In Our 22nd Year! Volume 22 – October 2009

Alastair Lee will be October’s Featured

Performer

regon Pipers’ Society is

pleased to welcome

Alastair Lee as featured

performer for our October

2009 meeting.

Alastair, age 17, has been

piping since he was 7. His

teachers include Terry Lee,

Jack Lee, and Hal Senyk. He

plays a Naill bagpipe and

chanter.

Highlights of his amateur

competitions include winning

the BC Pipers Grand Aggregate in all grades, the Under 18 MSR winner

(Cowal), as well as the overall winner of the 2007 Nicol-Brown Invitational.

Last season was his second year in the Professional Class. He was the overall

winner of the BC Pipers Indoor, winner of the B Piobaireachd (Cowal), 2nd in

the Silver Medal for Piobaireachd, and winner of the B March (Oban).

Alastair is exiting as Pipe Major of the Robert Malcolm Memorial Juvenile

band. He has won the worlds in his first two seasons with the Simon Frasier

University Pipe Band.

Need help getting the word out about your group’s activities? All local pipe bands and other

related musical groups are invited to take advantage of OPS News to keep our community updated about your group’s

activities such as upcoming performances, fundraising, and recruiting. The deadline for submissions is three weeks

before the OPS meeting. Stories and articles should be 150 words or less; longer stories can be featured if space allows.

Photos and artwork should be 72-200 dpi. Send all materials to the Newsletter Team, gweyn.rucker@gmail.com.

O

In this Issue:

Alastair Lee – Featured Performer

The Oregon Defense Force Pipe Band –

October Ensemble Group

Tomas Peralta – Local Hero

OPS Community News

Competition Rules & mail-in registration

OPS Membership form

Meeting Details:

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2009

Location: Oregon Pipers’ Society VFW Hall,

837 SE Mill, Portland

Times: 5 p.m. – Solo Piping Contest

7:30 p.m. – Program – Our emcee

this month is Eila Chisholm

Entry Fee: $5 for OPS members

$7 for non-members

Membership Dues: $20 for

individual/family

Membership includes email

monthly OPS News.

The Oregon State Defense Force Pipe Band is October’s Ensemble Performers

mini band from the Salem based Oregon

State Defense Force Pipe Band will be our

guest band for this month.

The Pipers and Drummers of today’s OSDF Band

honor the men and women of our armed forces

by playing for veteran’s groups and ceremonies.

Their three-fold mission is to serve the

community by providing entertainment through Scottish music, to develop the musical abilities of their

members, and to enjoy the friendship they share because of their love of pipe and drum music. Anyone

interested in joining them in their mission is welcome to attend practice. All ages and abilities are encouraged to

participate. Free group lessons are provided. http://odfpipeband.com/

Their youth program nurtures champion pipers and drummers who have competed and won honors throughout the

Pacific Northwest.

The River City Pipe Band and Rene Cusson rounded out last season’s OPS Programs.

he River City Pipe Band, based in Portland marched in to

begin the last OPS gathering of the season last April. They played a

nice varied selection of standard pipe tunes.

he local hero of the evening was 17 year old Nick Mannen,

a member of the Sir James McDonald Pipe Band. In addition to playing his bagpipe, Nick entertained

us with his fife.

e were delighted to welcome back Rene Cusson as the featured soloist for

the April meeting. Rene has had a long association with Oregon since his youth.

He started off with marches, and slow airs. The first march, was composedby Donald Morrison of Aberdeen, one of Rene’s former teachers. He continued with three 6/8s which included the well known tune “Bruce Gandy’s Farewell to the Iron Horse”. This was followed by an ancient twelve hundred year old piece, an MSR, and many other tunes including some of his own compositions.plus a ground and first variation of the piobaireachd. “MacDonald of Kinlochmodardt’s Lament (No. 1).

After finishing with several 6/8’s marches, Rene spent some time answeringa question posed to him about his instrument, a set of 1917 Hendersons. He also spoke

about the type of bag he uses and other pipe bags in use, his observations about various reeds, and advice on pipe maintenance.

April OPS Competition Results

Piping Judge: Rene Cusson

Chanter – Any Tune – Morgan Rial

Adult – 2/4 March –

1st Cynthia Keene 2nd Stuart Vickery Grade 4 – Piobaireachd – Nolan Ferar

Grade 2 – Piobaireachd – Michael Riedel

A

T

T

W

OPS welcomes Tomas Peralta -- Our Local Hero

Adventure

abounds in

the piping

world. Our

Local Hero

related an

amazing

adventure he

had in North

Berwick, Scotland. “It was kind of

funny, that was the tallest hill for

miles. Everything else was dead

flat, that one jut stuck up. It must

have been 800-1000 feet high.

Odd place for sure, but VERY

pretty!” So, with time to spare

between competition and massed

bands, Tomas and his band mates

climbed a hill.

Playing the pipes since age ten, he

has competed at three World

Championships with Sir James

McDonald Pipe Band. Tomas has

played with Clan Macleay Pipe

Band for three years and is now an

instructor for Sir James McDonald

Pipe Band. Last summer he began

competing in the Grade 2

Chilliwack & District Pipe Band.

During his spare time, he finances

his piping career as a tram

operator at the Portland Arial

Tram which directly services

OHSU. You may also remember

that he has emceed our OPS

programs in the past.

You Could Win an OPS Scholarship

ach year OPS is proud to sponsor music scholarships for pipers and drummers who have participated

in OPS competitions throughout the year. The scholarship awards are provided so that recipients may attend the piping or drumming school of their choice.

To be eligible to receive an OPS scholarship, candidates must be a current member of OPS and have competed in a minimum of two of the season’s OPS competitions (excluding Kitchen Piping). Youth candidates must be age 18 or younger on the day of the final OPS competition of the season. Adult candidates are those over 18. All players in all grades of the OPS piping and drumming events, including drum pad and chanter are eligible.

The names of the candidates meeting the minimum requirements will be placed in a drawing for the pertinent scholarships and will have one chance for each month in which they competed. Candidates may win a

maximum of one scholarship per year. There is no restriction on the number of years in which a candidate may be awarded a scholarship.

Tuition will be paid directly to the school of the winner’s choice. Some of the popular piping and drummer summer programs:

Coeur d’Alene Summer School of Piping and Drumming – late July in Coeur d’Alene, Id

Pacific Institute of Piping CeltFest – Early July at Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC

Simon Fraser University’s Piping Hot Summer – early July at Silver Star Mountain, BC

National Piping Centre (Scottish affiliate) – mid June in Monterey, CA

And the remaining program for this scholarship season is the:

Mastery of Scottish Arts Winter School – early February in Seabeck, WA.

2008-2009 Scholarship Winners: Oregon Pipers' Society Scholarship

Kyle Prewitt

Robbie Johnston Portland Highland Games Association Scholarship

Olivia Thoroughman

Elijah Kolmes

Charles Johnston

Craig Maxwell

Garrett Bancroft

Isabella Ramsay

Matt Rucker

Danny Delmain (alternate)

Thistle Glen Pipe Band Scholarship

Nick Mannen

Mary Bonds Scottish Country Shop Scholarship

Nolan Ferar

Robbie Johnston

E

How many volunteers does it take to bring you

one OPS Saturday Program?

Stuart Ramsay arranges for us to use the VFW Hall

Mark Tomasetti, Neil Gillies & John Osburn select the judges and the competition calendar

Stephanie Bancroft schedules the guest band and purchases that ever popular “thank you” bottle of whisky.

Tom Brooks schedules the Local Hero

Michael Johnston, Stuart Vickery & Annette Allen open the doors, set-up stock the bar, and close down

Competition Stewards Susan Ramsay, Hiroshi Takeo & Stephanie Bancroft greet and look after the competitors and hand out the awards

Tom Brooks & Kevin Chavez greet and look after the guest performers.

Eila Chisholm & Tomas Peralta are our emcees

David Bacon & Michael Johnston work the admission table at each event

And this list doesn’t include our less visible, but equally important volunteers.

OPS 2009-2010 Competition Schedule

Schedule: Detailed listing of events is shown in the chart below. There will be no competition in February because of the planned workshop.

Times: Chanter and Grade 5 – Check in 4:30. Competition 5:00. All other piping grades – Check in 5:00. Be prepared to play. All drumming grades – Check in 5:30. Be prepared to play.

You must check in at the competition desk at or before check-in time listed and be prepared to play at check-in time if your steward requests you do so (with the exception of Chanter and Grade 5 entries).

Because we take field entries, we cannot predict the order of play in advance, so be prepared to play first. Order of play will follow reverse order entry (first to enter is last to play). It is recommended to use the mail-in entry form for early registration.

All contestants are required to play in recognizable Highland attire except Chanter class.

Tune Requirements: All tunes for piping and drumming events are required to be 4 parts. Exceptions are all changer class and grade 5 piping events where 2 parts of a tune played twice is permitted. Also note specific requirements for certain grade 2 and 1 piping events indicated in the chart below.

Membership: If you live in Oregon or the Portland metro area, including Vancouver, WA, you need to be a member of OPS in order to compete.

Awards will be given at program intermission.

Competition Schedule - Pipers October November December January February March April

17th 21st 19th 16th 13th 27th 24th

Chanter Slow Air 2/4 March Any Tune Slow Air 2/4 March Any Tune

Adult 2/4 March Slow Air 6/8 March 2/4 March

Grade 5 Slow Air 2/4 March Slow Air 6/8 March

Grade 4 2/4 March Piobaireachd 6/8 March Strathspey

(Gnd & 1st) Workshop & Reel

Grade 3 Strathspey Piobaireachd (no competition) 2/4 March Jig

& Reel

Grade 2 Jig MSR Piobaireachd Hornpipe

(submit 2) (submit 2 Marches) (submit 2) & Jig

Grade 1 Hornpipe MSR Piobaireachd Jig

& Jig (submit 2 (submit 3) (submit 2 - tune

(submit 2 of each) of each) to be played twice)

Competition Schedule - Drummers

October November December January February March April

17th 21st 19th 16th 13th 27th 24th

Grade 5 2 Parts of 2 parts of

(pad) 2/4 March 6/8 March

Grade 4 2/4 or 6/8

4/4 March Workshop March

Grade 3 2/4 (no competition) 6/8

March March

Grade 2 MSR Hornpipe/

Jig

Grade 1 Hornpipe/ MSR

Jig