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music news scotland
Over 700 Pupils Play at World’s Biggest School Piping Event More than 700 pupils had Scotland’s capital city in fine tune on Sunday 13 March after going head to head in the world’s largest schools piping competition.
Youngsters from 118 schools across Scotland travelled to Edinburgh to take part in the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships (SSPBC) a competition dedicated celebrating Scotland’s musical tradition and the talent of our young people. This year’s event at Broughton High School saw pupils compete in eight categories tailored to their skill set, including juvenile, novice juvenile, debut, junior and quartets. David Johnston, Chairman of the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT) – the national charity that organises and funds the event, praised the young pipers and drummers on the level of talent and professionalism they displayed in their performances. David said: “The competition has been an enormous success and it was great to see so many schools from across the country taking part. “The competition aims to showcase the versatility of the pipes and drums and the talent of Scotland’s younger generation when playing our national instrument. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also praised the competition, adding: “Learning an instrument takes patience, perseverance and practise and being a band member needs teamwork, self-confidence and camaraderie. “These are skills and core values that we encourage in schools; they help our young people to raise personal and shared attainment, and to reach their full potential in work and in life.” The SSPDT, and in particular the championships, encourages the formation of school pipe bands with taster grades for schools with no competing experience as well as providing a forum for schools competing at the highest level. David added: “This year has been the toughest year yet for our judges as the bands really raised the bar on the quality of their performances. We are already eagerly waiting to see what bands will come up with next year. “We would like to thank all those who competed in this year’s competition and we hope to see
continued high numbers again for next year, as well as the return of old and new faces to the event.”
Full Schools Competition Results: Debut Contest 1st place – Portree High School 2nd place – Stranraer Academy 3rd place – Tobermory High School Junior B Contest 1st place – Ullapool High School 2nd place – The Glasgow Academy 3rd place – Dundee Schools Junior A Contest 1st place – St Columbus School 2nd place – Gordonstoun School 3rd place – Fettes College Novice Juvenile B Contest 1st place – Lochalsh Juniors 2nd place – George Watson’s College 3rd place – Knox Academy Novice Juvenile A Contest 1st place – Dollar Academy 2nd place – North Lanarkshire Schools 3rd place – George Watson’s College Juvenile Contest 1st place – George Watson’s College 2nd place – Dollar Academy 3rd place – Preston Lodge High School Quartet Contest 1st place – Dumfries Schools 2nd place – Lochgilphead High School 3rd place – St Andrew’s R.C. High School A Freestyle Musicianship Contest 1st place – The High School of Glasgow 2nd place – Gordonstoun School 3rd place – Sgoil Loinacleit
http://thechampionships.org.uk/ Stranraer Academy - 2nd in Debut Contest
All photos by Wullie Marr/Deadline News
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