Know Your Judges: Bob Worrall

Twenty five years ago Pipe Band Magazine began a series of interviews with pipe band judges. The first, in January 2000, was with Canadian Bob Worrall.

The introduction to the series began like this…‘Love them or loathe them, judges are a vital part of our pipe band world…..we’ll be asking the men and women with the clipboards to reveal something about what they really know and feel about our music…..what they are looking for in a good pipe band…..‘

What formal qualifications do you have?
I have an Honours BA and an MA in Geography. I also have a BEd degree, the standard qualification for teaching here in Ontario. I have been teaching high school for the past 22 years. At present [2000] I am the head of Social Science, English and Student Activities at Queen Elizabeth Park School in Oakville, Ontario.

What age are you?
I am 48 years of age

When did you start piping?
I started at age 12. My first teacher was Bill Miller, originally from Omagh, Northern Ireland. Bill sent me to the late John Wilson in 1970. I moved to London, Ontario, in 1975 and commenced tuition with Willie Connell. I left competitive solo playing in 1983. Before that I had competed a little in Scotland winning the March and Strathspey and Reel at Inverness in 1977 to add to a fair amount of success in both light music and piobaireachd on the Scottish circuit 1975-77. I won our North American solo professional championship at Maxville, Ontario, on seven occasions and our overall professional Champion Supreme award in Ontario for 12 of my last 13 years in professional competition.

Anything else?
Other piping tidbits worth noting: I produced the ‘Classical Bagpipe’ album in 1983, was on Lismor’s ‘Evening of Champions’ recording and also on the Piping Centre’s recording series. I have published two books of music, ‘The International Collection’, with a third ready to go to press.

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Anything else?
I have chaired the Music Board for the Pipers’ and Pipe Band Society of Ontario since the board’s inception. I also help administer our judges’ certification programme. I have taught at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton for the last 15 years. I also conduct solo and band workshops throughout Canada and the US. This past July saw me doing the same in Uruguay.

Band playing experience?
While I was pursuing solo competition I was also competing with a number of Ontario’s leading competitive pipe bands. Two of these, City of Toronto and General Motors, coincided with my years in professional solo competition. Both of these bands experienced great success through the ’60s and ’70s.

Pipe Majorships?
When I left General Motors I had several offers to lead a number of our better bands. Whilst tempting, I was never that tempted. I felt that my contribution could be most beneficial in other ways. Our Advisory Council had certified me in 1975 as a band and solo adjudicator. I had also commenced a fairly intensive schedule of teaching solo lessons. At present I have an ‘A’ certificate for band adjudication in Ontario (piping and ensemble in all grades), and an ‘A’ certificate for both solo light music and piobaireachd adjudication. I am also included on the RSPBA’s ‘A’ list of adjudicators.

Judging experience to date?
My calendar for the last few years reveals that I judge around 25 different competitions throughout the year in both Canada and the US. It is almost equally divided between solo and bands. I enjoy it that way. I adjudicated the Worlds for the first time in 1989 and have judged there on four additional occasions since then. This past summer saw me judge the Macallan Trophy in Brittany before heading back to Glasgow to judge the Grade One qualifier at the 1999 Worlds.

• To be continued.

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