Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band are pleased to announce the first annual “Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Juvenile Solo Piping and Drumming Championships”. Launched in 2014, this is the first time in the band’s history that we have organised an event of this kind. It is expected that the competition will become an annual event on the juvenile piping and drumming calendar. The band is working in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council, with support of staff and students from Calderhead High School.
The contest will be held on Saturday, 29th November, at Calderhead High School in Shotts. The contest will host events for young pipers, snare drummers, and tenor drummers from around the country. There are ten different event categories- ranging from beginner practice chanter and sticks and pads, through to Piobaireachd, Light Music, and “Free Style” events- so that everyone from beginners to Scotland’s best young piping and drumming talent may be included. The event will be adjudicated by some of the piping and drumming world’s top solo competitors and established and accredited adjudicators.
Pipe Major Ryan Canning said this about the event: “I’m really excited about the launch of the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Juvenile Solo Piping and Drumming Championships this year. This is such a worthwhile project, and is something which I hope the band will continue to deliver on an annual basis. There are so many fantastic young pipers and drummers in Scotland today, and as a pipe band organisation we were keen to do our part to promote worthwhile opportunities to support the development of youth piping and drumming. Over a quarter of our band members are involved in teaching and youth development in a professional capacity, so this is a project which many of our band members are very passionate about. We’re also very excited to work with North Lanarkshire Council, as well as staff and students at Calderhead High School, to put something together of value in the heart of the North Lanarkshire Community.”
The band was motivated to organise the event as a way to give back to the North Lanarkshire Community, as well as a way of investing in juvenile piping and drumming talent in Scotland. Nearly a dozen competing members of Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia are educators and instructors teaching piping and drumming in schools and institutions across Scotland, as well as overseas. This event is another in a list of changes brought about by the new leadership of Pipe Major Ryan Canning, who took over the role in August 2012.
Founded in 1912, Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is 15 times winner of the RSPBA World Pipe Band Championships. Based in Shotts, and drawing members from across the whole of Scotland and further afield, the band remains an important musical institution in the pipe band world, as well as an important part of North Lanarkshire’s cultural and historic landscape. The band is managed today by Pipe Major Ryan Canning, and Drum Major Jim Kilpatrick MBE.
Entry to the contest is now open and can be made on the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band website (www.shottspipeband.com). Entries will not be accepted after November 15th. Many of the pipe band world’s biggest companies have added their support to the contest through the donation of prizes. A list of these prizes will be announced on the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band website once they are confirmed.