William Shropshire Chosen to Receive the 2012 Pipe Major Kevin Ray Blandford Memorial Piping Scholarship
The Pipes of Christmas is pleased to announce that William Shropshire of Rockville, Maryland has been chosen as the 2012 recipient of the Pipe Major Kevin Ray Blandford Memorial Piping Scholarship. Morris will study bagpipe performance this summer with the National Piping Centre based in Glasgow, Scotland.
William Shropshire to receive Clan Currie piping scholarship
The annual scholarship has been designated for the Centre’s US-based piping workshop program in Winchester, Virginia. Each year the Centre offers three one week workshops with leading instructors. The workshops take place in Virginia and Georgia.
The Centre’s daily program covers all aspects of performance including practice routines, technique, musical expression, tuning and ensemble playing. Students will be taught in a small group of similar ability for 3-4 hours per day. The remaining time is used for productive practice.
This year the piping teachers could not be better. They are confirmed as Roddy MacLeod MBE, Principal of The National Piping Centre and currently Glenfiddich Piping Champion for the fourth time, Captain (Retired) Stuart D Samson MBE, Ex-Director of the Army School of Bagpipes and successful solo piper, Glenn Brown, Gold Medal winner 2009 and Grade 1 playing pipe band member of Scottish Power, and Callum Beaumont, Gold Medal winner 2011 and Grade 1 playing pipe band member of Inveraray & District.
According to William’s piping instructor, Paula Glendinning, “William is a talented a dedicated solo student, willing to listen carefully during lessons and practice faithfully at home. He has taken classical violin lessons for over five years and is studying Scottish fiddling as well.”
About Pipe Major Kevin Ray Blandford
Kevin Blandford (1963 – 2003) was already in love with music when he became infatuated with the bagpipes at 14. That infatuation grew much deeper, to the point where he became one of the most influential pipers in the United States, teaching dozens of students in California, composing original pieces, and performing the now classic Pipes of Christmas concert produced by the Clan Currie Society since 1999 in New York and New Jersey and the Society’s annual Kirking of the Tartans service from 1995 – 1998.
Blandford’s performances of the Pipes of Christmas quickly became an annual event, while Blandford’s recording of the same name originally made in the early 1990s have sold out several printings.
He had served as Pipe Major of the R.P. Blandford & Son Pipe Band since 1988. Kevin was also the president of the Western United States Pipe Band Association (WUSPBA) for several years. He lost his battle to cancer on November 26, 2003. He was only 40 years old.
About The National Piping Centre
The National Piping Centre (Patron HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, KG, KT, GCB) was founded in 1996 and is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The Centre is dedicated to preserving the history and music of the Highland bagpipe and to safeguarding its future. The school serves as a national and international centre of excellence for the instrument and its music and promotes a program of education and piping tuition at all levels.
The National Piping Centre provides facilities of the very highest quality for both the piping and non-piping fraternity. The Centre also houses the Museum of Piping, which contains the National Museum of Scotland’s Piping Collection. In addition, the Centre has a library and audio resource, which together with the museum, offers students a wealth of archival information.
The Centre also is dedicated to the performance of Scottish Smallpipes, Uilleann Pipes, Fiddle, Accordion and Drumming. To learn more about the Centre, visit their website atwww.thepipingcentre.co.uk.