• Home Page

 

Lisburn hosts first piping event of the season

THE Co. Antrim Solos took place last Saturday (March 7) at Trinity Methodist Church Hall Knockmore Road, Lisburn. And as this was the first piping event of the new season (replacing the Seven Towers Solos) the entry of around 77 players was encouraging.

The winning trophies were shared between the North and South of Ireland, with Jonathan Greenlees, from the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, taking first place in both the Hornpipe and Jig and the March Strathspey and Reel. The drumming prizes went to Glenn Faloon in the junior drumming and Paul Brown in the Intermediate, both from St. Laurence O'Toole, Dublin.

The 2009 Festival of Solo Piping and Drumming will take place on Saturday April 25 at Monkstown Community School. Entry forms have been sent out to all secretaries but copies can be obtained from Mervyn Herron contest administrator on 028 4062 4849. The closing date is April 4. The Belvoir Drum Majors will be holding an Open Day and Presentation of Certificates on Saturday March 21 in Belvoir Parish Church Hall.

At 11.30am Alan McBride will be joining the class to hold a workshop on drum majoring skills. Alan is an ex world senior drum major champion and his advice and expertise on the art of drum majoring is immense. Drum Major Jim Murdoch will also assist with instruction on dress. This event is free of charge and open to everyone, so if you are interested in perfecting your skills, this is a workshop that would be well worth a visit.

Following the workshop there will a break for lunch between 1pm and 2pm and the afternoon will commence with the Belvoir Parish Drum Majors demonstrating the skills they have learnt this past year. The Cleland Memorial Pipe Band will play for the drum majors and the afternoon will finish with a 15 minute concert.

For further information please contact Secretary Ronnie Davidson on 02890 298837 or 07734 151494.

The County Down section of the RSPBA will be presenting their annual indoor pipe band championships on Saturday May 1 commencing at 12noon in Banbridge High School (kindly granted), Primrose Gardens Banbridge.

This is a great opportunity for bands to get ready for the 2009 season and assist them in trying out their new selection of tunes. A full catering service will be available during the day by the catering staff of the school providing good food at a reasonable cost.

Trophy awards and cash prizes will be presented to the first 3 places in each grade together with a drum corps prize.

Last year, because the Malahide competition was cancelled, the Co. Down section decided to forgo their indoor, and stepped in and provided an outdoor competition before the first major competition was held in Dumbarton. So the support of all bands would be appreciated for the indoor event this year.

Admission is £3. and closing dates for entries will be April 11.

Seven Towers Pipe Band are hoping to organise a 5 a side football tournament primarily to raise funds for the band, but also to raise some money for charity.

It will be held on Saturday April 18 at Ballee High School Ballymena, and already there has been interest from a number of local bands, as well as confirmation of an international team comprising of players from some of the top bands from Scotland and overseas.

Entry will be free to friends and supporters and they are encouraged to come along and support their team. Each team will pay £20 for the first one and then £10 for each additional team entered. It is also hoped to run a tournament for U16's depending on levels of interest and they will cost £10 to enter. 20% of the total money raised will be given to a charity chosen by the winning team, so this will be a worthwhile event to support, as well as having a bit of fun.

Closing date is Saturday March 14 so any band interested would need to contact Michelle Rankin by phone 07877252608 or email mrankin01@qub.ac.uk as quickly as possible.

---

Competitors from the following pipe bands took part: Annsborough, Ballybogey, Ballycoan, Bellaghy, Cleland Memorial, Closkelt, Cullybackey, Dr Wright Memorial, Drumlough, Field Marshal Montgomery, Killeen, Letterkenny and District, Matt Boyd Memorial, McNeillstown, Moneygore, Raffrey, Ravara, RSPBA, SLOT, St Laurence O’Toole and Upper Crossgare. The competitions were: Drum Pad U14, Drum Pad U16, Juvenile Drumming U14, Junior Drumming, Juvenile Drumming 14-16, Juvenile Drumming 16-18, Intermediate Drumming, Practice Chanter U14, Practice Chanter 14-16, Juvenile Piping U16, Juvenile Piping U18, Junior Piping, Intermediate Piping and Senior Piping.

Local pipe band at the Ulster Hall

TRADITIONAL acoustic music will fill the stage of the newly refurbished Ulster Hall on Monday 30 March with the amazing sounds of pipes, drums and traditional strings -courtesy of Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, Neil Martin and Rod McVey and The West Ocean String Quartet.

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, Ulster's premier Grade 1 pipe band and six times World Pipe Band Champions, is well known both in competitive circles and as a performance band. Also on the bill will be Neil Martin and Road McVey, as well as the West Ocean String Quartet.

Tickets for Traditional Acoustic are available from the Box Office on 9033 4455.

 07/03/2009