City of Washington Pipe Band

Not to be confused with Denny and Dunipace Pipe Band.

City of Washington Pipe Band
Established	1961
Location	Washington, DC
Grade	1
Pipe Major	Dan Lyden
Drum Sergeant	Alex Kuldell
Tartan	Black Stewart
Notable Honours	12th place, World Pipe Band Championships: 2001; 14th place, World Pipe Band Championships: 2004
Website	City of Washington Pipe Band

The City of Washington Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band located in Washington, D.C. City of Washington is one of only four grade one bands in the United States, the others being the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band, the Oran Mor Pipe Band of Albany, NY, and the City of Chicago Pipe Band.

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. In 2007 Dan Lyden was named Pipe Major, and continues the band's tradition of excellent playing on the east coast.^[1]

Sponsorship from Icelandair allowed the band to compete internationally in the 1990s, 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. More recently, the band has placed twice in the finals of the World Pipe Band Championships, taking 11th in 2001, and 14th in 2004.^[2]

Notable members

• William Barr (politician), the 77th Attorney General of the United States.^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Berthoff, Andrew (2008-04-16). "New-look City of Washington prepares for 2008". Pipesdrums Magazine. http://www.pipesdrums.com/ViewObject.aspx?sys-Portal=57&sys-Class=Article&sys-ID=16961. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
2. ^ RSPBA Results 2008 - City of Washington
3. ^ Ostrow, Ald J. (October 17, 1991). "Personality in the News. Barr: Conservative With 'Political Savvy' Is on Fast Track". Los Angeles Times: p. 18. http://news.google.com/archivesearch?as_user_ldate=1991&as_user_hdate=1991&hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=an+avocation+he+began+at+the+age+of+8.+He+has+grown+so+skilled+that+he+plays+as+a+member+of+the+Denny+%26+Dunipace+Band%2C&lnav=od&btnG=Search. Retrieved 2008-08-27. "Barr's favorite form of relaxation is playing the bagpipe, an avocation he began at the age of 8. He has grown so skilled that he plays as a member of the Denny & Dunipace Band." 

External links

• City of Washington Pipe Band
• Alistair Brown's review of Scottish Rant for Green Man Review