The Piping Quartet Competition at Huntly on Saturday 17th March provided an ideal opportunity for Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band to afford their revamped Pipe Corps some much needed exposure in the competition arena. The Band entered 3 Quartets in the Grade 1 and Grade 2 Competitions. With the considerable close season changes to the Pipe Corps in mind, it proved to be a beneficial outing. The Band’s Quartets were well placed in both Grades,
During the late evening of Tuesday 27th February, Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band was honoured to provide the finale at the ‘This Is Our City’ dinner. The highly prestigious event was held at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom and was attended by almost 400 guests. Organised by the Burgesses of Guild of the City and Royal Burgh of Aberdeen, the occasion was designed as a platform to celebrate all what is good in Aberdeen. It provided
All members of the Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band have been practising exceptionally hard during the winter months in an effort to built upon the encouraging competition results that were achieved last year. To provide some social time away from the hard graft of practising, our Bass Drummer and Burns enthusiast Malcolm Whyte proposed the Band organise a Burns Ceilidh. The event, which was very well attended, was held within the comfortable surroundings of Newhills
During a recent practice session Members of Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band were introduced to their new Honorary President, Temporary Superintendent Richard Craig. Richard spent an enjoyable couple of hours meeting with all the Members and had lengthy chats with Pipe Major Pamela Whyte and Leading Drummer Mike Haggart. Prior to his departure the Band impressed Richard by playing some of the music that will form part of the 2018 Competition Sets. Richard commented, “I
Earlier this year to mark its 20th anniversary, Friends of ANCHOR launched the ‘Dream Big’ campaign – its biggest fundraising appeal ever by pledging £1M to the University of Aberdeen’s ambitious £4.5M project to attract and recruit a world-class oncology research team to the North-east of Scotland. This will have a lasting impact on the care, treatment and wellbeing provided to local cancer and haematology patients. The 20 for 20 voyage is a milestone
Despite the rather cold, wet and windy weather conditions, Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band performed a lead role in the Aberdeen City Council Remembrance Day Parade. The ceremony was held on Sunday 12th November at the City War Memorial, Schoolhill. The Band led a Parade of Veterans and Services Personnel from Belmont Street to the War Memorial. During the service, Pipe Major Pamela Whyte played the Piper’s Lament, ‘Flowers o’ the Forest’. At the conclusion
To date, 2017 has been a very good year on all fronts for the Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band. A spirited momentum has developed which has continued throughout the short end of season break. This has resulted in some restructuring within the Band and the arrival of quite a few new Players. At the close of last season two key Players, Leading Drummer Nicky Gibson and Pipe Sergeant Blair Milne, decided to step down from
Grampian Police Scotland pipe band concluded the 2017 competition season with the world pipe band championship held in Glasgow Green on the 12th of August. The grade 2 contest was split into two qualifying heats and the band played early in heat one at approximately 10.30. Despite playing a good performance the Judges did not place the band in the top 6 so they did not move on to the final. The performance from
Saturday’s (29.07.17) RSPBA Scottish Championships at Dumbarton were dogged by very changeable weather. Grampian Police Scotland Pipe Band’s competition preparation and the actual arena performance were a real challenge with heavy rain, sunshine and wind all being experienced. Despite these conditions, the Band achieved an extremely creditable 6th place in Grade 2. This solid performance provided the second consecutive top six placing for the Band at a Major Competition. Pipe Sergeant
A dream has come true for a Brazilian bagpiper visiting Aberdeen for the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. A representative from Rio de Janeiro-based Vieira Brum Pipe Band project, who played the pipes and drums for the Dept of International Trade and Balmoral Offshore Engineering at last year’s Rio Oil and Gas exhibition, has realised a lifelong dream by visiting Scotland. Band leader, Jhonny Mesquita, and his translator are visiting Aberdeen for the festival following a
