SCOTTISH BAGPIPER


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ABOUT
  • 29 years experience playing the bagpipes.
  • I have performed at hundreds of Weddings and Funerals and am well versed in all relevant protocols.
  • I have played numerous times at Wedding venues such as Rupertswood, Montsalvat, Avalon Castle, Quat Quatta, Rippon Lea Estate, Overnewton Castle, Emu Bottom Homestead, Werribee Mansion, Glen Erin Vineyard Retreat, Victoria Police Chapel and most of Melbourne's CBD Churches.
  • 15 years professional piping at a Grade 1 standard with the Victoria Police Pipe Band. Grade 1 is the highest attainable level in pipe bands. In competition, the band was undefeated in Australia from 1988 to 1998. At the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, the band was placed in the top six in Grade 1 every year from 1992 to 1997. In 1998, the band achieved its goal and become the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Champions. This is the ultimate achievement in the world of pipe bands and to this date, the Victoria Police Pipe Band is the only band from the Southern Hemisphere to achieve this feat at a Grade 1 level. In addition to playing with the band, I was also a member of the team responsible for the tuning and setting up of the band.



The Victoria Police Pipe Band, winning the Grade One World Pipe Band Championships,
Glasgow Green, Scotland, 1998.

  • I am well experienced performing with other musicians and am able to have my bagpipe accurately tuned to suit Bb 466 or A 440.
  • I have played as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Victorian State Orchestra. The performances included traditional Scottish music as well as the composition "Orkney Wedding With Sunrise". I have also played as a soloist with artists such as Eric Burden, Marion Martin and on the mini-series "My Brother Tom".
  • I have performed on internationally acclaimed pipe band recordings, such as "Uphold The Right", "Live In Ireland", "Live In The Rockies" and "The Masterblaster Concert", in Motherwell, Scotland.

                     


                   

  • I have tutored a number of pipe bands to a high degree of competitive success relative to their grade:
  • The Footscray City Highland Pipe Band, with numerous local, state and national Championships in Grades 3 and 2, including wins at the 1994 Grade 2 New Zealand Pipe Band Championships and the 1996 and 1998 Grade 2 Australian Pipe Band Championships.
  • The Watsonia R.S.L. Pipe Band, who won the 1998 Grade 4 Australian Pipe Band Championships.
  • The Maryborough & Districts Highland Pipe Band, with wins at the 2000 and 2001 Grade 4 Australian Pipe Band Championships and a 2nd place at the 2003 Grade 3 New Zealand Pipe Band Championships. Between 2001 and 2006, the band also enjoyed numerous wins in local Grade 3 competitions.
  • I am an accredited Piping Judge in Australia with both the Advanced Piping Certificate (A.P.B.A.) and the Adjudicators Certificate (A.P.B.A.).



The Victoria Police Pipe Band, Police Academy, early 2000s.




The Victoria Police Pipe Band, Perth, 1996.




The Williamstown R.S.L. Pipe Band, Geelong, 2009.



The Williamstown R.S.L. Pipe Band, Anzac Day, 2009.






Ross Bates,
27 Harcombe Drive,
Sunbury, Victoria,
Australia, 3429.

Phone: 03 9744 4098
Mobile: 0427 181 164
rabates@iprimus.com.au

ABN: 24 591 526 576

Website created and maintained by Ross Bates
Last updated 07/06/2010