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ABOUT
- Tutored by John McIver and
Ross Campbell, with invaluable assistance throughout the years from P/M Nat
Russell, Geoff Ross and Bill Travaille.
- 38 years experience playing the bagpipes, with 29 as a professional piper.
- I have performed at hundreds of Weddings and Funerals.
- I
have played numerous times at popular Wedding venues, including
Montsalvat, Avalon Castle, Quat Quatta Mansion, Rippon Lea Estate,
Overnewton Castle, Emu Bottom Homestead, Glen Erin Vineyard
Retreat, Werribee Mansion, Bram Leigh Receptions, Eynesbury
Homestead, Tatra Receptions, Cloud Hill Gardens, Buttleigh Wootton,
Victoria Police Chapel and most of Melbourne's CBD
Churches.
- I
have regularly worked with all of the major Funeral Service
providers, who value my reliability, quality of work and
reasonable fees.
- 15 years professional piping at a Grade 1 standard with the Victoria Police Pipe Band. Grade 1 is the highest attainable level in pipe bands. In competition, the band was undefeated in Australia from 1988 to 1998.
- At
the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, the band was
placed in the top six in Grade 1 every year from 1992 to 1997. In
1998, the band achieved its goal and become the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Champions.
This is the ultimate achievement in the world of pipe bands and to
this date, the Victoria Police Pipe Band is the only band from the
Southern Hemisphere to achieve this feat at a Grade 1 level. In
addition to playing with the band, I was also a member of the team
responsible for the tuning and setting up of the band.
- I am well experienced performing with other musicians and am able to have my bagpipe accurately tuned to suit Bb 466 or A 440.
- I
have played in concerts with André Rieu and The Seekers. I have
also played as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the
Victorian State Orchestra and the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra.
The performances included traditional Scottish music as well as the
composition "Orkney Wedding With Sunrise". I have also played as a
soloist with artists such as Eric Burden, Marion Martin and on the
mini-series "My Brother Tom". In 2018, I participated in the 2018 Basel
Military Tattoo in Switzerland, with the Rats Of Tobruk Memorial Pipes
& Drums.
- I
have performed on internationally acclaimed pipe band recordings, such
as "Uphold The Right", "Live In Ireland", "Live In The Rockies" and
"The Masterblaster Concert", in Motherwell, Scotland.
- I have assisted a number of pipe bands to a high degree of competitive success relative to their grade:
- The
Footscray City Highland Pipe Band, with numerous local, state and
national Championships in Grades 3 and 2, including wins at the 1994
Grade 2 New Zealand Pipe Band Championships and the 1996 and 1998
Grade 2 Australian Pipe Band Championships.
- The Watsonia R.S.L. Pipe Band, who won the 1998 Grade 4 Australian Pipe Band Championships.
- The
Maryborough & Districts Highland Pipe Band, with wins at the 2000
and 2001 Grade 4 Australian Pipe Band Championships and a 2nd place at
the 2003 Grade 3 New Zealand Pipe Band Championships. Between 2001
and 2006, the band enjoyed numerous wins in local Grade 4 and
Grade 3 competitions.
- The Frankston R.S.L. Pipes & Drums, who won the 2013 Grade 4 Victorian Pipe Band Championships.
- I
led and tutored the Williamstown R.S.L. Pipe Band from 2007 to 2016,
winning many local contests in Grade 4 and then Grade 3. We also won
the 2010 Grade 4 Victorian Pipe Band Championships, the 2012 Grade
3 Victorian Pipe Band Championships and won the Overall Piping at the
2012 Grade 3 Australian Pipe Band Championships and again at the 2014
Grade 3 Australian Pipe Band Championships.
- In 2019, I again took the position of Pipe Major at Williamstown R.S.L. Pipe Band, now renamed as Victoria Scottish Pipes & Drums.
- Since 1993, I have been an accredited Piping Judge in Australia with both the Advanced Piping Certificate (Australian Pipe Band Association) and the Adjudicators Certificate (Australian Pipe Band Association).
The Victoria Police Pipe Band, winning the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Championships,
Glasgow Green, Scotland, 1998.
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