Upcoming The PPBSO In Conversion … Events

Sunday July 5th, 2020

We have three upcoming The PPBSO In Conversation … events that you’re sure to want to attend!

On Saturday, July 11th join PPBSO Music Committee Chair and piper Trish Kirkwood will host a 45-minute conversation, followed by a Q&A with Bob Worrall, one of North America’s leading teachers, adjudicators, performers, and composers. Trish and Bob will discuss his life as a piper, teacher, composer, adjudicator, traveller, and hobbyist!

Three days later on Tuesday, July 14th PPBSO Music Committee member and tenor drummer Kyle Heaney will host a 45-minute conversation, followed by a Q&A with Andrew Lawson, lead drummer of Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band. Born and raised in Newmarket, Ontario, Andrew spent his formative years playing in pipe bands in Ontario, including time with the Toronto Police and Peel Police drum corps, before moving to Scotland to join the Shotts drum corps in 2004. Kyle will lead a conversation with Andrew, discussing his journey from Newmarket, to leading one of the world’s most legendary drum corps.

And finally, on Saturday July 18th PPBSO Music Committee member and piper Andrea Boyd will host a 45-minute conversation, followed by a Q&A with Bill Livingstone. This conversation will be wide ranging, from the teaching and training of pipers and pipe bands in Ontario over the past fifty years, to the successes of pipers and pipe bands from Ontario at Scotland’s major competitions. The interview will consider how Ontario could position a greater cohort of its pipers and drummers to rise again on the global stage.

Registration for all three of these exciting conversations is free, but registration is required! Please register now at <a href=”https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/the-pipers-and-pipe-band-society-of-ontario-30403154684″>https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/the-pipers-and-pipe-band-society-of-ontario-30403154684</a>.

Online Contest Series

Wednesday July 1st, 2020

The PPBSO is happy to announce four additional online contests to round out our summer series. The contests will be in the same format as the first where competitors submit videos, and will be judged on the following weekends:

• July 18 – 19
• Aug 1 – 2
• Aug 15 – 16
• Aug 29 – 30

A full slate of amateur events in piping, snare, tenor, and bass drumming will be offered – as well as practice pad and chanter events for those kids out there who want to submit a video! Each event will be $10 per member, $15 for non-members, and free for the practice pad and chanter. Competitors are encouraged to sign up for as many or as few events as you want.

Regarding potential professional events, we’ll be polling our members over the next week to gauge interest in online professional contest offerings. If there’s sufficient interest, we’ll be adding events for our third contest on the weekend of August 1st.

Complete contest details can be found on our contest series rule page at http://ppbso.org/2020-online-contest-series. Registration is open now.

Online Contest Reminder and First Videos from In Conversation with…

Sunday June 14th, 2020

A quick reminder that the entries for the first PPBSO online contest are due today! Please refer to the instructions at https://ppbso.org/2020-online-contest-series to make sure that your registration and submission are in compliance with the rules laid out for the contest.

We’re also pleased to report our first two webinars in our new The PPBSO In Conversation with… series were a success – and both are now available on our new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtV8TIQfUZ5lWRATjc6CZQ. Watch Andrea Boyd in conversation with Finlay MacDonald, and Tyler Bridge lead a panel discussion about preparing for online competition.

Registration open for first online contest

Tuesday June 2nd, 2020

Registration has now opened for our online contest! You can find all the contest details at https://ppbso.org/2020-online-contest-series.

PPBSO Announces Online Competitions and Webinars

Sunday May 31st, 2020

Since the unfortunate cancellation of our summer season, the Board of Directors, the Music Committee, and some member volunteers have been hard at work developing new and innovative online events for our members. We’re pleased and excited to announce these today. The first is a new webinar series spearheaded by the PPBSO Music Committee called “The PPBSO In Conversation…”, featuring prominent pipers and drummers from Ontario and around the world. The first webinar in the series will take place on Thursday June 11^th at noon Eastern Daylight Time. PPBSO Music Committee member and professional piper Andrea Boyd will host a 45-minute conversation and Q&A with Finlay MacDonald, the new Director of Piping at the National Piping Centre and Artistic Director of Piping Live! Festival, who officially starts his role on June 1^st. The session will start with Andrea interviewing Finlay, followed by a Q&A with questions submitted by the audience, and concluding with a few tunes. We’re extremely excited to have Finlay with us, and we’re looking forward to his appearance – and what will be the beginning of several of these events over the summer. Attendance  is limited, so please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-ppbso-in-conversationwith-finlay-macdonald-registration-107359346696

A second webinar will be held two days later. Led by Tyler Bridge – professional piper, Pipe Major of the Guelph Pipe Band, and music teacher – and joined by other panelists who will try to answer the big question on so many competitors’ minds – how do I prepare for online competition? We all think that it’s easy when you have professional quality recording equipment, but what happens when you just have your phone? How does the room you’re in affect your sound? What other tips and tricks will make you sound your best? Join Tyler on Saturday, June 13th at 2:00 Eastern to find out! Register now at https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/the-pipers-and-pipe-band-society-of-ontario-30403154684

Finally, competition. It’s what we do and what we love, and we’re pleased to announce the first online PPBSO contest of the 2020 season. This first contest will feature amateur light music events and snare, tenor, and bass drumming events – future contests will have a full slate of solo events including piobaireachd and professional graded events. Contestants will submit their videos in advance, and our judges will have a couple of days to judge the contests and submit the results, which will then be posted on our site – just like any other games! And like any other games, competitors will receive their score sheet with comments and playing level evaluations. Here’s the best part: for this first contest, it’s free for all PPBSO members who have paid their 2020 dues! The contest will be open to non-members as well from anywhere in the world, for a fee of $10 Canadian per event. So for members who maybe haven’t competed in solos for a number of years (or maybe never), now’s your chance to try. The full details of the rules and process will be posted on our site at https://ppbso.org/2020-online-contest-series when registration is opened in the next two days, and we’ll make a future announcement when that’s done. But get ready – recordings will be due by the end of Sunday, June 14^th and the “date” of the competition will be June 20^th.

This contest will be the first in a series. We intend to learn from this event – what worked, what didn’t, what can be better – and incorporate that feedback into the final series of contest rules. For our adjudicators, we’ll be reaching out to you in the next couple of days asking if you’re available and interested in judging such an event. 

There’s no doubt that 2020 is the strangest year on record, but we’re adapting and continuing to find new ways to offer opportunities and services to our members. As we’ve mentioned previously, we’ve started our strategic review process to understand how the Society can best serve its members and grow – a process that will continue for some time. We also are continuing to examine ways to save money and offset costs, while also expanding our online presence. We will keep everyone updated over the summer. In the meantime, we hope that you take advantage of some of these new offerings – and most importantly, that you keep safe during this time.

Maxville 2020 Cancelled

Wednesday April 22nd, 2020

The Glengarry Highland Games committee has taken the incredibly difficult decision to cancel the games for 2020 (the full statement can be found on their website). With this cancellation, all outdoor highland games on the PPBSO circuit have now been cancelled. Our plans as outlined in our update 10 days ago are still in play, and over the course of the next couple of months we will continue to update all of our members as to what’s next for the PPBSO in 2020. This is a summer like no other in our history, but that will make the return of the games and all those branch events offered across Ontario all the sweeter. In the meantime, we hope that everyone is staying safe and is able to continue to play and enjoy the music that brings all of us together.

Almonte Highland Games – Cancelled

Friday April 17th, 2020

The North Lanark Highland Games have cancelled the Almonte games due to the uncertainty of the impact of COVID-19 on their event in 2020.

Cambridge Scottish Festival Cancelled

Wednesday April 15th, 2020

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and circumstances beyond their control, the Cambridge Scottish Festival has regretfully announced the cancellation of the games for 2020.