NQ Scots Media Announcement ______________________________________________________________

Sunday 6th November 2011 Castle Hill Sydney – NSW Pipe Band Championships

NQ Scots take out Grade 3 Championship

North Queensland Scots Pipes and Drums put on an impressive performance at this years NSW Pipe Band Championships held at Castle Hill in Sydney on Sunday. They scooped the grade three championships and also achieved second place in the grade 4 competition. The band, who are based in North Queensland but have members from across the state and beyond, have built a solid reputation since its foundation two years ago.

Pipe Major Fraser Martin said today “This weekend’s achievement is a testament to the hard work put in by everyone over the last year or two. From its inception our intention was to build and expand bagpipe music in all its forms and give the people of the region a chance to take part in or enjoy what we do”.
NQ Scots managed a creditable 2nd place in grade 4 in the Victorian Pipe Band Championships in March of this year and in 2010 became the Queensland Champions in grade 4 at Warwick.

The band has performed at a number of events across the region. In May they produced and performed a concert in Charters Towers to a sell out crowd. The next day was followed up by an equally successful workshop for the local community.
Pipe Major Martin put the bands success down to willingness amongst the members to work hard and do things a bit differently. He said “With members spread over such a huge area we have had to be creative in the way we rehearse and keep up to date”. The band use a combination of on line tuition, face to face rehearsal and communication through the network of players.

Next year is shaping up to be a big year for the band with a number of events planned.
The band is always keen to welcome new members interested in learning, playing or competing. Band President Bevan Donaldson said “We want to get the community involved in what we are doing and be part of what we are trying to achieve. We hope to spread the appeal of traditional music for people of all ages but especially for young people who may not have had the opportunity to take part in something like this”.

The band has rehearsals throughout the year in North Queensland and South East Queensland.

[more photos here in Photos of NSW Championships 2011 ]