Announcing! FSSA Bicentennial Piping & Drumming Competition

FSSA Pipe Band

Fredericton Society of St. Andrew
200th Anniversary Commemorative
Piping and Drumming Composition Competition 

The Fredericton Society of St. Andrew is pleased to announce a Piping and Drumming Composition Competition in honour of our 200th anniversary. The competition is open to all members of the FSSA pipe bands. Instructions and contact information are posted below. 

The winning pipe tune and the winning drum score will each receive a $300 prize - as well as the honour of having their tune be played in perpetuatity by the FSSA Pipe Band. 

Instructions to Enter the Competition: 

(1) Pipe Tune. The pipe tune must be an original composition of a two-parted march. The name of the tune should reflect the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the FSSA or the 1825 to 2025 period. Please submit your composition to Sandy Gordon and cc Heather Wishart at the email addresses below by January 31, 2025. 

Once all pipe tune entries have been received, we will arrange a time for entrants, or someone they engage, to play their compositions in front of a panel and the winner will be selected by the judges. The winner of the pipe tune competition will be announced at the Tartan Gala on April 6, 2025. 

(2) Drum Score. The competition for the drum score will open immediately after the winning pipe tune is announced on April 6, 2025. The score must be an accompaniment to the winning pipe tune. Please submit your drum score to Sandy Gordon and cc Heather Wishart at the email addresses below by June 15, 2025. 

Once all drum score entries have been received, we will arrange a time for entrants, or someone they engage, to play their composition, accompanying a piper playing the winning pipe tune, in front of a panel and the winner will be selected by the judges. The winning drum score will be announced at the Highland Games 2025. 

The debut performance of the winning compositions will be at the Feast of St. Andrew in 2025. In addition, the compositions will be posted on our websites and will be played at FSSA events in years to come. 

Summary of Important Dates:
November 29, 2024: Pipe tune competition opens 
January 31, 2025: Deadline to submit pipe tune 
April 6, 2025: Announcement of winning pipe tune 
April 6, 2025: Drum score competition opens 
June 15, 2025: Deadline to submit drum score 
Highland Games, 2025: Announcement of winning drum score 
November 29, 2025 (Feast of St Andrew dinner): FSSA Pipe Band performance of the winning tune. 

For more information or to submit your entry, please email sandygordon41@gmail.com and cc wishart@dartmouth.edu.

Popular posts from this blog

We're Looking Forward to 2025! - NAIGHEACHD CUIRT 2024 - Volume 244

Image
As I complete my third term as President of the Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew in its 199th year, my thoughts go to the many experiences that our Scottish ancestors have dealt with over these two centuries. It was a far different world in 1825 when this organization was formed, and a far different world when the FSSA experienced its centenary in 1925. Indeed, the world in which we find ourselves today, as we approach our bicentennial in 2025, differs greatly from even the last decade. Covid has cost all of us dearly.  Our Society, like others, was forced into isolation and distant relationships through email and Zoom calls. Thank heavens we are back to experiencing in-person meetings and gatherings. Technology has its benefits, but personal interactions are far more important and consequential. My thanks go to all those who have helped to keep the FSSA viable during the past few years. Maxine Campbell has been the institutional memory of the organization and a major force in ...
Read more

Announcing the 2023 FSSA Scholarship Winner

Image
The Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew scholarship was established in 1883 to be presented annually to a deserving student of Scottish birth or ancestry who is studying at the University of New Brunswick. We wish to thank Barb MacKinnon and Ian Andrews for their assistance in the selection process.  This year’s winner is Leah Morrison , a fifth-year mechanical engineering student at UNB, originally from Sydney on Cape Breton Island, whose family tree contains strong Scottish lineage on both sides.  Because her great grandparents spoke Gaelic, Leah decided to take Gaelic lessons in elementary school, as well as to attend Gaelic Immersion sessions at The Gaelic College  in St. Anns (Nova Scotia). To celebrate her Scottish heritage she has also attended many ceilidhs and taken seven years of fiddle lessons.  Leah has consistently performed at a high level in her studies at UNB and she currently possesses a 4.0 grade point average. Her transcript is filled with cou...
Read more