St Andrew's College Pipe Band came third overall for their group performance during the Perth Highland Games held in Scotland in August.
St Andrew's College Pipe Band came third overall for their group performance during the Perth Highland Games held in Scotland in August.
The band competed in this event, as well as two others – the North Berwick Games and the World Championships, the biggest week of piping and traditional music in the world – during their tour to Glasgow.
8000 performers from 150 countries around the world participated in over 200 events to an audience of over 50 000 spectators.
The band performed in the adult section, as some of its members were over 18, and was made up of 19 Grahamstown players, eight Durban players and David Springer, an Old Andrean and current Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.
At the Perth Highland Games, Richard Hobson, Ross Wortley and Stuart Hobson competed in the junior piping events, but even Stuart’s fine performance was no match for the young Scots!
The whole band then tuned up and performed remarkably well, coming third overall, and getting a first place from one of the piping judges in their first performance.
The band competed in the Grade 4 section, the lowest adult grade. In their other Grade 4 performance the band was placed in the middle.
A great deal of time was spent practicing as this was the first time that these different groups had come together to play. They spent their mornings practicing while attending the National Piping Centre in the afternoon for a series of lunchtime recitals given by some of the world’s foremost pipers.
At the North Berwick Games the band played in three events, two of which were Grade 4 events. The band come roughly in the middle of the Grade 4 events, out of the 16 bands participating.
Over 80 bands performed across various grades and collectively over 2000 musicians competed.
The band also participated in a parade for the Scottish national athletics team that had just participated in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The band, as well as other groups of musicians, marched through the centre of Glasgow, eading several floats full of athletes through a throng of thousands of cheering spectators.
