May 26th - SPECIAL FUNDRAISING WHISKY
To help raise funds for the pipe band, our sponsors Kilchoman Distillery have bottled an octave cask and the 126 bottles produced from it, will be on sale at the distillery.
The bottles are priced at £75 and payment is by cash or cheque.
Contact Kilchoman Distillery for more details....
JULY 2013
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIPS - 27TH JULY
At
the recent Scottish Championships the band finished in 9th place. The
standard of the grade this year has been quite exceptional and
congratulations to Coalburn Pipe Band on their thoroughly deserved win.
Even so it's still a disappointment to finish so far down the ranks, so
with less than two weeks until the World Championships in Glasgow, it's
noses to the grindstone and hopefully Islay Pipe Band can get it's
'Mojo' back!!!
NB. The Worlds are being held over two days this year, so for anyone planning to come along to support us, we're competing on the Sunday (18th). The qualifying heats for Grade 3A begin at midday with Islay Pipe Band on at 1.04pm.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - 29TH JUNE 
The
long haul from Islay to Inverness via Edinburgh was made worth it after
the band secured a 4th place at Forres. Grant Park in Forres was a
fantastic venue and the decent weather and good result all added to a
great weekend.
KILCHOMAN SINGLE MALT WHISKY - A VERY SPECIAL EDITION!
Band funds will soon be receiving a huge boost thanks to the incredible generosity of our sponsors Kilchoman Distillery. A unique 'Islay Pipe Band' bottling from a cask specially chosen by Manager (& band stalwart) John MacLellan and our very own Andrew McEachern, will go on sale from 20th May until 1st June at a cost of £75 per bottle.
More information on purchasing this highly collectable special edition can be found on the Kilchoman Distillery website.
It's competition time again and Islay Pipe Band's first test of 2013 will be at the West Lothian Highland Games, Bathgate on Saturday 18th May. The band should gain invaluable experience by competing at this minor competition as it acts as a timely run-in for the British Championships which take place the following weekend at the same location. Please come along and support the band if you're in the Bathgate area on either weekend and remember, you can keep up to date with all the news here and on our facebook page
The recent fundraising dinner dance held at the Grosvener Hilton in Glasgow was a fantastic success and every one had a great night. The sum of £8,400 was realised; a truly magnificent effort!
First of all, we would like to thank everyone who donated prizes for the auction, silent auction and raffle, from the distilleries, hotels and many more from Islay, Jura and the mainland. Thanks also to John Carmichael and John Maclellan for hosting the evening and to Deoch 'n' Dorus for the music, confirming why they were chosen as Scottish Dance Band of the Year - the floor was always full. Thanks to all who bought tickets and a special thank you to everyone who dug deep at the auction.
Also thanks to the Grosvener Hilton for their hospitality and service, which was second to none - this was the first fundraiser for the band of this sort, but was a very successful one. Finally, last but certainly not least, a huge thank you to Catherine Johnston and Sheena Macmillan who organised the event. They put in a huge amount of time and effort and we salute you!! Thanks also to their daughters Catriona and Emma who helped on the night.
THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
On the 30th June, the band competed at the British Championships at Annan. We put in a reasonably good performance and were very pleased to make the prize list again with 6th place. This was followed on Saturday 29th July with the European Championships which were held in the grounds of Stormont Castle in Belfast. It is an amazing venue for a championship and the sun shone on us throughout the day. We put in a strong performance and the whole band were delighted when our hard work was rewarded with a 2nd place, finishing behind the 'Police Service of Northern Ireland' - a very good band who have won all three major competitions this season.
European Championships - Belfast
On
the home front, we have had a very busy summer with performances
during the Islay Festival week, The Festival of the Sea, Port Ellen
Sports Day, a birthday bash and of course the Islay Show, as well as
individual band members being in demand for piping at weddings etc.
Coupled with running fundraising bars at local events* and two band
practices per week, we've just about managed to fit in the day job and
can never be accused of being lazy or bored!!!
THE WORLDS:
This Saturday Islay Pipe Band will be competing at the World
Championships at Glasgow Green. This is the premier event in the pipe
band calendar and it provides a fitting climax to the week long 'Piping
Live' event in Glasgow.
The band will be playing our March,
Strathspey and Reel set at 4.07pm in the Grade 3A final. The
competition this year will be very closely fought, with some excellent
bands from America and Canada adding to the mix. It will be very
difficult task, but we can only give it our very best and hopefully
make it onto the prize list. Please come along if you're in the Glasgow
area and give us some support!!
* FUNDRAISING BINGO AT PORTNAHAVEN HALL.
We'd
like to say a huge thank you to Sheena and the ladies of the Rhinns
for all the baking; to all those who contributed raffle prizes and to
the ladies in the kitchen for the teas. It is much appreciated!
The band have just arrived back home from the British Championships where they gained another shield after finishing in 6th place against some very stiff competition. Well done everyone for putting Islay on the prize list yet again!!
*CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR 2012 PHOTO GALLERY
On Saturday 19th May, the band headed
to Dumbarton to compete at the Scottish Championships. This was our
first competition of the season and another youngster from our ranks
made her debut there. Tenor drummer Catriona McPhee is only 11 and
showed no sign of nerves competing in her first major
championship......she thought the band was still tuning up, until she
noticed one of the judges walking around with his clipboard taking
notes!!
The day itself was dry but very cold and there was a lot of
moisture in the air. We were last on to play at 4.50pm and put in a
good solid performance which resulted in us being placed 5th and awarded
a nice shield for our efforts. We haven't been placed at the Scottish
Championships in the previous two years, so it was very nice to leave
Dumbarton with some silverware!
Our next competition is the British
Championships in Annan this coming Saturday, the 30th June. This time
we will be playing our new MSR set ('John MacDonald of Glencoe', 'Dora
MacLeod' and 'The Smith of Chillechassie') all of which are tunes Grade 1
bands use to compete with, therefore a lot of hard work has gone into
learning them over the winter months. So wish us well on Saturday and
if you're in the area, please do come along and give us your support!!!
DECEMBER 2011
'
'Tis the season to be jolly'........
The festive season has got off to a fantastic start with some very welcome news:
Islay
Pipe Band are delighted to announce that we have secured new
sponsorship for the next 3 years. Kilchoman Distillery have kindly
stepped in to help support the band just as it was looking as if we
would enter 2012 with no sponsor. The bands first major gig under
Kilchoman will be in March, at the Mitchell Theatre, Glasgow for the
150th Centenary Islay Gathering. With so many famous Islay pipers
coming from between Conisby and Ardnave, an area which stretches right
across Kilchoman, perhaps it is fitting that 'Kilchoman' will be the new
name on the Islay Pipe Band bass drum. The band would like to thank
Anthony and Kathy Wills at Kilchoman Distillery for their support, not
only now but also in the past, when we received a very generous donation from them following the auction of the very first bottle of Kilchoman.
Having
had no major sponsor in 2011, finances were tight, so securing this
sponsorship with Kilchoman will ensure that Islay Pipe Band will compete
at all the major championships next season. Hopefully Kilchoman's
manager John MacLellan, who's son Sandy is a major player in the band,
will come along to some of these majors and promote the Kilchoman brand.
John has always been a great supporter of the band, whether it be
chairing band concerts, selling raffle tickets at the Islay Show or
helping at other fundraising efforts on the bands behalf. We all look
forward to a fruitful partnership in the years ahead.
And
so we end 2011 on a positive note .....it's been an eventful year which
seen us crowned Grade 3A European Champions and now thanks to
Kilchoman, we can look forward to the coming year and the challenges it
will no doubt bring. We would like to thank everyone who has supported
us along the way and take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
The band stayed on in Glasgow for an extra day, holding an end of season shindig, to pat ourselves on the back for a good season's work. Held in the Islay Inn, it just happened to coincide with the Pipe Major's 40th birthday! The band would like to thank Willy and the staff at the Islay Inn for donating the lovely spread of food and would also once again like to thank Kilchoman Distillery, Iain Laurie and Rhinns Electrical for helping finance the Cowal trip.
Thanks also to Kilmeny Ceilidh Club for their recent donation. Moran taing!
The
band travelled to compete at the World Championships at
Glasgow Green on Saturday the 13th of August, and despite a dodgy
forecast,
it turned into a beautiful day. We played at 12.30pm in the qualifying
rounds and though we felt we didn't perform as well as we know we can,
we made it through to the final in 4th place. (The top 6 from the two
qualifying rounds are put through, making it a final of 12 bands) We
went on at 4pm in the final and after playing really well, were hopeful
of being amongst the prizewinners. After the marchpast, came the
prize giving and we were awarded 4th place. We got top piping marks in
the final, a 1st and a 2nd, and so in effect, we are
the Grade 3A World Champion Pipe Corps! The other marks were 5th for
ensemble and 1oth for drumming. It was a disappointing result for the
drum corps who felt the placing didn't reflect their performance on the
day. They thought they had improved on their Europeans performance in
Ireland where they won 1st place!
Saturday, 20th August sees us head
to the Cowal Games for our last competition of the season. It's the
'March, Strathspey and Reel' this time, which we last played way back
in May at the Scottish Championships in Dumbarton. We finished 8th
then, so we know we will need to work really hard if we're to get in the
prizes this time...
A huge
thank you to Kilchoman Distillery who are sponsoring the bus to Cowal
and to Iain Laurie for his generous donation to help cover accomodation
costs on this trip. The whole band are very grateful for you support!!
The March Past and results were about 6pm and Islay Pipe Band were declared European Champions!!!! 1st in drumming, 2nd in ensemble and 2nd and 3rd for piping. I have never seen the band celebrate in such style - it was truly amazing and some of the band were in tears. Young Hannah Campbell has now made her way into the full band to join her pal Ciara and they took everything in their stride, as if we win majors every week!!!! (hehe, just kidding girls!)
The journey back to our digs seemed to last 5 minutes this time and we all enjoyed a great night. Thanks again to our hosts at the Gilgood Lodge for their hospitality and for the celebratory drinks which were waiting for us on our triumphant return. (thanks to Simon Moran also) We headed back to Scotland the following day and arrived back in Glasgow at 9pm. After what was a long and costly trip, we finally arrived home on Islay at 3pm on Monday afernoon and were welcomed on the pier with a banner which read "ISLAY PIPE BAND: EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS!" Thanks guys and gals, it was much appreciated.
LOCH LOMOND HIGHLAND GAMES
Islay Pipe Band travelled to Balloch on Saturday the 16th of July
to compete in the Loch Lomond Highland Games. Despite a dodgy forecast, it
turned into a lovely day. There weren't as many bands there as we'd hoped
but it was still a good day out. Islay won grade 3 piping and drumming, and
got 2nd place in grade 2. (It was a minor contest, so we were allowed to
play in grade 2). We also played for the drum majors and down the street
at the end, where we won £100 for 'most entertaining band in parade'. We
came home with 3 lovely trophies and were well pleased. Next stop is
Belfast on the 30th of July for the European Championships. We did not
do well across the water last year, so we are hoping to get in the top 6
this time, though it won't be easy as there are a lot of good bands in grade
3A.......but we will do our best.
JUNE 2011: BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Islay Pipe Band has just arrived back from the British Championships at Annan. After putting on a sterling performance, the band were rewarded with a much deserved 3rd place and collected their first silverware of the season. Congratulations to everyone!!
Here's Andrew's report on the day's proceedings:
Islay Pipe Band travelled to Annan on the 25th of June to compete in the British Championships. It was a dull day but for once it wasn't raining and although the bus park was too soft for traffic, we still got parked close to the arena - all credit to the organisers for making this possible. It was our medley we were playing on Saturday and the whole band put in a good performance. We had quite a few supporters along with us: Duncan and Linda Currie, Catherine Johnston and Karl Savage to name but a few, adding to our numbers. Young Ciara MacMillan has made her way into the band and now plays in our bass section showing a maturity way beyond her years. Well done Ciara. When the results came out the band were placed 3rd overall, so well done to all the troops! It was a happy bus which headed back to Glasgow, with a few heroes getting off as it drew near the Islay Inn! Well done guys for all your hard work - you deserved your party!!
The following report was written by Ileach and Oban Times correspondant Hugh Smith and published in this weeks Oban Times.
"The
skirl of the pipes and the beat of the drums were heard loud and clear
when the Bruichladdich sponsored Islay Pipe Band played to their hearts'
content at a fundraising concert in Bowmore village hall on Saturday.
John
MacLellan, manager of Kilchoman Distillery and an avid band supporter,
chaired the proceedings with good humour and was fulsome in his
encouragement of everyone who participated.
The band along with its
junior pipers and drum corps, played a variety of sets and held the
attention of the 100 plus supporters present and set feet-a-tapping.
The
concert also provided the first public airing of the new pipe tune 'Dr
Knowles Welcome to Port Ellen', penned by band member and former Scots
Guardman George Johnston in honour of local GP Jean Knowles who was in
the audience and strongly approved of the composition.
Junior
vocalists entertaining were Alasdair Currie and Ruaraidh MacKinnon. Mod
multi-winner Ryan Johnson was in top poetic form and the Ella Edgar
dancers representing a variety of age groups, delighted and charmed.
The
solo piper, who also accompanied the dancers, was Duncan Beattie who is
shortly to leave these shores to join the House of Edgar Shotts and
Dykehead Pipe Band.
Led by Pipe Major Nigel Morris and Lead Drummer
Sandy MacLean, the band brought the curtain down with 'The Braes of
Sutherland' which also featured violinist Mairi MacGillivary and Gillian
Morris on keyboard. This proved an effective and fitting finale to an
evening of quality piping and pleasing entertainment."
APRIL 2011
The
band are busy practising for the first competition of the season at the
Scottish Championships next month. As preparation for this, we are
holding a concert in Bowmore Hall on Easter Saturday - 23rd April. As
well as the band, other artists will be performing and the concert will
mark the debut performance of a brand new pipe tune composed by one of
our own pipers.
As 'Leaving Port Askaig' is a well known Islay tune,
Dr Knowles felt that there should also be a tune for Port Ellen and she
offered a generous donation to the band in return for a suitable tune.
One of the band members George Johnston (ex Scots Guards) composed the
tune which he has fittingly entitled 'Dr Knowles' Welcome to Port
Ellen'.
We hope you can come along and enjoy a great night's entertainment!
FEBRUARY 2011
Now
that the days are stretching and spring is just around the corner, it
brings with it a sobering thought: there are only 12 weeks left until
the season kicks off with the Scottish Championships at Dumbarton!!!
With this in mind, the band are now stepping up a gear in preparation
for the competitions and also for a fundraising concert. This will take
place here on Islay during the Easter weekend.......so please make a
note in your diary and watch this space - more details coming soon!!!
******
Ryan is leaving due to other commitments and Duncan has been given the golden opportunity to play in Grade One
with
the legendary Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band! The band will miss not
only their musicianship but also their sense of fun and camaraderie and
we would like to wish them both all the very best for the future. Haste
ye back!!!!
Christmas
is nearly upon us and the band is looking forward not only their annual
Christmas knees up but also to bringing in the New Year at the Port
Charlotte Hotel on Hogmanay. Since the Jura Music Festival they have
made a couple of appearances locally, playing at the Bowmore Distillery
Open Day in October and the Post Mod Concert last month. Lead tip
Sandy Maclean also spent a very fruitful weekend in Glasgow learning to
write drum scores and receiving tuition from current World Solo Drumming
Champion Barry Wilson. Although things have quietened down considerably
since the summer, the band have been keeping busy over the winter
learning new tunes for next years competition sets and trying (weather
permitting!) to fit in some practices with the mainland players.
Suddenly the new season doesn't seem such a long way off.......Merry
Christmas!!
On the 28th August, the band competed at the Cowal Games in Dunoon. We were supposed to stay in Dunoon but our hotel went into administration! (The only good news there is that we paid the deposit by credit card, so hopefully we will get our money back one day.) We only received 12 days notice of this, but luckily our friends at the Heritage Hotel in Glasgow managed to put most of us up with a few going into the nearby Botanic Hotel. On
hearing of our predicament, Alisdair Ross phoned the Pipe Major and
offered us a free return ferry fare on Western Ferries and a generous
donation towards any extra costs for the bus. Thank you very much from
all the band to Alisdair and Western Ferries. |
  |
We headed for the World Championships having worked on a few points the
judges had raised on our crit sheets. It was a lovely day and Glasgow
Green had over 55,000 spectators - we never knew we were so popular!!
Seriously, we were on 4.15 pm and we played the best we have all
season. We were praying for a top 10 finish, so when the results came
out and we got 6th Place, winning a lovely trophy - well let's just say
we had a ball!! We ended 2nd for piping overall and the drummers were
14th out of 30 bands. I would like to give our young drum corps a
special mention, because while the pipe corps has been strengthened,
this is the same drum corps that has come all the way from Grade 4B, so a
great performance by Sandy, Calum, Shannon & Ryan and all the bass
section.
Our
next competition is Cowal at the end of August, so we go there with a
bit more confidence after our good result at the Worlds.
*The
band has just returned from a highly enjoyable trip to the Europeans'
at Belfast. A disappointing 16th place at the Europeans' doesn't reflect
on what was a very good performance by the band.
-
This
Saturday (17th), sees the Islay Pipe Band head to the Loch Lomond
Highland Games at Balloch to compete in the Grade 2 & Grade 3
competitions. Although we are in Grade 3, at a minor competition you
can play up a grade, so we are going to try our luck.
 | ***** We
are delighted that 'Kevan Brown Ltd' from Tiree is sponsoring the bus
to Balloch this weekend - as well as that he fits a fine bathroom and
kitchen!! A huge thank you from all the band for this great sponsor. (If anyone would like to sponsor the bus at a future competition, please phone Andrew on 01496 850271) *We would also like to thank Lodge Kildalton 552 for the kind donation of £400 - many thanks!! ***** |
The band recently held a bingo at Portnahaven Hall. Our thanks to Sheena, the pipe band ladies and the Rhinns ladies for all their superb baking etc. It was an amazing spread and even if you don't like bingo, it's worth coming for the tea itself!! After raffle, tombola, teas etc, the sum realised was a magnificent £700. Special thanks to our caller Eddie Morris and to Wendy for her hard work in the kitchen. We also held a very successful disco in Port Ellen on July 3rd and we would like to thank all who came and supported the band.