His claim to fame was beating Kathryn Tikell at a country fair music competition one summer when she was still a teenager. My father recently passed and he was a passionate Northumbrian small pipe player. The earliest reference to a bagpipe occurs around 400 BC. So I’m trying to find a pipe version of farewell to stromness arranged by Peter Maxwell Davies. History of the bagpipe It seems likely that the instrument was first developed in the Middle East. Many bagpipers will wear the authentic piper attire for your event.īagpipers are great for wedding ceremonies and public events!īagpipers feature the celtic sounds perfect for ceremonies. Even after a player progresses to the pipes, they will usually continue to use the practice chanter to learn new tunes and to practice. In ’17, he was chosen by the pipemaker R.G. Under his leadership, they have earned 1st place at both the Tulsa ScotFest and the Arkansas Scottish Festival. As there was a bagpiper at their wedding 18 1/2 years ago, we chose to have a bagpiper close out his Memorial Service by playing Amazing Grace in the church, then leading everyone from the church to the reception in the Hall as he was playing Scotland the Brave. Matt also serves as the Pipe Major of the Metroplex United Pipe Band. The unexpected loss of our son-in-law, Lee Weldon, was an incredible shock. Matt began playing the pipes in ’96, and competed with the Silver Thistle Pipes & Drums in ’01 at the World Pipe Band Championships.įor twelve years Matt was the piper for The Killdares, and currently plays pipes with Rathmore.
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Matt is also available for private events and parties and would be happy to discuss how to best incorporate the sound of the pipes into your event. Matt would be happy to discuss with you any of the many ways to include the pipes in your ceremony, whether it be for a wedding or a memorial.
The volume of the pipes will easily fill the hall or church, and the sound carries beautifully outdoors. “We weren’t happy about it, but the Americans seemed to enjoy what we played which included Brown Haired Maiden and Badge of Scotland and, when we reached the cathedral, we did Barren Rocks of Aden.Matt Willis Bagpiper Whether the event is joyous or solemn, the music of the pipes can be a wonderful addition to the day. On reflection, if the pipe major had been given more time he could have come up with better tunes, but they were picked by the Americans. “My pipe major was caught short and nobody was happy with the tunes we had to play because they weren’t what we would say was in keeping with a funeral. They don’t slow march, they do what you call trail arms – which means they are faster than we were.
“The bonnet went flying in the corner and he said, ‘you can forget it’. “Then our pipe major came in and he was livid – to say he was unhappy was to put it mildly. “We spent two-and-a-half hours doing the funeral marches, Flowers of the Forest, Land of the Liel, and all that stuff. “We were flown from Kentucky and went to an American airbase. The veteran, of Kirriemuir, Angus, said the rehearsals for the funeral were intense and hurried after JFK’s assassination.Īnd he said the choice of songs they were told to play didn’t reflect the music the band would normally play at a funeral, and that they struggled to keep time with their US counterparts.īruce, 74, said: “As far as we were concerned, it was a bit of a debacle. Piper Bruce Cowie was 24 when he took part in the march through Washington from the White house to St Matthew’s Cathedral in 1963. THE last surviving member of the Black Watch pipe band who played at President Kennedy’s funeral says they didn’t agree with the music they were told to perform.
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