James P. Troy was pleased to be a part of Mayor Drum Supply's Oktenorfest just a couple of weeks ago. Hosting a full schedule of pipe band snare drumming, tenor and bass drumming, Oktenorfest featured a handful of the Spirit of Scotland drummers including James P. Troy, John Fisher, Tim Djursing, Amanda Shirley and Craig "Hoss" Colquhoun. A successful weekend and lots of drumming (and some piping) to be had! Photos below are courtesy of Jamie Stewart from Mayor Drum Supply.
Mayor Drum Supply is committed to developing the Scottish art through workshops such as these and also through sponsorship. We have companies like this to be thankful for. Running since 2006 I believe, each year features different instructors of the highest calibre. This workshop weekend is one not to be missed. Keep your eyes peeled for the 2012 event and register early! -JLT
This is the first post written by JP Troy. I wanted to post a few memories and pictures from my great trip to the Bagpipe Italian Group Gathering held this year in Urbania, Italy. I was extremely fortunate to be invited to this event, and I had no idea what to expect when Duilio Vigliotti, the organizer, contacted me to be a part of it. I also had no idea that there was such an enthusiastic and passionate community thriving in Italy for the bagpipes and Scottish music. When I first touched down in Italy, I was greeted by Duilio and Gino Schioppa, both very fine pipers and excellent tour guides. I was treated to an unbelievable lunch in Rome, and then a whirlwind tour of the major sights. After that, we made our way to Isernia, where both Duilio and Gino live. I was honoured to be a guest at Duilio and his wife Rita's home. I felt very welcome and their hospitality will be remembered forever. A few hours after getting settled, Gino and I managed to get in a few games of pool in the downtown of Isernia. After a good night's sleep, Duilio was kind enough to take me on a tour of Isernia, stopping in at a chocolatier and a winery. We then made our way up to Urbania, where the Gathering was to take place.
Please stay tuned for Part 2 and for some exciting developments in the shop.
After Lorient and the Silver Cap, James P. was able to close out the week with an appearance with the Spirit of Scotland pipers, under the direction of P/M Roddy MacLeod as guest performers with CAPERCAILLIE! The Friday night concert, held at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, was definitely a highlight for James P. as we have grown up listening to Capercaillie. Being thought of as the band that brought traditional Celtic music to the world stage and aiding in its popularity, it was quite the honour to be able to share the night with such formidable musicians.....and not to mention to play with the SOS pipers!
As James P. and I were quite excited about spending some time with our fellow Spirit of Scotlanders, the plan was to meet at the Concert Hall so I could get my ticket, enjoy the concert and relax before the big Worlds day to follow. Sadly, that was not the case...I was admitted in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary at around 6pm Friday night to be kept in overnight and potentially until the Monday. Therefore, I missed the World Pipe Band Championships completely and the chance to compete in the Qualifier with the Peel Police. What a major disappointment BUT on the bright side, the doctors and nurses took great care of me and I am slowly on the mend. To be honest, I discharged myself against doctor's orders in order to fly home to get better on this side of the water...
While I was in the hospital spending time with probably the three funniest old ladies in Glasgow who just happened to be in my ward, the rest of you were playing your guts out...thank God for the BBC's coverage of the contest which I am just catching up on now! A big congrats goes out to St. Laurence O'Toole for putting in some beautiful performances. And a big thank you to Inspector Gavin Francis of the Peel Police and his wife, Diane who took great care of me during my hospital stay as well as the members of the Peel Police Pipe Band...your love and support meant a lot. Another exciting Piping Live feature that I missed was the Pipe Idol finale. Held at the Street Cafe just outside the National Piping Centre and with the right weather, it's a lovely way to spend a FREE afternoon listening to the best young international pipers from around the world. With a number of heats involved throughout the week, the final came down to four outstanding players: Chris MacDonald, Alex Gandy, Steven Leask and Jamie Hawke. Alex took the distinction of 2010 Pipe Idol and the top prize of a set of Fred Morrison ReelPipes! One of the final events of Piping Live is the Masters Invitational Solo Piping Competition held at the National Piping Centre. Being the day after the Worlds, it's a wonder that everyone is in fine shape to crank out some good tunes. This year's winner was Bruce Gandy, taking seconds in both the Piobaireachd and MSR. The Gandys - representing well in Scotland! We sign off this post with a video clip below (courtesy of pipes|drums) of Bruce playing at the Todd Bar Recital at the University of Strathclyde earlier in the week.
James P. has been in Scotland making his way through Oban, Inverness and the likes winding up at the Northern Meeting for Thursday and Friday of this week. Best of luck to him there as well as all of the other competitors that have made the journey, near and far! Results from this and the other games to follow soon. -JLT
The week of the World Pipe Band Championships has turned into a week filled with the best piping, drumming and celtic music going...thanks to the Piping Live - Glasgow International Piping Festival. With venues all over Glasgow and the music going at virtually any time of the day, it's hard to fit it all in between that and band practices... Luckily enough, I was able to catch the CD release of Daimh's new-ish album, Diversions. These guys combine the Scottish, Irish and Cape Breton traditions creating a musically tight ensemble that is a such joy to listen to. So glad that I was able to see them perform live at The Piping Centre before heading to the Silver Cap Invitational contest at the Todd Bar to see James P. compete with the big boys (see previous pipes|drums article, James P. Storms into Silver Cap competition). Organized by Richard King and Steve Foley of the Los Angeles Scots Pipe Band, this solo piping invitational is quickly becoming a popular event. Boasting some great prize money, all of the competitors have a chance to present a medley of tunes, one of which must be currently unpublished. This year's contest was adjudicated by P/M Iain MacLellan who was positioned behind a screen so as not to know who he was listening to. Eight contestants and eight very good performances with the outcome as follows:
1st Angus MacColl 2nd Stuart Liddell 3rd Willie McCallum 4th James P. Troy 5th Gordon Walker 6th Bruce Gandy 7th Jack Lee 8th Ken Sutherland
Way to go James P! Rob Wallace of the Piping Times gave a full review of each competitor (a little harsh on Bruce Gandy....) Read what he had to say. And thanks to Jason Briscoe who managed to get a great recording of James P's performance. The unpublished tune Jamie chose to play was a hornpipe written by our uncle, Colin Magee (famous for composing Troy's Wedding) for the late and great Highland Dancing teacher, Mrs. Adeline Duncan. Download JPSilverCap.mp4 from our space on Box.net. Safe and easy to use! More to follow... -JLT
It's been a while since our last post - our apologies. Due to excessive traveling and one brief hospital visit, we have just now enough time to regroup and to start posting! Lots to report and lots to share... First off, I was able to share in the success of the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band at Maxville. We were crowned North American Champions after an undefeated season in Ontario! With seven out of eight firsts between both the MSR and Medley contest and a beautiful day to play to boot, we definitely finished the Ontario season on a high note. It was a honour to be a part of a band that has come leaps and bounds in the last few years under the direction of P/M John Cairns and D/S Graham Brown. Check out the MSR performance from Maxville below:
A big congrats go out to Bruce and Alex Gandy for putting in some great playing during the day, resulting in Bruce being named Piper of the Day! A full synopsis of Maxville results can be found at pipes|drums online. While I was enjoying the humid Ontario weather, James P. was basking in the sunshine at Lorient, France for the Inter-Celtic Festival. A prestigious event that attracts players and performers from all over the world, this festival has always been on the Places to Go list. James P. was playing for the MacCrimmon Trophy which required contestants to play a Breton piece, a Scottish piece and an Irish piece. Placing second overall, James P. can be seen at 8:50 mark of the video below while the results of the contest are being read. Minute 9:10 is when the announcer reads out his name!
Part of the festival includes the Breton Championship of Bagadoù featuring the best Bagad bands around. Such a sight to behold as these guys really know how to put on a show! Congrats go out to Cap Caval for capturing this year's Championship and then turning around to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships a week later! No small feat, my friends. This brings us to Worlds Week....more posts to follow. -JLT
Another long weekend long gone.... Congrats to James P. for gaining a 2nd and 3rd in the Pro contest at the Victoria Highland Games! This Games has seen significant improvements over the years and this year was no exception. The attendance picked up dramatically in part to the Games being billed as hosting the World Heavy Events Championships this year. Mega huge guys from around the world throwing and chucking mega huge weights, breaking all sorts of World records...a sight to behold...along with music all day in the Entertainment Tent, the whisky school, high class vendors and of course, the pre-requisite highland dancing, piping and drumming. The two day event has risen as a high profile event within the community and huge recognition goes out to Jim Maxwell for his tireless efforts to gain such ground in so little time. The Greater Victoria Police Pipe Band was grateful to participate in Saturday's activities. As a non-competing band, this was a great way for most of the members to gain performance experience as well as be part of such a great community effort. Here's a snippet of their performance:
The winner of this year's Livingstone Invitational is Bruce Gandy - just like family and a great endorser for JWT Reedmakers. Check out his winning MSR performance, thanks to pipes|drums and the lovely Andrew Berthoff. James P. was back for a second year and received 3rd place in the MSR. His MSR performance can be found on the pipes|drums page along with 2nd place MSR winner, Michael Grey. Congrats to all of the competitors and prize winners! -JLT
Back from Kansas City and the prestigious Midwest Highland Arts Fund Winter Storm, James P. brings with him 1st place in the Gold Medal Light Music! Plus a new Fagerstrom Electronic Bagpipe. A perfect way to ensure no crunluaths will be missed!
Felicitations go out to all of the prize winners but more specifically, Alex Gandy (and faithful Troy reed advocate) for gaining a second place prize in the Gold Medal Piobaireachd!
Full results can be found at www.pipesdrums.com. Audio files will be posted here in the near future - put us in your RSS reader so you won't miss out!
January 9, 2010 was the first Vancouver Island Pipers Club of the new year. In preparation for the Midwest Highland Arts Fund's Winter Storm contest in Kansas City, Missouri, we were lucky to have both James P. Troy AND David Bowman (Simon Fraser University) performing for the evening.
These boys used the Club as a testing ground for their contest material and wowed the audience with wonderful music, fabulous technique and smooth presentation. Not only was it perfect timing with Winter Storm in the coming week but with the recent launch of Bowman Percussion and the very handy Rad Pad!
Being the President of the Pipers Club, I get the pleasure of securing the entertainment and setting the program for the season. This is a great opportunity to feature local talent and stay true to the premise of the Club in the first place: nurture and support the young players in an encouraging and non-competitive environment. It also gives us a great excuse to see, hear and hang out with old and new friends.
It also provides a platform to launch workshops and various other events. We took the opportunity with Dave to conduct an afternoon drumming workshop at the Bay St. Armouries. He did so with enthusiasm and finesse and was well received by the small yet passionate group of players that turned out. Dave's direct yet patient approach to teaching, his detailed analysis of the process, his John Fisher influence plus his experience with SFU provides players with a fantastic perspective on technique, motion and musicality.
Never far from a perfect photo opportunity, Ryan took Dave's visit and the haunting backdrop of the Bay St. Armouries as a chance to snap a couple of photos of yet another photogenic musician. Go to Ryan's Photo of the Week on Photographer Network to see the result. As with Ryan's shots of Jori Chisholm and James Laughlin taken last year, there is a bit of a contest to see if Dave can gain the most number of views to bump these guys out of the running...
A couple of other shots from the evening:
As JWT Reedmakers host a lecture series on various bagpiping topics throughout the year, the VIPC hopped on that band wagon to host this first drumming focussed afternoon. As the response was favourable, VIPC and/or JWT Reedmakers will be pushing to host these kinds of afternoons on a more regular basis. Stay tuned.
Thanks to David Bowman, Bowman Percussion and James P. Troy for an evening full of good music, laughs and of course pints.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last week, you now know that the 2009 World Pipe Band Championships have come and gone. Congrats go out to the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band for another Championship win, as well securing the coveted drumming Sash for the second year in a row.
Although none of the Troys were over for the contest this year, we did have one family member in amongst the winners! Dani Millar (formerly Brin), married to Duncan (a fab drummer with SFU's corps), is a cousin of ours. Dani, one of the few female pipers in the band, has been involved in every one of SFU's six World Championship wins! At the top of the game to say the least.
Check out the breakdown for the Worlds results. Kudos go out to the BBC for airing live streaming video of the Grade 1 events! James W. and I were up bright and early at 1am in time to see the entire Grade 1 Qualifier. There were very few technical interruptions and Bob Worrall did a fantastic job as the commentator, inserting diplomatic comments where necessary.
As we are usually on the field playing, this was the first time in ages that I was able to see the entire Qualifying contest to be able to make a reasonable assessment of the results. With a cup of tea in hand and keeping warm and dry, it was almost better than being there! JW and I pretty much agreed with the outcome from the morning Qualifier with a small discrepancy. Tough contest.
Congratulations go out to Triumph Street for qualifying! Again, with that band in our backyard we have the pleasure of hearing them on a regular basis and as they were playing quite quite well, we were not surprised at all that they got through. Also, another congrats goes out to the New Westminster Police - another band from B.C. with a fantastic showing at the Worlds with a 6th place.
Now that the excitement of the Worlds is over....we are on to some of the major solo events around Scotland. James P. left on Sunday for the Argyllshire Gathering and will be competing in the Silver Medal this week and Cowal on the 29th.
The lineup for the Silver and Gold Medal contests can be found at www.pipesdrums.com. We wish James P. all the best over there! Stay tuned for those results.
Click on these links below to listen to James P's winning performances (and the other prize winners) from the William Livingstone Sr. Invitational in Hamilton, Ontario:
James P. walked away an undisputed winner Saturday at the Livingstone with first in the Piobaireachd and first in the MSRHJ, gaining the overall prize! Congrats to Alex Gandy, Sean McKeown and Andy Rogers who were also in the prize list. Judges were Andrew Berthoff, Ed Neigh and Donald Lindsay.
Check out www.pipesdrums.com for audio files of the performances of all of the prize winners in the MSRHJ event. We will be celebrating upon James P's return on Monday!
Speaking of celebrating, we are wishing all of the Mothers out there a Happy Mothers Day! I know that I own a bunch to my Mom for putting up with all sorts of antics, weird decisions and those conversations that begin with "So...I've been thinking..." which usually result in a massive upheaval of my life. She has been a solid support and super understanding...couldn't ask for anything better. Much love to Momma Troy!
Easter weekend means one thing in our household: the BC Pipers Annual Gathering. Unfortunately, my work responsibilities are dictated by the weird timing that the fashion industry brings so I had to stay behind (the first time in a while shipment was delayed = the first time in a while I missed the Indoor) while James P., James W. and Ryan headed over to Vancouver.
The Indoor used to be the first gathering of the season that brought people from all over the piping world to B.C. It has dwindled in popularity in the recent years for competitors and bands abroad but they still manage to bring out some big name judges. This year for piping it was Alasdair Gillies and Ken Eller. For drumming, Eric Ward had the honours as well as his wife, Lynn judging the midsection stuff.
It was a momentous occasion as Ryan was 'coming out of retirement' in order to represent the female side of things in the Professional Piping! Something that will hopefully continue on throughout the games season.
All said and done, James P. came away with a 3rd in the Piobaireachd and 2nd place in the MSR. Job well done! Congrats to Alastair Lee for taking home the Pro aggregate of the day. A full breakdown of all of the results for both Friday and Saturday events can be found on the BC Pipers website.
As I was surveying the results on the BCPA site, I found this photo, courtesy of Ken McKenzie.
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