Scottish schools’ pipe band championships

Most schools in Scotland have pipers and drummers within their pupil population. Schools in Oban and Argyllshire are probably no exception.

May I please ask your readers to seek out their pipers and encourage them to represent their school as a piping quartet, if not as a full band, at the next Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships.

The championships are organised annually by the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust. The next championships will be held at Inveralmond Community High School, Livingston, on Sunday March 10, 2019. More details are on our website www.thechampionships.co.uk

Last March, 145 schools from all over Scotland (and two from England) were represented at the championships, with a category available for all standards of playing.

Five years ago we introduced a new category: freestyle. The aim of this is to provide an op- portunity for schools to showcase their other musical skills alongside those of their pipers.

The Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (www.sspdt.org.uk) hopes that as many young pipers and drummers from your area – with other musicians too if entering the freestyle event – will participate in next year’s championships. Patrick Gascoigne, Aberlady, East Lothian