February 2007

We sponsored our first Winter Solo Contest on February 3rd.  Competitors came from around Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana.  Others from Tennessee had registered but were unable to attend due to some bad weather a couple of days before.  We had a full morning of  music featuring competition in 6/8, Slow Air, 2/4,  and full Piobaireachd in the lower grades, and 6/8, MSR, H/J, and Piobaireachd in the upper grades. 

This is the newest sanctioned contest in the Southwest Branch of the EUSPBA.  It will be followed in March by the Oklahoma Solo Piping Debate in Oklahoma City, then the Arkansas Scottish Festival in April, and the solo contests at the Houston Highland games in May.  Another indoor solo contest is being organized for Galveston, TX in June, and we are working to help get another indoor contest off the ground in the Baton Rouge, LA area in early July.  Tulsa, OK has sanctioned contests in September.

We eventually hope to see a year-round slate of sanctioned contests in our region, and we intend to start adding post-competition seminars with the judges to help competitors continue to improve and raise their level of play.