City of Washington Pipe Band
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Established | 1961
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Location | Washington, DC
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Grade | 1
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Pipe Major | Mike Green
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D. Sergeant | Jason Hoffert
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Tartan | Black Stewart
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Notable Honours | 12th place, World Pipe Band Championships: 2001; 14th place, World Pipe Band Championships: 2004
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Website | www.cowpb.org |
The City of Washington Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band located in Washington, D.C. City of Washington is one of only three grade one bands in the United States, the others being the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band and Prince Charles Pipe Band.
[edit] History
The band was formed in 1961 as the Denny & Dunipace Pipe Band, by members of the U.S. Air Force Pipe Band. Unable to compete due to Air Force regulations, members of that band joined with local players to form a Grade Two pipe band in the District of Columbia. Pipe Major Sandy Jones of the Air Force band took over in 1970.
In 1985, the band changed its name to The Scottish & Irish Imports Pipe Band due to a sponsorship change, and was upgraded to Grade One. In 1990 Mike Green was named Pipe Major, and after competing under the Denny & Dunipace name during the 1990 season, the band was re-named to the City of Washington Pipe Band to avoid confusion with a new Pipe Band of the same name.
Sponsorship from Icelandair allowed the band to compete internationally in the 1990's, and the band was downgraded to conform with international standards. They won Grade Two at the World Pipe Band Championships in 1999, and were subsequently upgraded back to Grade One. Since then, the band has competed internationally in Grade One, coming in 2nd at the North American Pipe Band Championships in Maxville, Ontario in 2000.