Fredericton pipe band goes international
They will be competing at the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland
A Fredericton-based pipe band is getting ready to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, this August.
The Fredericton Society of St. Andrew Pipe Band is sending its beginning-level band, which in the piping world is Grade 5. The Fredericton band hasn't competed at that level internationally since 2004.
The World Pipe Band Championships bring together bands from around the world, including from the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, Spain and Oman. The pipe band from New Brunswick will be one of almost 200 registered competitors.
Pipe major Eric Horncastle says the band is working hard to bring its best performance to the competition.
"We practise at least once a week throughout the year, with an optional second rehearsal for pipers," Horncastle said. "It's really nice to go over and have some of the younger pipers exposed to that high level because you have bands from all over the world competing."
To start the journey, Horncastle had the challenge of hand-selecting the set of music the band would be learning.
"We have to pick the appropriate music first," he said. "They have what is called the map list of tunes, with the idea that they had a standard list of tunes that bands could choose from and that meant everybody was on the same footing."
Pipe band music comes in many forms from uptempo jigs, bouncy dancing tunes called strathspeys, reflective slow airs, and the style the band will be competing in: marches.
Horncastle said the band chose four marches from the list.
"I try to balance the complexity of the tunes within the players abilities. Something a little bit challenging but something that's not too difficult."
Horncastle has been playing with the band since the early 1970s — and the pipes for even longer.
"New Brunswick has never been really noted as an area for piping," he said. "There's a few bands here, so it's good to go over and give us a chance to highlight what we can do."
Officially, there are only five pipe bands from New Brunswick registered with the Atlantic Canada Pipe Band Association, which oversees the pipe band competitions at events throughout the region. There are nine from Nova Scotia and one on Prince Edward Island.
This gives new members like piper Austin Chapman an extra reason to be proud of his first time competing in Scotland.
"It's honestly a little nerve-racking, but the chance to get over to Scotland and show them what us New Brunswickers and the City of Fredericton can do is an awesome opportunity," Chapman said.
The Fredericton Society of St. Andrew sent its Grade 3 band to Scotland in 2017, and it came in 12th out of 18 qualifying bands.
The journey across the Atlantic Ocean is also serving as a grad trip for Chapman, a recent graduation of the University of New Brunswick whose learning, he said, isn't over.
"When it comes to the grade of pipe band music, where we play, at Grade 5, the only opportunity to see Grade 1 is once and a while at local competitions," he said. "It's going to be an awesome opportunity to take away a lot of skill and good practices from other bands."
Pipe band grades, or competition levels, work opposite to school grades where 5 is considered entry level and 1 is professional.
This exposure to Grade 1 bands is not only exciting for the pipe corps but also to the drum corps.
Stewart Gibson plays snare drum in the band and has competed in Scotland once before. The experience was a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow in his craft, he said.
"The Atlantic circuit is a great place to play in, but the World Championships are next level," Gibson said. "Playing for New Brunswick is a badge you wear on your shirt … or your cap, I'd say."
He said that the band will be judged on its piping, drumming and overall ensemble, with a judge for each component.
"It's a lot of practising both individually and as a band," Gilson said. "You want that cohesiveness as a band — it's one of the main things you're judged on. The biggest thing I like about playing with the band are the folks you get to play with and the great music."
As the band prepares for its big trip, it will be competing around the Maritimes. The Atlantic Canada Pipe Band Association has seen many bands compete at the worlds over the years.
The Fredericton band has been a "pillar of the piping and drumming community" in the region for many years, said Tom Cuming, the association's president.
"It's great to see a band at the Grade 5 level, where you have a bunch of new players who are saying that we want to go now and not wait until they're in Grade 3."
Cuming said there is a long history of Gaelic music on the East Coast originating with highland settlers and adopted by Maritimers, who made it their own.
"What often happens when bands from this area compete in the worlds is that judges will say that music will be culturally unique and have its own 'Easy Coast' flavour," Cuming said.
"I think New Brunswick is well situated and well represented in terms of having a unique voice and unique contribution to the [pipe band] community."
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