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The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association North of England Branch, North West England Section are running a "Play for Sheets" event for bands,
The objective of this Open event is to provide a Band with a challenge on their journey of preparing for the 2022 Season as they return to practices following the Covid-19 enforced lockdown.
The aim is to enable a Band to obtain feedback on their progress, in a non-competitive way, where the feedback can be used as a pointer as to influence their Winter development.
This is not a competition; performances will not be ranked, or places indicated.
The critique sheets when completed will only be made available to the Band Contact (Pipe Major or Secretary) as per the entry form.
See the attached document for more information
The Arts Council for Northern Ireland have opened the Musical Instruments for Bands fund
More information is available on the ACNI website
http://artscouncil-ni.org/funding/scheme/musical-instruments-for-bands-2021
This scheme is now open and the deadline for applications is Monday 18th October 2021 at 12pm
A Virtual Branch Meeting will be held on Saturday, 25th September at 2pm via Zoom
Agenda, Minutes and Zoom link will be forwarded to band secretaries shortly
AGM
The Branch AGM will be held on Saturday, 27th of November 2021 at 11 am.
Further details will be announced nearer the time
Nominations for election of Officers and notices of motion for the AGM must be received from band secretaries by the Branch Secretary three weeks prior to the meeting (6th November 2021 at 11am),
We would like to remind bands that they must have paid their RSPBA fees in order to vote at the AGM
Email contact for the Branch Secretary is secretary@rspbani.org
Find find the results attached for the recent Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos
Date: Saturday 4th September 2021
Location: McKee Clock Arena, Bangor
Time: From 12 noon
Our third Festival Event - The Ards and North Down Pipe Band Festival - arranged along with Ards and North Down Borough Council will provide another fantastic and safe opportunity for bands, Drum Majors and Dancers to perform in front of members of the public.
Each pipe band has again been asked to prepare and play tunes of their own choice to entertain the crowd, those attending the event will also see entertaining performances from our Drum Majors, the Michelle Johnston School of Highland Dance, and traditional music from Ian Burrows & Kenny Qua throughout the day.
The Pipe Bands who are performing range from Grade 4b to Grade 1 competition grading standard, they have all been practising hard for this event as of course has the Drum Majors and Highland Dancers. All of the performances will commence from 12pm to 4pm with a coming together for a colourful finale at approx. 4.30pm
Both RSPBANI and Ards and North Down Borough Council have worked hard to ensure that the event is totally compliant to Covid-19 safety guidance and best practice. To ensure social distancing can be achieved, admission to members of the public is being controlled by tickets and a maximum of 1000 tickets is being released. There is a token charge for spectator tickets of £1.00 plus booking fee.
Tickets can be booked online here
Please note that ticket sales are online only
Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos – Saturday 21st August 2021 commencing at 1100 in Cookstown High School Grounds
As part of the Pipe Band Festival Showcase Events being organised by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, Northern Ireland Branch (RSPBANI), the Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos will take place on Saturday 21st August 2021.
This event is being mainly organised by the Mid Ulster Section of RSPBANI. The main sponsors for the Solo event are Mid Ulster District Council who have assisted greatly in providing practical assistance and guidance.
Organisers have carried out a robust detailed risk assessment and introduced a range of risk mitigations to ensure that the event is totally compliant to Covid-19 safety guidance and best practice.
The Mid Ulster Solos takes place in the very popular and accessible grounds of Cookstown High School (kindly granted by Governors and Principal of Cookstown High School). There is free admission to the event and ample Car Parking is available within the grounds of Cookstown High School – please follow directions from the stewards on site on the day.
This is the first competitive piping and drumming event to take place in Northern Ireland since 2019 outside virtual online competitions.
There is a very wide range of solos grades on offer in Piping, Snare Drumming, Bass Drumming, Tenor Drumming and Piobaireachd, from Novice up to A Grade.
The competition starts at 11am and the prizegiving is expected to commence at approximately 4.30pm.
The draw can be viewed on the RSPBANI website competition area, and the running order can be viewed on the RSPBANI website news items.
We look forward greatly to this event
