News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Mon, July 19, 2010 17:24:02
Haddington Pipe Band has returned from another successful trip to Aubigny-sur-Nere in France.
The Scottish Pipe Band of the Year makes a pilgrimage to the twin town every second year where it takes part in the famous Franco-Ecossais festival that celebrates the Auld Alliance and in particular Aubigny’s links to the Stuart family.
Around 50 members of the band, including playing members, family and friends, made the trip on what is the 21st anniversary of the Haddington Pipe Band visiting Aubigny. James Stuart Stevenson, whose grandmother helped form the first twinning links between Haddington and Aubigny, travelled with the band as the Clan Chief of the Stuart Stevensons was being entertained by the Aubigny Mayor.
This year, as well as playing in the main parade and at a spectacular theatre production, the band entertained visitors to the renowned Sancerre wine town, and presented the Aubigny Pipe Band with a specially commissioned tune, Ca Marche.
Pipe Band Chairman, John McMillan says that the trip was another triumph for the Auld Alliance and the Haddington band.
“What makes this trip unique is the bonds that have developed and strengthened between band members and the local people of Aubigny over more than twenty years.
“Many members stay with French host families that they have got to know well, becoming part of their extended family. We also have very close links with the Aubigny Pipe Band, Haddington’s sister band, and we thoroughly enjoyed their company and look forward to welcoming them to East Lothian next year.”
The Haddington band also took a stall at the Franco-Ecossais market, selling a range of gifts local to East Lothian which proved hugely popular with the vast crowds that enjoyed the event.
Pipe Major David Leckie says that the band performed to its usual high standards despite the busy programme and soaring temperatures.
“We now have a large and experienced group of pipers and drummers and it was great to see us perform so well for the people of Aubigny.
“Presenting the specially commissioned Ca Marche tune to the Aubigny band was one of the most pleasing moments I have had as Pipe Major, and it made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up to hear both bands playing the tune together.
“There can be no better example of the Auld Alliance and Haddington’s enduring links with Aubigny-sur-Nere.”
More photos from the Aubigny visit are on the Public Gallery (http://publicgallery.haddingtonpipeband.co.uk/#home) section of the website.
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Fri, June 25, 2010 13:33:28Haddington Pipe Band is to present a specially commissioned pipe tune to its French twin town, Aubigny-sur-Nère, when it visits the town in July to play at the annual Franco-Ecossais Festival.
The tune was commissioned from the eminent composer, Dr Bruce Thomson, to mark the 21st anniversary of Haddington Pipe Band’s first visit to Aubigny. Dr Thomson has written a number of very popular tunes, including East Lothian’s pipe ‘anthem’, The Haddington Turnpike. For this Haddington/Aubigny commission, he composed a two-part 4/4 march, which is called Ça Marche.
“This is a significant anniversary for us, and we decided to mark the occasion – and our special friendship with Aubigny – with this commission,” said David Leckie, Haddington Pipe Band’s pipe major. “We are delighted that Bruce Thomson kindly accepted our request, and that he has composed such an upbeat and celebratory tune.
“We will be presenting the tune to both the town of Aubigny and the Aubigny Pipe Band in a special ceremony during the festival. The two bands will also give the first public performance of the tune at the ceremony and will be playing it again at other events during our visit.”
Bruce Thomson commented: “Haddington Pipe Band, the current Scottish Pipe Band of the Year, did me the honour of asking me to compose a tune to celebrate the long friendship between the two towns – a tune that both bands could play together this July – and I was very happy to oblige. The title of the tune, Ça Marche, means ‘it goes, and it goes well’, which I believe illustrates the close relationship between the two towns and the two bands.
“I wish the bands all the best for the festival and for the first performance of Ça Marche in Aubigny.”
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Thu, May 06, 2010 10:35:58The honour of choosing the title of a new pipe tune to be written by the renowned composer Bruce Thomson is up for public auction – and the winning bidder will also have a special performance of the tune by Haddington Pipe Band, the current Scottish Pipe Band of the Year, as well as receiving a signed copy of the music
The offer to write the tune came directly from Bruce Thomson to Haddington Pipe Band. He responded to its current campaign to raise funds for uniforms and instruments for a ‘new generation’ of young players who will shortly be up to the level of playing with the band.
“We’re in the fortunate position of having a number of youngsters coming through our tuition and nearing the time when they will be able to join the band,” said David Leckie, pipe major of Haddington Pipe Band. “The challenge for us is that it costs not much short of £1000 to kit a player out with uniform and an instrument, so we have to fundraise on a constant basis so that we don’t let new players down.
“Bruce very kindly responded to an article about this challenge in our latest newsletter, and we are extremely grateful to him for his kind offer to write a tune for us. As many people will recall, he won the Pipe Idol competition we ran in 2009 with his tune, The Haddington Turnpike, and he has written many other fine tunes over the years. Indeed, at last year’s and the previous year's world championships, one of the top Grade 1 bands, Shotts and Dykehead, included one of his tunes in their performance.”
Bids are now open for the naming of the tune on the band’s website (www.haddingtonpipeband.co.uk). Final bidding will take place – and the winner announced – at the band’s annual dance, which will take place in the town’s Corn Exchange on Friday 28 May.
The band’s performance of the new tune, complete with its new title, will then be arranged with the winner.
“It’s not every day that an opportunity to name a pipe tune by one of the country’s top composers comes up,” said David Leckie, “so we are hoping for some good, competitive bidding which will, in turn, help to support the development of young pipers and drummers.”
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Mon, February 22, 2010 13:01:16And Then There Were 4, the dynamic group of young pipers and drummers – all members of Haddington Pipe Band – who were formed last year and have already played at some of the country’s top events, have launched their own website.
The new site, at www.attw4.com , provides a profile of the four musicians (pipers Niamh Davis, Julie Fairgrieve, and Fraser Wilkinson, and drummer Gavin McDougall) and also includes news, testimonials, a photo gallery, and video material taken at two of their early performances.
“We are absolutely delighted to have our new website up and running, and hope that people will now enjoy finding out a bit more about And Then There Were 4 and what we’re up to,” said Julie Fairgrieve. “We are very grateful to Shaw Marketing and Design, who designed and built the site for us and have done such a great job in enabling us to go out and tell the world who we are and what we do.”
Since forming to enter the ‘East Lothian’s Got Talent’ competition in 2009, And Then There Were 4 have gone on to play at the Scottish Event Awards, the Scottish Comedian of the Year Awards, and the ‘Oscars’ of the Scottish tourism industry, the Thistle Awards. Their fast-paced, energetic and imaginative playing has also been a huge hit at weddings, shows, and a range of other events.
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Fri, February 19, 2010 13:53:43Work on what is planned to be a memorable calendar for 2011 – featuring imaginative shots of band members at a series of locations in and around Haddington - is now under way. To be launched in October this year, the calendar’s publication will also mark the band’s 30th anniversary.
Two of East Lothian’s top professional photographers – John Archibald (www.johnarchibaldphotography.co.uk) and Nick Callaghan (www.nickcallaghan.com ), along with the band’s excellent ‘resident’ photographer Garry Menzies, will be taking the shots throughout this year, and the calendar will be designed by one of Scotland’s leading graphic design consultancies, Shaw Marketing and Design (www.shaw-online.com). All of these have kindly offered to support the band by providing their services free of charge.
“We aim to make this calendar a real ‘collector’s item’, to be enjoyed by anyone with a Haddington connection,” said band chairman, John McMillan. “And with the fantastic support of these great photographers and designers, we believe that we can achieve our objective.
“For each month, we are offering the opportunity for sponsors to add their logo, up to 25 words (if they wish), and a website address. Each month will be restricted to feature only one sponsor, whose logo/message will be clearly displayed on what will be a strong, clean, colourful design.
“We are really looking forward to producing this calendar and having it available for 2011, which is another important anniversary for the band.”
If you’d like to be a sponsor, please contact our pipe major, David Leckie (tel: 07952 327 644; e-mail: piperdal2@aol.com), or Liz McDougall (tel: 01620 823974; e-mail: e.mcdougall996@btinternet.com).
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Wed, December 23, 2009 16:00:12Haddington Pipe Band – recently chosen as the Scottish Pipe Band of the Year at the Scottish Trad Music Awards – put on a series of short performances in Haddington on the morning of Saturday 19 December to thank local people for their great support in helping them to win the title.
The performances tied in with the Farmers’ Market that morning in the town where the band had its usual stall offering mulled wine.
“The final award came down to a public vote and the local community really rallied to the cause on our behalf,” said David Leckie, the band’s pipe major, in advance of the morning's playing. “What we saw was a wonderful demonstration of community spirit and we were lucky enough to benefit from that. Now we want to thank everyone for their support, which was very much appreciated by everyone associated with the band. This is, we hope, a good way of showing our gratitude.”
Below: The band at the Nungate Bridge, Haddington (photo: Garry Menzies)
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Mon, November 30, 2009 10:30:31Haddington Pipe Band has won the Scottish Pipe Band of the Year title for 2009. At a magnificent ceremony in Dumfries on Saturday 28 November, which was broadcast on BBC Alba, the band took the award at the Scottish Trad Music Awards, beating three other shortlisted bands – Boghall & Bathgate, Strathclyde Police, and Inveraray – after a public vote to decide the winner.
The award, sponsored by the National Piping Centre, was collected by two of the band’s founding members, Bill Bradford and Pipe Major David Leckie.
“This is unbelievable,” said Pipe Major Leckie. “Just to be nominated alongside such wonderful bands was an honour for us, and to come away with the award really is beyond anything we could have hoped for.
“It is important to say that that our nomination, which was also totally unexpected, came because of the community and charity work we do, and because of the teaching and encouragement we give to youngsters and many others. It’s great that a band whose focus is on the community level rather than the competing scene should have been nominated and now won this title.
“We have had wonderful support from local people, so many of whom voted for us and passed on the news to families and friends worldwide so that the good name of Haddington and East Lothian could reach many corners of the globe. We are very grateful indeed.
“The awards ceremony was an emotional occasion for us. We were honoured to represent our town and county and we hope we have done them, and the many people who have led, played in, and supported the band over the years proud. We now look forward to continuing to play for the local community – with a new spring in our step – over the coming months and years.”
(Photos: Garry Menzies)
News BulletinPosted by Alastair Bruce Thu, November 26, 2009 10:48:16The recent voting 'campaign' for the Scottish Pipe Band of the Year award gave us the opportunity to contact friends in many different locations and, hopefully, take a positive image of Haddington and East Lothian around the world. Below, a bit of fun, is a map showing parts of the world from which we know we had votes. There may well be others we missed. Thank you all for your fantastic support.
