For MacMillan, there is no off-season. We are hard at work year round perfecting our craft and keeping to our mission of creating and promoting pipe band excellence in the USA! All three of the MacMillan bands have been working diligently on new music in preparation for the 2019 season,  which is already shaping up to be a smashing year.

Just this past weekend we invited Jack Lee, Pipe Sergeant of the six-time World Champion Simon Fraser University (SFU) Pipe Band from British Columbia, for a band workshop and concert. Both the workshop and the concert were a huge success, putting us well on our way for 2019.

In just a couple of short weeks MacMillan and MacMillan-Birtles will be heading to Norfolk, Virginia for the first competition of the season: the American Pipe Band Championship. We’re looking forward to a great day out, and we wish all the bands participating good luck and make great music! All the while, MacMillan-Dunn is practicing diligently for their 2019 debut at the Colonial Highland Gathering at Fair Hill this May.

Preparations are also well underway for MacMillan to once again attend the World Pipe Band Championships in August! Stay tuned for further details as we continue our journey to pipe band excellence.

Photos by Mary C. Gardella

Congratulations to our brilliant band members who came away with medals this past weekend!

• Seton Helwig – 2nd place, Intermediate Tenor
• Sam Johnson – 3rd place, North American Gold Medal Tenor
• Ben Elkins – 2nd place (three-way tie for first), North American Gold Medal Bass
• Andrew Donlon – 2nd place, US Gold Medal Piobaireachd
• Betsy Morgan – 4th place, Amateur Tenor, 6th place North American Gold Medal Bass

Off to Kansas City They Go!

A large contingent of our members are heading off to 2018 Winter Storm to compete. 

• Kevin Watkins – G3 MSR and Piob
• Ana Oyler – G3 Snare
• Ben Elkins – Gold Medal Bass
• Mary Wallace – Silver Medal Piobaireachd and Light Music Qualifier
• Martina Murphy – Amateur Tenor
• Andrew Donlon – Gold Medal Ceol Beag, Piobaireachd
• Dawn Meade – Amateur Tenor
• Seton Helwig – Amateur Tenor
• Beth Morgan – Amateur Tenor, Gold Medal Bass
• Sam Johnson – Gold Medal Tenor
• Alex Kuldell – Gold Medal Snare

Wish them luck!

A hearty congratulations to our MacMillan drummers and piper who took home some hardware from Winter Storm this weekend in Kansas City! Kevin Watkins placed 2nd in the Grade 3 Piobaireachd competition. In Professional Tenor Drumming, Sam Johnson placed 2nd. In Intermediate Tenor Drumming, Dawn Meade placed 2nd. In Professional Bass Harry Meade placed 2nd, and Ben Elkins won Gold!

The MacMillan bands have been hard at work this season, so we’ve had little time for updating here on the site. If you’ve been watching us on our Facebook page, you will have no doubt heard of our successes both at the Jersey Shore Celtic Festival and at the Glasgowlands Scottish Festival!

MacMillan-Birtles took first place at Jersey Shore against a strong field of eight bands, and remains undefeated this season!

At Glasgowlands, the MacMillan Pipe Band took a first place against our friends NY Metro and a very strong field of grade 3 challenge-ups!

Both bands look forward to continuing their successes as they travel to Ontario next weekend to compete in the North American Championships!

The Colonial Highland Gathering at Fair Hill proved to be another success for the MacMillan organization on May 16th. All three bands competed in 4 events total, and over a dozen members also competed in solo events.

Congrats to all MacMillan soloists, winning 6 events and placing in 10 others! Winners included Beth Morgan, Sam Johnson, Jeremiah Whitney and Chris Imlay. Keep up the great work!

The MacMilllan-Dunn band again improved their performance in a tough field of seven talented bands and continue the trend of learning from every contest and peformance. Huge congratulations go to the Rockville High School Pipe Band, earning straight 1st place from each of the four judges in the Grade 5 event.  MacMillan-Birtles too had stiff competition in the Grade 4 contest, and are well on their way to the prize list for our next contest in New Jersey, July 11th!

The MacMillan band had two strong performances, winning both the Medley and MSR events. The pipe corps won the MSR event with firsts from both judges, and the drum corps won with an AGL from judge Tom Kee. The Medley event was a bit less stellar for the pipe corps, getting a third and second from the piping judges, tying the Ulster Scottish pipe corps, but the drum corps again won with and AGL and the band earned first in ensemble, showing how much the new members are not only fitting into the band, but improving it. Onward and upward for MacMillan!

MSR: http://youtu.be/xBgM6IdvfQ0

Medley:  http://youtu.be/Mp_w-nbCrq4

Next up for the bands, we are playing the Sharpsburg, Maryland Memorial Day Parade on Saturday May 23. For our less experienced players, performances like this offer opportunities to mingle with the higher level musicians.  Mixing and mingling between competiton bands is part of the mission of MacMillan, to teach every player how to improve and evnetually move up between competitive groups. For any interested pipers, be sure to send us a message either on facebook or leave a comment right here! We always welcome new  members, even stark beginners!
Till next time, keep rooting for Big Mac!

The MacMillan bands had a wonderful time at the Celtic Society of Southern Maryland’s Festival on April 25 in St. Leonard. Even though the weather could have been better, hitting only 45 degrees for a high and raining a bit towards the end of the day we all enjoyed the first contest of the year.

MacMillan-Dunn fielded a lot of new players for their first competitive experience. Lots of positive comments about the performance and potential of the band, with some informative points to improve as the season continues.

MacMillan-Birtles also brought on a good deal of new members and although were missing some of the band’s veteran players, earned 2nd place in the Grade 4 event.

MacMillan won the contest with some great comments and straight first places from all four judges. Welcome as well to the new members of MacMillan who joined the band in competition for the first time.

On the solo front we had:

Sean Kelly- 6th Place Grade 4 Sr 2/4 March

Gordon Fraser- 4th Place Grade 4 Sr 2/4 March

Chris Imlay- 2nd Place Grade 3 Piobaireachd, 5th Place Grade 3 2/4 March

Jeff Walden- 4th Place Grade 3 Piobaireachd

Andrew Donlon- 1st Place Open MSR, 2nd Place Open Hornpipe & Jig, 2nd Place 6/8 Marches, 5th Place Open Piobaireachd, Open Piper of the Day.

All in all Southern Maryland was a strong start for the MacMillan bands and soloists. The next few weeks are very busy with the Rockville High School Pipe Band festival on Saturday May 2, the Frederick Celtic Festival on May 9 and the Colonial Highland Gathering on May 16.

Enjoy the end of April and make sure to practice!

The second half of the 2014 season went by so quickly we forgot to update the website! All three bands had a productive season, culminating in the MacMillan-Birtles (Grade 4) earning 2nd place at the Celtic Classic, and the MacMillan Band (Grade 3) earning 2nd place at both the North American Championships in Maxville, Ontario and at the Cetlic Classic. MacMillan-Dunn (Grade 5) has been working diligently to move players up the ranks into our other two bands, as well as training new players for the future!

November came quickly and led to an influx of new members, including a slew of drummers for the MacMillan band from the City of Washington Pipe Band including Alex Kuldell, Jason Hoffert, Ben Elkins, Jack McClamrock, Sam Johnson and Beth Morgan. Other new drummers include Seton Helwig and Mike Kelly, both of whom have vast experience in competitive pipe bands. New pipers Kyle Grasty, Adam Tianello, and Sean Gearhart are working their way through the music to be on the field at Southern Maryland this April. Welcome aboard, everyone!

The MacMillan-Dunn Pipe Band got some new leadership in November at the band’s annual meeting. Congratulations to P/M Jason Barth and D/S Betsy Meade! We trust both of these experienced players will be great in their new roles, and can’t wait to see the work they are doing through the year.

MacMillan-Birtles now has a new D/S as well, congratulations to Ron Limparis for stepping up and helping make the drum corps stronger than ever!

Even though the offseason was busy, a small group of 5 made the trip to Kansas City for Winter Storm in January. Alex Kuldell and Harry Meade played in the Gold Medal Snare Drumming contest, Sam Johnson in the Gold Medal Tenor Drumming, Dawn Meade in the Intermediate Tenor Drumming and Andrew Donlon in the US Silver Medal Piobaireachd and the US Gold Medal Ceol Beag. Alex Stewart made the trek to the midwest as well to help out drummers, and was an integral part of the weekend.  Team MacMillan did well, and Andrew Donlon won the Silver Medal!

April brings in the first performance for all three bands, MacMillan United Pipe Bands in Concert. Check https://www.facebook.com/events/667777889997205/ for details. It is sure to be a great time!

On April 25th the bands will be competing at the Southern Maryland Highland Games in St. Leonard, MD. Be sure to come by our tent and hang out if you’re there! This will be the debut of the MacMillan-Dunn March Medley for this year, the new MSR for MacMillan-Birtles and the competitive debut of the 2015 MacMillan Medley. Each performance is sure to be one to remember!

As always, any pipers or drummers, or those interested in learning are welcome to send us a message about playing in the bands. The door is always open!

Go Team MacMillan!