird with commentary from respected piper Bob Worrall who has also been an adjudicator at 'The Worlds'.

BBC Scotland's live web coverage can be accessed on bbc.co.uk/worlds which will also host video clips on demand, available worldwide, after the event.

The on-demand service will feature excerpts of performance from all the bands vying for the medals in the Grade One competition.

Eileen Herlihy, Head of Entertainment and Events, BBC Scotland, said: “Our coverage of the event went global for the first time during a special year for Scottish culture and heritage, the Year of Homecoming.

“The feedback we have had from audiences who enjoyed our online offering has been terrific and we are delighted that we are again enhancing our coverage with live web streaming for viewers in and beyond the UK.”

Ian Embelton, Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, organisers of the championships, said: “There was such a great response to the live streaming from all around the world last year and we are delighted it's available again this year. It's a boost for traditional music, allowing a worldwide audience to watch the drama unfold on Glasgow Green."

Ian Embelton
Chief Executive Officer

ANNUAL SUMMER SCHOOL
CANCELLATION ANNOUNCEMENT

2nd July 2010

It is with regret that due to insufficient numbers we have to announce the cancellation of the planned 2010 Summer School.

A series of workshops will be going ahead in Northern Ireland on August 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. For further information please contact info@rspbani.org

Ian Embelton
Chief Executive Officer

WORLD PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
SOCIAL NETWORKING EXPANDS

18th May 2010

Following on from the immediate success of the Worlds Facebook group with almost 3000 members within weeks, the Worlds social networking online tools have now also expanded to include both Twitter and YouTube.

Click the Twitter, Facebook or YouTube links above to join in.

Ian Embelton
RSPBA Chief Executive

WORLD PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
DEVELOPMENT GROUP SURVEY UNDERWAY

5th May 2010

The Development of the World Pipe Band Championships

Almost 200 people from all over the World, representing pipers, drummers, officials, parents and interested pipe band followers have received their electronic Survey for the development of the World Pipe Band Championships.

The survey remains open until Friday 21st May although over 90% of all people have responded already.

If you had registered and have not received your invitation in the first instance please check your Spam folder and look for an email from survey@rspba.org

It was also noted during the sending of the survey there were 6 email failures so if you cannot find your survey then please email survey@rspba.org with your name and then your email address can be checked against the one registered and you will receive your survey to the correct address.

We look forward to analysing all the contributions and thank everyone for the time taken to complete the survey.

Kevin Reilly
RSPBA Chairman

ST. LAURENCE O’TOOLE PIPE BAND
IN CONCERT 2010

13th December 2009

The St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band from Dublin returns to the stage at the annual pre-worlds concert which is promoted and hosted by the Phoenix Honda Glasgow Skye Pipe Band.

“The O’Toole’s” captured the hearts of many pipe band enthusiasts when they took to the concert hall stage in 2005 and recorded their first CD “The Dawning of the Day”.

Led by Pipe Major Terry Tully and Lead Drummer Stephen Creighton, the 2008 RSPBA Champions of Champions celebrate the centenary of the band with their concert “Evolution”. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness a world class concert which promises to be one of the highlights of the year.

Join the band in this historic celebration and enjoy what will truly be a momentous occasion.

Tickets are on sale at £19.50 and £17.50 and can be purchased online or in-person at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall box office.

Ian Embelton
On behalf of Pheonix Honda Glasgow Skye Pipe Band

2010 MAP CHANGES
GRADE 4A STRATHSPEYS & REELS MUSIC

15th October 2009 - Update from September News

As already released towards the end of August the 2010 season will see the requirements for Grade 4A change to include the playing of Strathspeys and Reels in championships. Please now find enclosed links to the music for each of the tunes.

Strathspeys

1. Aspen Bank
2. Because he was a Bonny Lad
3. Campbeltown Kiltie Ball
4. Captain Horne
5. Colonel MacLeod
6. Dalnahassaig
7. J F MacKenzie
8. Lady MacKenzie of Fairburn
9. Lady MacKenzie of Gairloch
10. Lounden's Bonnie Woods and Braes
11. Marquis of Huntly
12. Mc Phederan's Strathspey
13. Molly Connell
14. Munlochy Bridge
15. O'er The Bows To Ballindalloch
16. Orange and Blue
17. Seonaidh's Tune
18. The Inverness Rant
19. The Keel Row
20. The Market Place of Inverness
21. The Smiths a Gallant Fireman

Reels

1. Circassion Circle
2. Colonel MacLeod
3. East Wood Cottage
4. Famous Ballymote
5. High Road to Linton
6. Jock Wilson's Ball
7. Lord James Murray
8. Marion and Donald
9. Miss Girdle
10. Molly on the Shore
11. Piper of Drummond
12. Sleepy Maggie
13. Tail Toddle
14. The Ale is Dear
15. The Fairy Dance
16. The Silver Spear
17. Willie Murray

A reminder that Grades 4B and Novice will play 4 x 2 Parted Marches only.  The 22 MAP marches for 2010 remain the same as 2009 and can be downloaded using the Music Board menu above.  The Strathspeys and Reels will be added to the menu over the coming days.

Jim Campbell
Music Board