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THE
PIPES &
DRUMS OF THE 1ST ROYAL ENGINEERS |
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The Thistle Pipe Band was founded in 1968 by Per Colliander. Per Colliander
had learnt to play the pipes during his many visits to Scotland, where he worked
as a riding instructor. Per Colliander recruited his family and friends to the
band which quickly expanded. The band earnt a good reputation for both for
musicality and military discipline, and quickly received wide publicity thanks
to performances on radio and television and at the wedding of H.R.H. Princess
Christina in 1972.
Per Colliander died in 1973, but the band continued in the same spirit. In the early days the band had a distinct military style but today – in spite of the name change in 1987 – the 1st Royal Engineers focusses on competing, in Scandinavia and in Scotland. Through the years the band has engaged several well known instructors, such as Iain McLellan, Richard Parkes, Ronan McGuire and Willie McBride. We now compete in grade 2. In the bygone 30 years there have been several pipe bands and groups in Stockholm. Caledonian Pipe Band – Stockholm separated from Thistle Pipe Band in 1976 and enjoyed some prosperous years in the early 1990s, frequently performing and competing abroad, in Estonia, Latvia, Belgium, Brittany, Scotland and Indonesia. However in 1999 the CPB again merged with its mother band, the 1st Royal Engineers. 1st Royal Engineers roll of pipe majors: Per Colliander (1968-1973), Börje Höglander (1973-1975), Alan Logan (1975-1976), Mathias Cramér (1976-1983, 1985-1991), Niklas Hannah (1983-1985, 1991-2000), Krister Bergman (2000-2002, 2003-2007), Shane Stewart (2002-2003) and Robert Wallgren (2007-). Caledonian Pipe Band roll of pipe majors: Alan Logan (1976-1981?), Mårten Smith (1981?-1989), Lars Erik Norstedt (1989-1992), Ulf Schönberg (1992-1996) and Krister Bergman (1996-1998). More reading on the history of piping in Scandinavia. |
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© 2008 The Pipes & Drums of the 1st Royal Engineers |