Statements
Mission
The Nashville Pipes and Drums formed in 1984 and is dedicated to advancing the great tradition of Scottish music and culture in the region through education, public performance, and competition.
Background
The Nashville Pipes and Drums (NP&D) is Middle Tennessee's premier bagpipe band. NP&D is dedicated to advancing the great tradition of Scottish music and culture. Through education, public performance, and competition, the band seeks to preserve and grow the musical tradition of the Great Highland Bagpipe and Scottish drumming in our region. The NP&D organization offers beginner piping and drumming lessons, a performance band, and two competition bands.
NP&D provides a robust program of free musical education to players of all ages and abilities. Weekly beginner piping and drumming lessons are taught by volunteer instructors from the band. As players learn and progress through lessons, they are promoted into the performance band and then into the competition bands. At every level, from beginner classes to band, teaching is provided by experienced band members who are passionate about giving back, cultivating musical excellence, and passing on the tradition. Special workshops are offered periodically, free of charge; for example, band leaders offered a full-day pipe maintenance workshop in October, 2023. In April, 2024, the band will hosted professional piper Jack Lee and drummer Grant Maxwell of Simon Fraser University (Canada) for a weekend of master classes.
NP&D is committed to frequent engagement with the Nashville community and offers public performances several times throughout the year. The band regularly participates in civic events in the Nashville metro area, including memorials and celebrations. The band has worked with emergency services organizations to honor those who gave their lives in service to our city and nation. The band also performs at church services, the Music City Hot Chicken Festival, and numerous college and high school graduations throughout the year.
NP&D maintains high musical standards and is always continuing to improve. Toward this end, the organization fields competition bands at the Grade 3 and Grade 5 levels who compete at Highland Games throughout our region of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association. Approximately five times per year, the band travels and performs outdoors in a festival-like atmosphere. During these competitions, experienced judges provide feedback on public performances of the band's repertoire. NP&D proudly represents the Nashville region, frequently contending with regional bands from Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta as well as bands from across the US.
Impact
The Nashville Pipes and Drums offers meaningful impact to band members as well as to the wider Nashville community. For band members, the band offers fellowship and camaraderie in a safe, supportive, inclusive community. While band members share a common love of Scottish music, our players otherwise represent the full spectrum of diversity (age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, political, urban/rural, etc.). The band brings people together across divides that so often plague our state and country, and fosters bonds and connection among people who otherwise likely would not have crossed paths. In doing so, the band cultivates values of respect and civility that our members carry with them into aspects of their lives even outside the band.
The benefits of a musical education in the context of a supportive musical community are seemingly endless. Learning musical instruments like the bagpipes and drums challenges players of all ages to develop a framework for lifelong learning and pursuit of excellence. Members learn intangible skills such as discipline, attention to detail, and collaboration. By playing music with others, members learn how to listen carefully and contribute to something bigger than themselves. By playing publicly, members learn how to serve the community by sharing the arts. By competing regionally, members push themselves to develop into better musicians. By participating as teachers in the band's education program for beginners, members learn how to give back and pass on a beloved musical tradition to a new generation.
But the NP&D organization's impact reaches far beyond its own members. The band reaches thousands of community members per year in our greater Nashville area through public performances. In this outreach, the band helps the community make meaning at civic events, funerals, graduations, and parades. The sound of the bagpipes resonates deeply with audiences, often stirring emotional connections and conferring solemnity. The instrument and Highland attire also remind audiences of the rich cultural heritages that immigrant groups bring to the United States. The band's public performances often prompt questions about this unusual instrument, allowing opportunities for education and heightened awareness of folk traditions.
Finally, NP&D's participation in regional Highland Games competitions confers pride on our hometown. When we earn medals at EUSPBA competitions, we represent the city of Nashville. Many Nashvillians support NP&D either in person at the Highland Games or by watching live videos when we enter into friendly competition against Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Atlanta, and other regional bands. Having a "home team" in the pipe band world rallies our Middle Tennessee community, creating community cohesion and shared delight.
Needs
Instruments and uniform components continue to be central areas of need. 2023 brought 14 new members to the band at just under $700 each. We would love to cover 100% of uniform costs, but cannot at present. We have ongoing needs for reeds, chanters, and other instrument parts for regular maintenance.
We strive to continue growing and to recruit more students. We hope to offer in school or after-school programs for students in the 5th or higher grades. We need funds to support the purchase of beginner instruments and music books for learners. Funds would also support bagpipe camp scholarships for our students during summer months and masterclasses with visiting professional pipers and drummers during the year. Finally, additional funds would allow our band to travel to larger Highland Games in California, Canada, and perhaps one day, Scotland. Larger games offer numerous enhancements over smaller games: different competitors, different judges, larger audiences, more prize money, and more prestige.
Board Chair Statement
The Nashville Pipes and Drums offers musical instruction free of charge to anyone in our community who desires to learn. The band does not collect dues. We provide a free practice chanter and/or drumming pad as well as a free book, Beginning the Bagpipe, to all new learners. We also cover the cost of kilts and other uniform components for all performing members, and we subsidize the cost of members' travel to regional Highland Games. By removing financial barriers, the organization seeks to make piping and drumming available to all, regardless of means. As we continue to grow, we are committed to maintaining a policy of free musical instruction that is accessible to anyone seeking to learn this musical tradition. We also intend to sustain our subsidization of uniform components (particularly kilts, the greatest expense) and travel so that financial means are never a barrier to full participation in band activities.
As Nashville Pipes and Drums marks its 40th anniversary and moves forward into 2024, we aim first to expand our educational program. NP&D recognizes the critical need to support a continued pipeline of musicians in the band; to do so, we must continue to offer and expand low-barrier beginner classes for all who demonstrate interest. We are especially interested in outreach to young people and learners from underrepresented backgrounds. Growing our beginner classes will require more teachers, more instruments, more uniforms, and more volunteers' time and organization. We recognize that we have to continue cultivating new talent and expanding access to piping and drumming in order to maintain the tradition and continue serving our community for years to come.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Arts, Culture & Humanities - Arts Education |
| Secondary Category: | Arts, Culture & Humanities - Music |
| Tertiary Category: | Arts, Culture & Humanities - Cultural & Ethnic Awareness |
Areas Served
Students and members of the band come from all over Middle Tennessee and as far away as Kentucky.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Wilson |
