Bass drummer Cameron Fraser, snare drummer Peter Devery and piper Casey Thompson
are back home from a two-week experience in Canada, where they played with 30 players aged 16-23 in the New Zealand Youth Band.
After an initial stop in Vancouver, the band moved to Penticton, where they hosted a concert and competed at the Highland Games.
Hours of daily practice paid off when they won with their march express street band reel, followed soon after with their medley.
After their success in Penticton was a five-day stint at summer school at SilverStar Mountain Resort.
Back in Vancouver, time was taken out for a celebratory dinner and trip to Grouse Mountain before heading home.
It was Casey’s first trip out of the southern hemisphere and he was surprised with Vancouver’s size and how similar Canada looked to New Zealand.
"It was really impressive, because as far as you could see [from the mountain] it was just buildings."
Casey attributed their success to the endless practice everyone put in.
For those wishing to achieve in music he said, "make sure you’re always practising and always prepared".
Cameron started as a 9-year old on the snare drum and transitioned to the bass drum three years ago, but now has dreams of playing with the prestigious Simon Fraser University Pipe Band.
The world-class band had won multiple world championships and some of the best pipe band tutors in the world, he said.
"They’re up there with the best of the best."
Some players tutored at the SilverStar Summer School.
"It was really cool to get a new perspective with the northern hemisphere piping and drumming.
"It broadened my perspective on where you can go with pipe bands — that it’s not just like a small local thing," Cameron said.
But opportunities as a bass drummer were sought-after positions.
"...at that level, given there’s generally one bass drummer per band, as opposed to 30-plus pipers or up to 15 snares."
He hoped it would be goal he planned to achieve in the next five years.
"It depends on how it goes and on my own ability, but it’s definitely something reachable."
- By Toni McDonald
