FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/21/2020
Jori Chisholm
BagpipeLessons.com
[email protected]
World Online Piping & Drumming Championships Spring 2020
Bagpipers and drummers around the world come together to keep performing and to make a difference.
Seattle, WA: BagpipeLessons.com announced the return of their online piping and drumming competition — The World Online Piping & Drumming Championships for Spring 2020. Organizers report record competition entry submissions for the online hosted competition. In accordance with stay at home orders around the world, most of the world’s Scottish Highland Games, including the World Pipe Band Champions in Scotland, have been cancelled. The online competition is a unique opportunity for competitors to compete from the safety of their own home.
“Several years ago, I asked myself ‘How can I expand the opportunity for pipers to enjoy and learn from playing in competitions, without the expense and complications of travel?’ The result was the world’s first online bagpipe competition,” says Jori Chisholm, world-champion bagpiper and founder of BagpipeLessons.com.
“Everyone has been affected by the current global situation. In times like these, we are reminded how much our lives are interconnected and how we need each other for support. We witness examples of the best of humanity: cooperation, collaboration, compassion, innovation, patience, strength, and perseverance. Now is the right time to come together as a community of pipers and drummers. I’m pleased that a portion of each entry fee will be donated to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund.”
Chisholm goes on to say, “Things will be different for a while, but with some creativity, we can find ways to continue to enjoy playing our instruments while connecting with and serving our community and the world around us. So, let’s keep doing what we love to do: playing our music, sharing it with the world, keeping our spirits high, and showing that together we can make a positive difference in the world.”
More information can be found at BagpipeLessons.com/competition. Competitor registration deadline is Monday April 20, 2020.
• Previous World Online Piping & Drumming Championships competitions attracted over 1800 entries from pipers and drummers in over 20 countries on six continents. Judges included the best pipers or drummers in the world — World Champions, Gold Medal winners, top Pipe Majors, and soloists.
• A portion of each entry fee will be donated to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund, a top-rated international charity that supports those directly affected, first responders, medical professionals, and hygiene promotion in the poorest areas around the world. This is a charity that can do the most good for the people that are most in need during this global crisis.
About Jori Chisholm and BagpipeLessons.com:
• BagpipeLessons.com is the world’s leading site for information about learning to play the bagpipes. Chisholm has been teaching online one-on-one video lessons since 2003 when webcams and high-speed internet first became available. Chisholm was featured on the front page of the New York Times in a story about the growth of online music lessons.
• Chisholm created the world’s first series of bagpipe tune and video lessons, which have been downloaded by thousands of pipers around the world. BagpipeLessons.com Studio was the world’s first online piping school, with a huge and growing library of lessons on everything related to learning the pipes.
• As a competitive bagpiper, Chisholm has won many top awards, including the U.S. Gold Medal for Piping (four times) and many top awards in Scotland at the Argyllshire Gathering, Northern Meeting, Cowal Highland Games, and Royal Braemar Gathering. He played with the world-famous Simon Fraser University Pipe Band when they won the World Pipe Band Championships three times and performed with the band at the Sydney Opera House, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and at New York’s Lincoln Center.
Chisholm is one of the bagpipe world’s leading innovators, having developed several successful products including:
• Tone Protector™: the world’s first digital reed protector which maintains the reed at the perfect, stable humidity level so it’s always ready to play (2010-2019 Product of the Decade Runner Up by PipesDrums).
• Tone Protector™ Reed Case (2019 Product of the Year by PipesDrums)
• Bagpipe Gauge: the best tool for helping pipers learn to blow their pipes strong and steady.
• Piper’s Ultimate Reed Poker: a specialized tool to help pipers improve their sound and extend the life of their reeds.
• Piper’s Advantage™ Bagpipe Phone Mount: the world’s first bagpipe phone mount for smartphones and metronomes.
• Piper’s Metronome™: the best metronome app made specifically for the way pipers learn and express their tunes. Available for iOS and Android.