Alisdair McLaren

Last updated

Alisdair McLaren
Born1979 (age 4344)
Perth, Western Australia
Occupation(s)Instrumentalist, music director
Instrument(s)Bagpipes

Alisdair McLaren (born 1979) is an Australian bagpiper. He is currently the Pipe Major of the Grade 1 Western Australia Police Pipe Band, the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Edindurgh Military Tattoo the former Pipe Major of the Grade One Glasgow Police Pipe Band, and the former director of The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland. [1] After moving to Scotland from Kalamunda, Australia, in 2007 became a member of the National Piping Centre in Glasgow and in 2011 became the first West-Australian to win the World Pipe Band Championships as part of the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band. [2] [3]

Prior to his move to Scotland, McLaren attended Trinity College and was pipe major of Trinity College Pipes and Drums until 1997 when he joined the WA Police Pipe Band for 10 years. [2]

In late 2019, Alastair was appointed Pipe Major of the Glasgow Police Pipe Band. After a few months, in January 2020, McLaren resigned from the post to return to his native Australia. This meant he also resigned from his position as director of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland.

In May 2020 he was appointed Pipe Major of the Western Australia Police Pipe Band. He resigned in 2022.

Related Research Articles

The Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming is a British Army training establishment that provides instruction on Scottish pipe band music to military pipers and drummers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band</span> Northern Irish pipe band

The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a competitive grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland named in honour of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships 13 times, making it the third most successful competing pipe band in history behind the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band and the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Police Pipe Band</span> Scottish pipe band

Glasgow Police Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band from Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1883 as the Burgh of Govan Police Pipe Band, the band enjoyed its greatest competitive success as the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band.

The Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is a grade 1 pipe band from Shotts, in the North Lanarkshire region of Scotland. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships sixteen times. The current pipe major is Emmett Conway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mull of Kintyre (song)</span> 1977 single by Wings

"Mull of Kintyre" is a song by the British-American rock band Wings. It was written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in tribute to the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland and its headland, the Mull of Kintyre, where McCartney has owned High Park Farm since 1966.

Alex Duthart was a Scottish drummer. He is widely regarded as having revolutionised pipe band snare drum playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jori Chisholm</span>

Jori Lance Chisholm is an American professional bagpipe player and teacher who lives in Seattle, Washington. Chisholm is a successful solo competitor winning the United States Gold Medal four times and has placed in the top three in Scotland's Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal competition. He played with the six-time Grade One World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band and was a featured solo performer for the band on multiple occasions. Chisholm has performed in front of sold-out audiences with The Chieftains and with ex-Grateful Dead rocker Bob Weir and his band Ratdog, and has been featured as a soloist or band member on over 20 recordings. His debut solo album Bagpipe Revolution was nominated for Album of the Year by Pipes|Drums magazine. He writes the "Sound Technique" column for the National Piping Centre’s bi-monthly Piping Today Magazine. The New York Times featured Chisholm's online teaching program, BagpipeLessons.com, and described him as a "top-tier teacher" in a front-page story about the growth of Skype music lessons. A cover story in American Profile Magazine named Chisholm one of the "world's elite pipers."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Police Pipe Band</span> Canadian pipe band organization

The Toronto Police Pipe Band is a Canadian pipe band organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada directly composed of a band in grade 2; and 5 through its youth affiliate, Ryan Russell Memorial. The band performs at parades, festivals, ceremonies and funerals on behalf of the Toronto Police Service, and participates internationally in piping competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Whitehorse Pipe Band</span> Former Victorian Pipe Band

The City of Whitehorse (CoWPB) was a competition pipe band, based in Nunawading, Victoria, Australia. The band's previous incarnations had been successful on the Australian Pipe Band competition circuit for numerous years, and was placed 11th in the final tables of the World Pipe Band Championships in 2006. The band reformed in 2014 and was led by Pipe Major George Shepherd and Drum Sergeant Olav Goud. The band ceased operations in 2016 following the decision of Pipe Bands Australia to suspend five members and later, terminate the band's membership following a protracted period of behaviour deemed unacceptable by the association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Australia Police Pipe Band</span> Grade 1 pipe band in Perth, Australia

The Western Australia Police Pipe Band (WAPOL) is an Australian competitive pipe band organization based in Perth, Western Australia associated with the Western Australia Police.

The Victoria Police Pipe Band is a former Grade One World Pipe Band Championship-winning pipe band based in Melbourne, Australia. The band still operates today, though with reduced numbers and not competitively, after a controversial decision in 2000 to reshape it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band</span> Canadian pipe band

The 78th Highlanders Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band formed in 1983 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. They work in conjunction with a re-enactor troop for the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, the regiment that spent almost three years stationed at Citadel Hill (1869-1871).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny and Dunipace Pipe Band</span> Scottish pipe band

Denny and Dunipace Pipe Band is a Grade 3A pipe band based in Denny, near Falkirk, Scotland.

The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.

The Hamilton Police Pipe Band is a competitive pipe band based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Currently, the Hamilton Police Pipe Band consists of a competing grade 4 band, a developing grade 5 band, and a teaching program. The Hamilton Police Pipe Band has had many successful seasons under its most recent leadership of drum sergeant Sandy McKail and pipe major Trish Kirkwood. Over the last 15 years the two have led HPPB to many local and North American prizes and titles such as North American champions, Canadian champions, Transatlantic champions, Nova Scotia champions, and 1st placings in many PPBSO Highland games across Ontario.

The Police Scotland Fife Pipe Band is a Grade 1 pipe band from Fife in Scotland, established in September 2007.

The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland (NYPBoS) is a youth pipe band headed by Steven Blake, consisting of over 100 members who teach and perform around the British isles.

John Seton DCM, BEM, was a Scottish drummer and drum major, and one of the first to publish notated drum scores in the pipe band idiom. He was Joint Principal of Drumming and Senior Drum Major for the Scottish Pipe Band Association, now known as the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association or RSPBA, and the original holder of these titles at the organization's formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcester Kiltie Pipe Band</span> Pipe Band from Worcester, Massachusetts

The Worcester Kiltie Pipe Band is a Grade 2 pipe band from Worcester, Massachusetts. It is led by pipe major Davy Methven and lead drummer Colum Lundt. They compete in the United States, Canada and the UK and wear the Modern Scott tartan. They were the first band from the United States to rise to prominence in Grade 1, and in 1964 became the first US band to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships.

References

  1. Adams, Rob (12 November 2012). "National Youth Pipe Band, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow". The Herald . Glasgow. p. 18. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 Pownall, Angela (16 August 2011). "Pipe dream a reality for WA man". The West Australian. Perth. p. 9. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. "Put that in your pipe, we're smokin'". MX Brisbane. 16 August 2011. p. 10.