Pipe band championships

PUPILS from Argyll and Bute will be pitching their musical skills against youngsters from across Scotland when they compete in world’s largest schools piping and drumming competition.

A record number of entries, including 72 school pipe bands and freestyle ensembles as well as 14 quartets for young pipers and drummers, are to go head-to-head at Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships in Edinburgh on Sunday March 12.

The competition – which attracts about 800 youngsters from around 120 schools, including Dunoon Grammar School, Lochgilphead High School and Tobermory High School – was established to encourage the formation of school pipe bands. It features taster grades for youngsters with no competing experience, as well as providing a forum for schools competing at the highest level.

Currently in its fifth year the championships, organised by The Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT), also includes the much loved Freestyle category which encourages pipers and drummers to perform modern and up-to-date songs alongside other musical instruments played by their classmates.

Alexandra Duncan, chief executive of SSPDT, said. ‘We are delighted to see so many schools represented for the first time.

‘The whole purpose of this event is to encourage the formation of pipe bands in state schools.

‘Since the creation of the schools championships, and the formation of SSPDT, there has been a considerable increase in the provision of in-school piping and drumming tuition across Scotland.’

The SSPDT have al- ready revealed plans to double its funding through its schools programme to allow pupils in Scotland the chance to learn the pipes and drums on the same basis as other orchestral instruments.

In its first year, more than 1,000 pupils in Scotland received tuition under schemes funded by the SSPDT, which totalled around £275,000. This figure has now risen to 1,600 pupils. But the charity has said it is prepared to invest £500,000 in tuition and the loan of instruments in 2017 to ensure even more young people can be taught.