ABOUT
-
36 years experience playing the bagpipes.
- I
have performed at hundreds of Weddings and Funerals
and am well versed in all relevant procedures.
-
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".
-
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.
- 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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