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20th
September 2005
Neil
win All Ireland Intermediate Drumming.
Ravara drummer Neil
Pinkerton has won the All Ireland Intermediate Section Drumming Solos.
The Annual event was this year held in Dublin on Saturday 17th of
September. This is a fantastic result for the long time member
of the band which can be attributed to the massive effort and practice
that he puts in before all competitions. This now promotes him
into the senior section where he will join two other drummers from
the band, leading drummer Aaron McCarten and Neil Ussher.
In the Senior drumming
competition St. Laurence O'Toole leading drummer Stephen Creighton
claimed the All Ireland crown with Simon Fraser's University player
Steven McWhirter coming in second, and Connor McNally again from St.
Laurence in third. Unfortunately Ravara's two entries in this
grade (Aaron and Neil) did not feature well in the competition but
where both pleased with progress that had been made in their solo
performances, and now know that a big effort is needed leading up
to the World solos at the end of October.
22nd
August 2005
Portrush
clean sweep as Ravara end 2005 season in style. (Results)
One of the most successful
days in the bands history took place at the Ulster Championships held
in Portrush on Saturday 20th August. First of all, the band
would like to thank the Northern Ireland bands, all the spectators
and officials for the very warm reception we received at the march
past on Saturday as we paraded in along with the other winners from
the World Championships. It was a very proud moment for all
of us. On the day Ravara claimed every prize available winning
1st overall, best drums, best pipes, best bass section, and best M&D.
This meant that we has also won Champion of Champions overall and
Drumming Champions of Champions for the Northern Ireland Season 2005
in Grade 2. As for the performance we were pleased enough as
we hadn't played our medley selection since the start of the season.
As the silverware kept coming the band was looking
for people to help carry it down the street parade and to add to the
mounting collection, Drum Major Ian Young won the senior grade along
with the Champion of Champions prize and young novice drum major Emma
Barr collected
her first ever prize coming 5th in her grade. So, including
the three trophies from the worlds, we had gathered a total of 13
trophies which were proudly displayed at the front of the band as
we marched through the streets of Portrush, in front of around 15,000
people who had been waiting patiently for the parade to pass.
So we now have come
to the end of the 2005 season. The band can look band at successful
and encouraging season and know that we did our best and are very
pleased with how we performed. There is still a lot of work
to do to gain promotion to Grade 1, but with our success from this
season we have a strong foundation to build from.
Next on the agenda
for the band is an outing in Portglenone in a couple of weeks, and
after that the soloists will be representing Ravara at the All Ireland
Solos, and the World Drumming Solos. Keep in touch for further
news...
15th August 2005
Shotts
take Worlds in Grade 1.
Scotlands House of
Edgar - Shotts & Dykehead just nipped in front of local
band Field Marshal to win the Grade 1 World Title. FM won the MSR
section with Shotts second, but in the Medley Selection FM accumulated
1 too many higher placings finishing second to Shotts which cost them
the overall crown. Overall results where:
1. House of Edgar
-Shotts & Dykehead
2. Field Marshal
Montgomery
3. Simon Fraser
University (Canada)
4. Strathclyde
Police
5. St. Laurence
O'Toole (Ireland)
6. 78th Fraser
Highlanders (Canada)
Drumming. House of
Edgar -Shotts & Dykehead
15th
August 2005
Ravara
win Grade 2 Drumming World Champions. (Results)
Ravara's drummers had
an amazing result by winning best drum corps in Grade 2 at Saturday's
World Championships. Over the past couple of weeks Drum Sergeant
Aaron McCarten and the rest of the corps have put in a tremendous
amount of work ironing out problems and generally improving the playing.
Along with that and a 4 hour practice session leading up to the performance
all the lads walked up to the line brimming with confidence and then
played a faultless run. Its the 3rd time in the bands history
that we've won this prestigious prize, first in 1991, and then in
1994 of which Aaron is the only player still in the corps from that
time. As you can imagine all the lads where jubilant about the
result and it is a testimony to all the had work put in over the season.
Overall the band finished
4th which is another fantastic result considering the amount of bands
and the quality of the the competitors in Grade 2. PM Samuel
Connolly was a little disappointed with the piping results but could
not argue the the critic sheets from the judges. The third prize
of the day for the band came in the form of M&D. It was
a bit of a surprise to us with Army bands also competing in this grade,
but it is really an acknowledgment to the professional way the band
conducts itself on and off the field of competition.
In the senior drum
major competition, Ian Young fell just short of his goal, but should
be proud of his effort to finish 2nd. The band congratulates
him for this result and wishes him the best of luck at the next major
in a couple of weeks in Cowal.
The band would like
to offer there congratulations to Seven Towers who won overall in
Grade 3a, Annsborough who won overall in 3b, Castlerock who won overall
in 4a, Drumlough who won overall in 4b, and all other Northern Ireland
bands who collected silverware on the day.
Next week is the Ulster
Championships in Portrush which is the last competition of the year
for the band, lets hope we can end this season on a high.
8th
August 2005
Ravara
has crucial win in Moira just a week before the Worlds.
Ravara won a crucial
competition in Grade 2 on Saturday held in Moria Demesne near Lisburn.
With just a week to go to the World Championships it was vital that
the band had a decent performance to settle any nerves before the
big day in Glasgow. Cullybackey finished in 2nd, Eden came 3rd
and Killeen were 4th and also won the best drums prize.
Ian Young added another
win to his tally this season in the senior drum major competition.
The British Champion should be in good form for the worlds and the
band wish him the best of luck.
In Grade 1 Field Marshal
beat local bands Ballycoan and Ballinderry Bridge who finished in
2nd and 3rd respectfully.
So now the biggest
day of the season looms and Ravara wish all the bands travelling over
the best of luck, and hopefully we can have a few prize brought home
to Northern Ireland.
Stay in touch for further
news....
1st
August 2005
Ian
Young keeps Ravara's name in prize list.
Ravara's senior drum
major Ian Young kept the bands name in the prizes on Saturday by winning
the Senior Competition at the British Championships. The competition
this year held in Tain in the north of Scotland saw Ian lift his first
major win this season, and with his return to form just two weeks
before the Worlds, he has to been be feeling confident for a good
run in the premier competition of the year.
In Grade 2 Torphichen
& Bathgate collected 1st place with Drambuie Kirkliston coming
in 2nd. In drumming Lochgelly High School won best corps.
There were no bands from Northern Ireland competing in Grade 2.
In Grade 1 Field Marshal
Mongomerys' unbeaten run of 12 wins in a row across all competitions
came to an end with The House of Edgar - Shotts & Dykehead winning
overall and best drum corps. Field marshal finished up in 2nd,
Strathclyde in 3rd, St. Laurence O'Toole in 4th, Scottish Power in
5th and The Clan Gregor Society in 6th.
Moria is the next contest
for Ravara and the band is hoping for a good clean run in the final
warm-up for the Worlds.
Stay in touch for further
news....
23rd
July 2005
North
Down sees Ravara take 1st place.
(Results)
Bangor's Castle ground
was the venue for the North Down Championships were Ravara claimed
our sixth 1st Place prizes in Grade 2 this season. All Ireland
Champions Killeen landed in second place only beating Cullybackey
on piping preference. A special mention must go to the City
of Dundendin from Florida in the U.S. who finished in 4th. It is a
huge commitment and expense for them to travel the long distance to
compete in the upcoming majors and it was great to see them in Northern
Ireland. In drumming Cullybackey took top spot with Ravara finishing
in third.
In Grade we have to
congratulate Ballinderry Bridge who won their first competition in
Grade 1. A great effort by the newly promoted band and we wish
them all the best form the rest of the season. Ballycoan won
best drums on the day.
Next week is the British
Championships in Tain which the band unfortunately will not be playing
at. Instead we will be having a Saturday practice session in
our build up to World Championships.
Stay in touch for further
news....
3rd
July 2005
Killeen
lift All Ireland as Ravara have an off day.
Killeen pipe band won
their first competition of the season in Grade 2 by winning the All
Ireland Championships held in Newcastle's Donard Park. Ravara
had a poor day only managing to finish in 4th place after struggling
to get the right sound on the day. In drumming Cullybackey claimed
1st place with Ravara again coming in fourth. In summary the
band did not have the best of days but are still confident that come
Glasgow in a few weeks we can put in a performance to put us in the
mix for a prize.
In grade 1 Field Marshal
continued the dominance by winning best MSR and medley competition
and 1st place overall. St Laurence O'Toole finshed 2nd with
Ballycoan in 3rd and Ballinderry Bridge in 4th.
Stay in touch for further
news....
26th
June 2005
The
bands undefeated run comes to an end.
 Its
taken 6 contests this season, but Ravara have finally been knocked
of its unbeaten run on Saturday when we could only manage 4th place
at the European Championships in Banbridge. Drambuie Kirkliston
under PM Ian Duncan claimed their first major win this season in Grade
2 and our congratulations goes out to them. In drumming, Buchan
lifted the trophy with Ravara finishing 5th. The band feel a
little disappointed with the result after playing what we thought
was a good enough run, but have accepted the decision of the judges
and will now move on. No other band from Northern Ireland featured
in the Grade 2 prize list.
In grade 1 Field Marshal
Montgomery had a fantastic performance which gave them 1st place overall
and 1st in drumming. Strathclyde Police came in second and House
of Edgar - Shotts & Dykehead third.
The All Ireland Championships
are next week and will be held in Donard Park in Newcastle.
This ideal setting the the championships will hopefully see the band
returning to winning form.
19th
June 2005
Ravara
keep winning streak going at Castleward
The picturesque setting
at Castleward estate was this years host of the Co Down Championships
held on Saturday. The usual location of this event is Banbridge,
but this year they are holding the European Championships which is
taking place this coming Saturday. This week the band romped
in Grade 2 receiving four firsts from the four Judges, giving us overall
winners, best pipes, and best drums prize. Killeen came in second,
with Upper Crossgare in third, and The Howard Memorial finishing out
the prize list.
We played our number
2 MSR this week containing the march Highland Wedding, strathspey
Dora MacLeod and reel John Morrison of Assynt House. The whole
band are delighted with the result and pleased to keep our winning
streak going leading up to the European. We have now won 6 out
of 6 contests this year including the Scottish Championships.
Drum
Major Ian Young was narrowly beaten on M&D preference in the senior
drum major competition by Kathy Megarry of Upper Crossgare, but he
will be still hopeful of a good showing in next weeks major championships.
In
grade 1 Field Marshal made their first appearance of the Northern
Ireland season and claimed both first place and best drumming prize.
By far the band who travelled the furthest, New Zealand Police finished
up in second place beating St. Laureance O'Toole from Dublin into
third. Ballycoan came fourth.
So
next week in the second major of the year and Ravara will hope to
go on yet another championship but only an excellent performance will
do....stayed tuned.
12th
June 2005
Cookstown:
Another win for Ravara
Cookstown hosted the
annual Mid Ulster Championships on Saturday which saw Ravara narrowly
beating Fermanagh based band Eden into second place in Grade 2.
The band scrapped home for the win after Eden
won the best pipes
prize but could only manage 4th place in drumming failing to out do
the bands 1st in drumming.
It
was the first outdoor MSR of the season the band have competed in,
we played our set of Lord Alexander Kennedy, Susan MacLeod and McAllistairs
Dirk. PM Samuel Connolly was happy enough with how we played
considering its our first MSR of the year, but said we still need
a little work on them.
The
bands name also got a mention in drum majors prize list as Drum Major
Ian Young won 1st Place in the senior competition which is two in
row for him after winning in Broughshane last week.
In
Grade 1, St. Laurence O'Toole from Dublin had a worth while journey
as the beat both Ballinderry Bridge and Ballycoan who finished 2nd
and 3rd respectfully. They also won best drumming prize.
Its
off to Castleward next week for the Co Down Championships were in
Grade 2 its another MSR competition. It will be the final warm-up
for the European in Banbridge the following week.
6th
June 2005
Ravara
Whitewash at Broughshane
The
Co Antrim Championships held in Broughshane on Saturday seen a Ravara
whitewash in Grade 2. The band won 1st overall, best pipes,
best drums, best bass section and best M&D. The lads are
extremely happy with the results and fell confident now for the rest
of the season knowing that we still have better performances left
in the tank.
This
is the bands first local outdoor competition of the season, and consolidates
our win at the Scottish Championship a fortnight ago.
In
Grade 1, Ballycoan claimed honours and the drumming prize over Tyrone
based band Ballinderry Bridge.
Next
week sees the band out again at Cookstown for the Mid-Ulster Championships,
were we are hoping to keep our winning streak going. Stay posted
for more news and updates....
22nd
May 2005
Band
claims top spot at Dumbarton
The
first major of of the the season saw Ravara narrowly beating Drambuie
Kirkliston Pipe Band to become Scottish Champions 2005 in Grade 2.
The band is naturally ecstatic about the result which nearly caused
us to miss our return boat home as we wanted to stay at the finale
to hear the results! Naturally everyone involved was over the
moon and the result is a testament to all the hard work Pipe major
Samuel Connolly and the entire band have put in over the winter months.
In drumming the band finished in 5th place with Scottish based Torphichen
& Bathgate winning the best drum corps prize.
This
is the bands first Major competition from being downgraded after last
season from Grade 1. The other bands who were also downgraded
were Bucksburn & District who finished 5th, and Grampion Police
who did not feature in the prize list.
In
Grade 1, Lisburn based band Field Marshal Montgomery lifted 1st place
in a field 14 bands. House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead came
in 2nd and claimed best drum corps, 3rd was Strathclyde Police who
also won best bass section, 4th Scottish Power, 5th St. Laurence O'Toole
from Dublin and 6th Boghall and Bathgate filling out the prize list.
Now
we have a week off as unfortunately a lot of our players are unavailable
to compete in Enniskillen for the Co Fermanagh Championships, but
we will be back out in force for Broughshane on the 4th of June.
Keep in touch for further updates.....
16th
May 2005
Malahide:
Win for the Band
The
first outdoor of the season held annually in Malahide near Dublin
saw Ravara take first place in Grade 2. With the sun shining
all day the playing conditions couldn't have been better. The
band put in a full appearance consisting of 15 pipers and 6
sides with usual bass and tenor section. Once again as at the
Banbridge indoors we played our new medley selection which went well
although a little nervy. Cullybackey claimed the drumming prize
putting Ravara corps into second place.
Overall
the band is very pleased with our progress and results to date, but
still need to up the anti for the first Major in Dumbarton next week.
2nd
May 2005
Ravara clean up at Banbridge
Ravara
opened the 2005 season with a bang by taking top honours in piping
and drumming at the Banbridge indoors on Saturday. The band
fielded a strong squad of 15 pipers who just about fitted on the stage
in Banbridge High School. Its also the first outing of our new
medley selection which the band has been working so hard on over the
last few weeks and over the winter break. Pipe major Samuel
Connolly was more than happy with the result and says that we can
now build on this performance over the coming months.
In drumming
the drum sergant Aaron McCarten had four sides playing as a couple
of the new players just needed another week or two to get up to scratch.
He said after the event "Even though we won, there is still a
lot of work to do before the outdoor season starts in Malahide, but
now we all know what we need to do."
So now
the band looks towards Malahide in two weeks, there will be plenty
of effort going in from both ends of the band to ensure that we stand
a chance of another win. Stay posted for more updates.....
22nd
March 2005 :
Ravara to Take a more Professional
Approach
Over
the closed season of 2004-2005, emphasis has been placed on adopting
a more professional approach in relation to image, recruitment, and
attitude and playing.
Playing has been partly achieved by ensuring a more controlled and
‘user friendly’ method on the ‘written music’, pipers work from. By
purchasing the latest Bagpipe Music Writing software has enabled this
to happen. This has been extremely beneficial for road tunes and concert
pieces on top of competition sets where it is essential that
every piper play the same. Increased confidence due to the strengthening
of numbers has also aided the playing standard.
The
establishment of a learner’s class has advanced recruitment. This
may not see benefits instantly but it will no doubt come to fruition
in the foreseeable future. ‘ Home grown talent ALWAYS proves the best
in the long run’.
The
image of Ravara will have greatly changed by the time we hit the green
this year and everyone should see a more
confident looking and sounding band. Toward the end of last season
new shirts and ties were purchased, in the initial step toward looking
and feeling like a Grade 1 band. New socks, flashes, sporrans and
bag covers, have been purchased during the winter and have aided this
transition. A modern motif and logo has also been introduced and placed
on the bass drum. It’s time to highlight the Ravara name and be proud
of it.
All these small adjustments
have helped raise the confidence of the band and as a whole we aim
to bounce back into Grade 1 in the near future……………’Touch Not a Cat
without a Shield’.
7th February
2005
Ravara Apply
for Lottery Award
At
the end of January 2005 Ravara applied for a lottery award to aid
in the purchase of new instruments for the
‘learners’ that have taken up piping and drumming. A decision is not
due before May 2005 but it is fingers crossed
for success, when serious fund raising shall begin. Looking forward
to all your support in this matter. We shall keep you posted……
1st
January 2005 :
Ravara
re-organised
The
faces among the ranks have changed since last season. Farewells and
best wishes go to, Ashley McMichael and Alistair Murray, who have
moved to new pastures. Welcomes go out to Isabel Nummy (moving from
Bleary & District PB), Ryan Robinson (moving from North Belfast
PB) and Susan & Jock Robinson, Ian Dawson, Joanne Ussher, Diane
Murdoch and Alan Brooks who all return from sabbaticals in piping
and drumming. Natasha Cherry joins us from Upper Crossgar as a Drum
Major. Predicted strengths for 2005 are 15 Pipers, 5 Bass&Tenor,
7 Snare Drummers and 3 Drum Majors.
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