The dice have been cast!!
(01/09/2010)
As mentioned earlier the band has spent a lot of effort
preparing for the contest at Alden Biesen.
When the dice were cast it turned out that the Lowland Pipers will open the
contest, being the first of 18 bands in grade 4. According to the schedule
we will enter the contest area at 10 00h. For the timetable of the
participating bands consult the attached pdf file.
Timetable ALden Biesen 2010
A July update
(10/07/2010)
Already half a year has passed since
we changed the management and the musical leadership of the Lowland Pipers.
And, without doubt the band members have worked hard to raise our standards.
The majority of our players have put in a lot more effort, the regular
training sessions on Fridays and Wednesdays have seen good attendance. And
attendance at the extra sessions on Sundays were even very good. But our
trainee's have also shown a lot of eagerness, impatiently awaiting to join
to the playing members. Beyond doubt it is our Pipe Major's enthousiasm that
has made the difference, every one of the players will go the extra mile for
him.
This year we have been able to carry through a fair number of performances,
many smaller ones but also some with a full band. We all enjoyed the parade
at the Schutterij Festivities in Weert. Recently the Lowland Pipers also
participated in the massed band performance during the concerts of André
Rieu on the Vrijthof square in Maastricht. All these performances gave
opportunities for our newest playing members to improve their playing, they
certainly learned a lot.
But of course the contests at Alden Biezen are coming up. Our Pipe major is
meticulously checking up on individual players to make sure the (his) music
is up to standard.
Whatever the outcome of the contest we have already organised a barbecua on
the campingsite on the evening after the contest. We will enjoy ourselves!!
Our contribution to the concerts of Andre Rieu
on the Vrijthof Square in Maastricht
on July 12th and 13th 2010
This was really an interesting performance. We were part of a massed band
under thedirection of Pipe Major Rene Dammer of the Coriovallum Pipe Band,
Heerlen, The Netherlands. The other pipe bands were Concors, Amsterdam and
Beatrix from the Netherlands and Belgian Blend from Flanders.
We spent quite some time training together in the main hall of the immense
MECC congress center. Afterwards busses took us to an area close to the
vrijthof to take our positions as during the training session. With so many
spectators there was only enough room to march 3 abreast in 30 rows.
Fortunately the drums were placed in the middle. It was warm but everything
went well.
6th
June 2010
We had a realy nice day out for the
parade of the Citizen Militias in Weert on June 6th 2010. There were in
total 37 separate bands participating, most were drumbands of the Citizens
Militias. To get the whole parade underway took almost three quarters of an
hour.
Caroline Snijers was at the drums again and
Fieke our Highland-danser was with us again.. We had
been asked to play after the parade was over for the accumulated spectators
on the main square. We joined up with another participating Pipe band, The
Red Rose of Lochbui from Den Haag in the Netherlands.
Winter news
(26/03/2010)
Since the
beginning of this year four new pipers have joined the Pipe Band. Marc
Broos, Steff Geerts and Noëlla Pintens were trained by our own band and Koen
Goris moved over from the Belgian Blend Pipe Band, he is an old acquaintance
of ours. We hope these pipers will be successful and have a good time with
us.
On the other hand Diego Pemen has left the Pipe band, at least temporarilly.
As he was an active piper for more than 25 years Diego is an honorary
member. But he has decided to take a sabitical, lacking the necessary time
and motivation. Still we certainly appreciate the time and effort he spent
as an active piper.
____________________________________________________________________________
The Lowland Pipers
elect a new Pipe Major (10/01/2010)
The die is cast, the Lowland Pipers chose to have a new Pipe Major. Jimmy
Devolder will, again, take on the assignment.
Jimmy started out with the Lowland Pipers and became Pipe Major for the
first time in 1998. He continued as Pipe Major until September 2005 when he
joined the "Antwerp and District Pipe Band" in order to develop his skills
as a piper.
Now, five years later, Jimmy returns to his roots, having acquired lots of
experience in the process. We sincerely wish him success.
Back in 2005 Jimmy's assignment was taken over by Diego Pemen who we want to
thank for his work and effort over the past 5 years.
