Pipe Band

MacMillan Soloists Rock the Prize Lists

Even when the band doesn’t attend a particular competition, the pipers and drummers from MacMillan Pipe Band, MacMillan-Birtles Pipe Band and MacMillan-Dunn Pipe Band continue to challenge their talents in competitions throughout the United States and Canada.

So far this year, we’ve had players in the prize lists at Metro Express Contest in Newark, NJ (2/14/2014), Charleston Indoor Games in Charleston, SC (3/1/2014), Erepa Grotto Indoor in Erie, PA (3/1/2014), Cary Indoor Solo Piping Contest in Cary, NC (3/29/2014), Woodberry Forest Indoor Games in Woodberry Forest, VA (4/12/2014), Savannah Scottish Games in Savannah, GA (5/10/2014), Bonnie Brae Scottish Games in Basking Ridge, NJ (6/7/2014), Ohio Scottish Games in Wellington, OH (6/28/2014), Rockland County Feis in Rockland County, NY (6/28/2014), and Kamloops Highland Games in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada (7/14/2014).

So, congratulations and WAY TO REPRESENT the MacMillan Bands to our prize-winning solo competitors for the first half of the 2014 season!

Pipers – Scott Blevins, Andrew Chalfoun, Andrew Donlon, Chris Imlay, Jacob Loughlin, Kevin O’Brien, William Shropshire, Joey Votta, Jeff Walden, Mary Wallace, and Kevin Watkins

Drummers – Husam Al-Zubaidy

Jersey Shore Celtic Festival – Small Games, Big Results

On Saturday, July 12, 2014, The MacMillan Pipe Bands traveled to Tom’s River, New Jersey, for the Jersey Shore Celtic Festival.

A very large number of MacMillan players took part in the solo events at Jersey Shore.  In drumming, Dawn Meade took 2nd in Amateur 2 Tenor and Betsy Meade took 2nd in Grade 4 Senior Snare.  In Grade 3 Snare, Nicholas Shropshire took 3rd and Matthew Niblock took 1st in the March event. Nick also took 2nd in the March Set event. Harry Meade took 2nd in Professional Snare.

In Grade 4 Junior Piping, Joey Votta swept the event with 1sts in March and Piobaireachd.  In Grade 4 Senior Piping, Scott Blevins took 4th in the March event and 2nd in the Piobaireachd event, while Spencer Grinnell took 5th and Kaitlyn Jacob took 6th in the Piobaireachd event.  In Grade 3 Piping, Kevin Watkins placed 4th and Chris Imlay placed 3rd in Piobaireachd B, while Jeff Walden took 2nd in Piobaireachd and 4th in Strathspey and Reel.  In Grade 2 Piping, Kevin O’Brien placed 3rd in Piobaireachd.  In Grade 1 Piping, William Shropshire placed 1st in MSR, 2nd in Hornpipe/Jig, and 3rd in Piobaireachd, while Andrew Chalfoun placed 1st in Hornpipe/Jig and 2nd in Piobaireachd.

Because of scheduling conflicts, not all of the members of the MacMillan-Dunn Pipe Band could attend, so they played for comments in the Grade 5 event.  In Grade 4 bands, The MacMillan-Birtles Pipe Band took 2nd place, while The MacMillan Pipe Band took 2nd place with straight 1sts in Piping in Grade 3.  Congratulations to all!

Fair Day at Fairhill Games

On Saturday, May 17, 2014, the MacMillan Pipe Bands traveled to Fairhill, Maryland, for the Colonial Highland Games.

A large number of MacMillan players participated in the day’s solo events, including Bill McKinley who placed 2nd in Amateur Drum Major competition.  In solo drumming, Dawn Meade took 3rd in Amateur 1 Tenor, while Beth Morgan took 1st in both Novice Tenor and Grade 4 Senior Snare.  In Grade 3 Snare, Husam Al-Zubaidy took 6th, Nicholas Shropshire took 5th and Matt Niblock took 1st.  Harry Meade took 4th in Professional Snare and 2nd in Professional Bass.

In piping, Joey Votta took 1st in Grade 4 Junior March, Scott Blevins took 4th in Grade 4 Senior March, and Kayla Harper took 6th in Grade 3 March.  In Grade 2, Kevin O’Brien took 6th in Piobaireachd and Jacob Loughlin took 3rd in both Piobaireachd and MSR.

In band competitions, the MacMillan-Dunn Pipe Band took 6th in Grade 5.  The MacMillan-Birtles Pipe Band took 3rd in Grade 4, with straight 1sts in piping.  The MacMillan Pipe Band took 6th in Grade 3.   Congratulations to all!

MacMillan Bands Kick Off the Season with Southern Maryland Successes

On Saturday, April 26, the three MacMillan bands traveled to Prince Frederick, Maryland, for the Celtic Festival of Southern Maryland.  Many of our players participated in solo competitions throughout the day.

Congratulations to Nathan Hurt, who placed 1st in Amateur 2 Tenor, and to snare drummers Nicholas Shropshire, Jeremiah Whitney, and Matt Niblock, who placed 4th (Nick), 2nd (Jeremiah) and 1st (Matt) in Grade 3 Snare.

On the piping front, Joey Votta swept the Grade 4 Junior events with straight 1sts, and in Grade 4 Senior, Scott Blevins took 6th in Piobaireachd.  In the Grade 3 Piping events, Kevin Watkins took 5th in March and 3rd in Piobaireachd A. In Grade 2 Piping, Jacob Loughlin took 1st in the Hornpipe/Jig, MSR, and Piobaireachd events, and 2nd in the 6/8 March event, while Kevin O’Brien took 5th in Piobaireachd.  In Grade 1 Piping, Mary Wallace took 1st in Hornpipe/Jig, 2nd in Piobaireachd, and 4th in 6/8 March, while William Shropshire took 2nd in 6/8 March and MSR, and 5th in Piobaireachd and Hornpipe/Jig.  In Professional Piping, Andrew Donlon placed 1st in 6/8 March and MSR.

In the band competitions, the MacMillan-Dunn Pipe Band placed 5th in Grade 5. The MacMillan-Birtles Pipe Band placed 1st in Grade 4, and The MacMillan Pipe Band placed 1st in Grade 3.  Congratulations to all for a great season kick-off!

HERITAGE – MacMillan Pipe Bands in Concert, April 5, 2014

The MacMillan Pipe Bands are proud to announce their upcoming concert, HERITAGE, on Saturday, April 5, 2014. The concert will be held at the Performing Arts Center at the Sandy Spring Friends School at 7:00 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door – $10.00 for ages 13 and older, $5.00 for ages 5-13, and children under 5, free.

Directions to the Sandy Spring Friends School campus can be found at http://www.ssfs.org/about/our-campus/index.aspx

Join MacMillan Pipe Band, MacMillan-Birtles Pipe Band, and MacMillan-Dunn Pipe Band for an evening celebrating our Celtic Heritage. The concert will include band performances, dancing, smallpipes and small groups performances, solo piping, drum salutes and more! Additionally, there will be a silent auction and a number of raffle items available in the lobby. Come one and all and join the Mid-Atlantic region’s premiere pipe band organization for an evening of music and fun. We look forward to seeing you there!

Solos Success for MacMillan Players at MHAF WinterStorm 2014!

MacMillan Pipe Bands were well represented at the 2014 Midwest Highland Arts Fund WinterStorm Competitions! Grade III’s Lead Tenor, Dawn Meade, placed 4th overall in the Amateur Tenor Competition – her first year in Amateur, having won the Novice competition last year. Grade III Pipe Sergeant Andrew Donlon placed 4th overall in the Silver Medal Professional Piobaireachd competition and 7th overall (out of 27) in the Gold Medal Professional Ceol Beag (Light Music) competition. Andrew’s accomplishments are even greater, considering that this weekend was his first ever Professional competitions! Well done to both of them, and to Grade III Drum Sergeant Harry Meade, who placed just out of the finals in the Gold Medal Professional Snare Drumming competition. Great job, all of you!