Toronto and Ottawa combine for long winter’s hot knockout punch
The Toronto and Ottawa branches of the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario are partnering again for a series of competitions and events to keep players’ hands warm over the interminable Canadian winter.
The organizations have created an off-season calendar, “collaborating . . . to provide more learning and competition opportunities for pipers and drummers throughout the year,” according to Toronto branch president Glenn Walpole and Ottawa branch president Jacob Dicker, both top-tier Professional-grade pipers.
More than 30 “Knockout” events will be held from October 2019 to March 2020 in Professional and Amateur A (grades 1-2) and B (grades 3-4) divisions for solo piping and drumming. Over the series, points will be accrued in various rounds in each region, and contestants with the most points will compete in a final competition.
“Tune requirements are wide ranging, allowing pipers and drummers to work on repertoire in advance of the outdoor contest season,” Dicker and Walpole added.
![Ian K. MacDonald competing in a round of the 2018-'19 Toronto-Ottawa Knockout series.](https://www.pipesdrums.com/storage/2019/10/TorontoKnockout2019_IanKMacDonald.jpg)
As an added incentive, door prizes and prizes for competitors include music books, piping and drumming supplies, and tuition for branch workshop events, and each event will feature a recital by a accomplished piper or drummer.
The two PPBSO branches are also introducing a series of Piping & Drumming Qualifications Board (PDQB) workshops to encourage teaching and learning in the province. The PDQB education system was created by a collective of UK-based piping and drumming organizations – the Piobaireachd Society, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, the Army School of Piping & Highland Drumming, and the National Piping Centre – in an attempt to standardize practical teaching for Highland piping and pipe band drumming.
The PPBSO does not have a formal teaching or recruitment program to build its base of members and, over the last two decades, but has seen its total membership remain steady despite a decline in the number of bands competing in the top two grades.
The winners of the 2018-’19 solo piping and snare drumming knockout finals were Andrea Boyd of Toronto and Cam McKail of Hamilton, Ontario.
pipes|drums readers can see the schedule of PPBSO Knockout contests, as well as other world events, on the magazine’s Events Calendar. With a free registration on the site, readers can also submit their own listings.
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