Piobaireachd Contest Videos Due May 15th
Since 2018, the Ottawa Branch has held an annual piobaireachd contest for amateur pipers. This year, we are hosting the event online through a video submission contest format (which we used for the Knockouts).
Categories
Senior: Grade 1 Light Music equivalent. Submit one (1) full piobaireachd - own choice.
Intermediate: Grade 2 Light Music equivalent. Submit one (1) full piobaireachd - own choice.
Junior: Grade 3 Light Music equivalent. Submit one (1) full piobaireachd - own choice.
Novice: Grade 4 / 5 Light Music equivalent. Submit one (1) piobaireachd and play only the ground and the next two passages - own choice.
Competing is FREE for Branch members: The 2020-21 season marks the 50th anniversary of the Ottawa Branch. To mark this milestone, participation will be FREE for all Branch members that have paid their membership dues.
Judges for this event will be Colin MacLellan and Andrew Hayes.
Reminder to Knockout Finalists
Finalists! Remember that your videos are due by April 3rd. Details have been sent by email. If you have any questions, write to info@ppbso-ottawa.org. The list of finalists is here.
Notice about the Ottawa Branch Indoor Highland Games
The Amateur Piobaireachd Contest will be the last Ottawa Branch event until the fall. While we hoped that the COVID-19 situation would allow us to stage the 2021 edition of Ottawa Branch Indoor Games, we have determined that this is not feasible. Thankfully, there are lots of other events happening this spring and summer, including the PPBSO’s new Summer Blast! school, and the PPBSO’s summer online contest series. If you have any questions about Branch events, you can contact us at info@ppbso-ottawa.org.
Summer Blast!
Online Summer School this July
Taking place from Monday July 5th to Friday July 9th 2021, Summer Blast! will offer a virtual week-long summer school in piping, drumming, bass and tenor drumming tuition for all abilities and ages.
Drawing from Ontario’s leading exponents of piping and drumming, tuition will be offered by John Cairns, Ken Eller, Michael Grey, Reagan Jones, Jim McGillivray, Doug Stronach and Bob Worrall, the school’s director.
Tuition will take place in four, one-hour sessions daily, using the Zoom platform. In addition to twenty hours of tuition that will be offered in a variety of styles and formats, daily extracurricular activities will be included in the price of registration. The first to be announced is Scotch Rocks! a whisky and piping appreciation event presented by Stuart Cassells, the founder and former frontman of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, and the current general manager of The Macallan Estate in Speyside, Scotland.
As announced at the town hall, the PPBSO is offering its members a special rate of $280 for the week, a 20% discount on the registration fee. This special pricing offsets the cost of renewing 2021 membership to the PPBSO within the registration fee. Non-PPBSO members will pay $350 CAN.
Registration is now open! Registrations received on or before April 30th will be entered in an early bird draw to win a free place in the school.