Historyback to top

There have always been musicians in the Regiment. Since its early inception in 1910 from the 103rd Calgary Rifles, a band has played with the unit. In WWI the unit became the 10th Battalion CEF and saw severe action in France - pipers travelled to war and played on the battlefield. Once designated as a highland unit in 1921, the Pipes and Drums have been an integral part of the Regimental family. Through WWII to the present day a complement of pipers and drummers have always accompanied the soldiers of the unit.

Currently the band is comprised of pipers, drummers, and dancers who perform in a number of venues and although musician positions were eliminated for the Regiment, a strong contingent of musicians have volunteered their time to play with the Regimental Pipes and Drums.

With the removal of the regular force presence from Calgary, The Calgary Highlanders are one of the very few remaining reminders of Calgary's military tradition and history in the city. The Regimental Pipes and Drums are part of the living history of the Regiment. When the band is on parade, the Regiment is visible. When the band performs well, the Regiment is honoured. In order to promote and perpetuate the Regiment, the Pipes and Drums maintain a high standard of performance, dress, and deportment. In order to do this on a continuous, sustainable basis, the Pipes and Drums have created a supportive infrastructure. Leadership, training, and performance challenges are seen as necessary components to maintain high levels of interest and commitment.

Purpose of the Regimental Pipes and Drums of the Calgary Highlandersback to top

Goals and Objectives:back to top

1. Establish and maintain a solid and respected Regimental presence in the community by:
   • high quality performances at requested functions
   • competing in local highland games and building our professional image
   • performing in parades in Calgary and surrounding communities
2. Maintain the pride and respect the soldiers of the Regiment have in their Pipes and Drums by:
   • attending all requested Regimental parades
   • performing for members of the regiment at celebratory functions
   • maintaining high standards as set out by the Regiment
3. Create and maintain a supportive infrastructure to ensure high quality performances by:
   • working co-operatively with Regimental Command
   • working co-operatively with the Regimental Funds Foundation
   • relying on the support of Canadian Forces School of Music
   • using effectively, keeping in good condition, and developing sound replacement strategies for our instruments and uniforms
   • developing a feeder system of young musicians
   • attracting and supporting good leadership with the Pipes and Drums
4. Ensure our sustainability by continuously attracting new musicians to act as members of Pipes and Drums by:
   • providing training to military standards in performance, dress and deportment
   • offering an opportunity to build character in an organization with history and promise
   • providing sound leadership and pride in accomplishment
   • providing the opportunities and challenges to perform for larger audiences at world-class venues by providing training and other support to our feeder system

Administrative Structureback to top

The Pipes and Drums are all civilians who volunteer their time to play with the band. This civilian organization fits within the Canadian Forces Reserve system through a 'Pipes and Drums Council'. This Council performs all the necessary administrative requirements to run a pipe band: strategy planning, funds and budget management, recruitment, training plans, travel and performance schedules, uniform and equipment maintenance/purchase, and morale.

The Pipes and Drums Council is responsible to the Commanding Officer through the Band President for the effective completion of the following responsibilities:

• Respect and uphold the integrity of the Mission statement and Objectives of the Pipes and Drums
• Providing, attracting, developing, supporting good leadership within the Pipes and Drums
• Ensure proper budgeting and disbursement of funds
• Sign-off on PM's training and development plan of musicians for military functions, community parades, musical performances, and competitions
• Securing and maintaining long-term, multiple sources of funding for the Pipes and Drums
• Budget forecasting, jointly with the Pipe Major and Drum Major
• Obtain proper equipment and uniforms for pipes and drums
• Develop and plan long term musical performances of the Pipes and Drums
• Recruitment and retention of band membership by establishing and maintaining a feeder system for continual flow of band personnel
• Promotion of the Pipes and Drums
• Establish and maintain Code of Conduct
• Address membership responsibilities as required

Practice Timesback to top

The Pipes and Drums practice every Thursday evening from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. Occasionally we will have Saturday practices as a full band.

We meet at Mewata Armouries located on 11th Street at the very west end of 8th Avenue SW, in Calgary.

Pipes, Drums, and Dancersback to top

The Pipes and Drums number (as of 2002/2003 season) 12 pipers and nine drummers.

The pipe section accepts experienced pipers only. The section accepts pipers from all bands who wish to play with a grade III level section. There is a training program beginning in the Fall of 2003 for pipers who wish to play with the current section in the followings season. The pipe section has recently reconstituted itself and has chosen a rigorous training schedule. The focus has been on 'the basics' and almost exclusively on the competitions in Calgary and Canmore, Alberta. An MSR and Medley are part of the repertoire.

The Drummers play 6 Sides and one each Alto, Tenor, Baritone and Bass. Apart from some new mid-section drummers, the corps has been together for over three years. The Drums compete in the fanfare competitions at Highland Games and provide drummers' salutes and fanfares for public performances. They even play on their own as a drum line and often play with non-traditional instruments. They perform with the dancers in a dance/drum number called 'Cry of the Celts'.

The Dancers of the Calgary Highlanders aim to promote and share the tradition of Highland Dancing within the community. All four dancers with the Calgary Highlanders are professionally trained with more than 20 years experience each as competitive dancers. In addition, each dancer has taken years of exams with the Scottish Dance Teachers' Alliance (S.D.T.A.), and Jennifer and Alison have completed the professional Associate exam granting them certification to teach Highland Dance.

Performances include traditional highland dances, national dances, jigs and hornpipes. The dancers also choreograph and perform dances to traditional tunes, non-traditional tunes and percussion. The Dancers of the Calgary Highlanders love to perform and entertain, and all shows are done purely for the enjoyment of dancing. These choreographies are performed at appropriate functions.

Up Close and Personalback to top

Enough of the formal information! Who are we today?

Although the Pipes and Drums are sponsored by the Regiment, we are all volunteers - meaning we are not in the army and musicians do not have to join the army to be in the pipe band. However, as identified by our mission statement, we honour the Regiment and it's history through a variety of performances. Unlike most Pipe Bands in the province, we participate in a wide variety of performance types:

1. Parades: community sponsored parades and accompanying events. Most notable is the Calgary Stampede Parade.
2. Military Events: quite varied - range from visits by the Queen to Change of Command ceremonies, to Mess Dinner performances, to performances for visiting political dignitaries
3. Competitions: we compete each year at the Grade III level and higher if feeling particularly lucky
4. Performances: outdoor and indoor musical performances for a variety of audiences.

These four are not in priority order. By far we enjoy the Performances that we are asked to do. These are quite varied and take us to different parts of the world. We have played Estes Park in Colorado, Victoria and Vancouver, and the Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland. We compete to maintain the quality of our music. Military events and Parades happen at certain times of the year and afford us an opportunity to exercise our skills in marching and drill. And we do look good!

We take two things very seriously - our responsibility to the Regiment and our strong community within the band. We remember and celebrate our regimental history and all that that means. We honour the past members of the Regiment who have fought in two world wars and the current members who serve in Bosnia, Cyprus, and other UN and Canadian missions in the world. We celebrate the music, the Regiment's history (battle honours, the uniform, Nov 11, etc.), the roots of the celtic culture, our accomplishments as a band, each other and the fact that we have accomplished much together. We also celebrate being alive and who we are.

We also take our stewardship role seriously. We believe that we have inherited a responsibility from bandsmen before us and must steward the band for those that come after us. The music was held for us and we, in turn, hold it for the future. We feel the continuity with history that we represent through our music, our uniforms, our performance standards. We do this through choice, not obligation and it provides a very clear purpose for the band members. We reflect by extension the family that is the Regiment. We see our sense of community and teamwork as a virtue that provides motivation, stability, inspiration and focus.

Our community within the band is one of its strengths. There is good support for learning and a strong social network of friends. As all pipe bands we have a wide diversity of people from many backgrounds who come together for the music and who would never likely meet each other under any other circumstances. In short, the band has heart. Currently our average age is about 27 with the youngest at 19 and the oldest at 57 (our drum major). Some members have just begun their professional careers, others have started families, and other members have grown children and established careers.