Alisdair McLaren | |
---|---|
Born | 1979 (age 43–44) 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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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