News

Grade One Pipe Band to Perform at GAIF

June 4, 2009

The 2009 Great American Irish Festival EUSPBA Sanctioned Bagpipe Competition, already almost doubling in size from its debut year last year, just got a whole lot bigger.
Event organizers are proud to announce that the Oran Mor Pipe Band, one of only three Grade One Pipe Bands in the United States, will be competing for EUSPBA Judge evaluation at the July 25, 2009 Pipe Band Competition. Festival attendees will be in for a once in a lifetime experience, as the band will be giving two world class performances at the main stages on Saturday, and will also take part in the massed bagpipe march following the competition. The Great American Irish Festival, held at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds on July 24-26, is the only Irish Festival in the United States to offer performances from Oran Mor.
The Oran Mor Pipe Band has local roots in that one of the founding members was Pipe Major Jim Clough, who currently leads the hometown favorite Mohawk Valley Frasers. The band is currently under the direction of Pipe Major Andrew Douglas, who also has local roots and was a member of the Mohawk Valley Frasers. Andrew was upgraded from Grade One to Professional at the age of 16. Andrew, a world class piper, was the 1998 winner of the Niclo Brown Chalice Competition and the 1999 winner of the Slow Air and Jig competition in London. Between the years 2002 and 2007, Andrew was a member of the world famous Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, which won a total of three third place finishes and three second place finishes at the World Pipe Band Championships. From 2005-2007 he received two third place finishes and three fourth place finishes in the Silver Medal Piobaireachd Competitions in Oban and Inverness in Scotland. He was the 2004 winner of the MacGreggor Memorial Competition in Oban, Scotland and he recently rocked Rome, NY, receiving a standing ovation during the Celtic Evening Concert .
Formed as a vehicle for talented players from local bands to strive for a higher musical standard, the band registered in Grade III and centered its activities around Utica and Syracuse, New York. As the band's membership and skill level grew, Oran Mor quickly climbed to the top of its grade, being named Season Grade III Champions in 1994 and 1996. Following the band's elevation to Grade II for the 1997 season, the geographic base shifted toward Albany and New York's Capital Region, where Oran Mor has become strongly rooted and boasts a roster of nearly 30 pipers and drummers. After a successful 2007 season, including another high placing at the World Pipe Band Championships, Oran Mor placed fourth in Grade 2 at the 2008 Worlds. The RSPBA has since approved Oran Mor to compete in Grade 1 at the World Pipe Band Championships and other competitions in the United Kingdom in 2009. The band enjoyed success in North America in Grade 1 over the last year, including a first-prize over the LA Scots, an established Grade 1 band, at the Queen Mary Festival in California in February of this year.
The Great American Irish Festival is honored to be presenting this world-famous band at its 2009 festival.

Visit Oran Mor's Official Web Site