Pipes & Brass

A group of bagpipers wearing traditional Scottish attire, including kilts, perform in a church setting with stained glass windows in the background.

A fantastic evening last Saturday (4th October 2026) as the City of Sheffield Pipe Band joined forces with Thorpe Hesley Brass Band for their 40th Anniversary Concert. 🎶

It was a real pleasure to be part of such a special celebration, bringing the sound of pipes and drums together with brass for a memorable evening of music.

Our warmest congratulations to everyone at Thorpe Hesley Brass Band on 40 years of music-making, and many thanks for inviting us to share the occasion. Here’s to the next 40! 🥁🎺

The Next Chapter for the Band

I’m very pleased to be returning to the City of Sheffield Pipe Band as Pipe Major, having previously had the privilege of leading the Band in 2022 & 2023.

Most importantly, I want to pay tribute to the members who have continued to support, develop and build the Band. Their commitment has ensured that there are strong foundations on which we can build the next chapter.

The past three years have been a period of considerable change for the Band, with changes in personnel and players along the way. Throughout that time, the commitment of those who have continued to rehearse, perform and support the Band has been enormously important. We now find ourselves entering a welcome period of greater stability, with a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm across the group. It feels like the right moment to build on everything that has been achieved, strengthen the Band musically and look confidently towards its future.

Our focus will be straightforward: good-quality playing, strong ensemble standards, and a welcoming and respectful environment in which players can develop and progress.

Central to this will be our Tuesday evening learner and development band. This will provide a clear pathway from learning the pipes and drums through to playing with the main band. Supporting and encouraging developing players is fundamental to ensuring that the City of Sheffield Pipe Band continues to flourish for many generations to come.

The Thursday evening main band will build on this with a greater focus on established and more advanced playing, including MSRs, more advanced marches and musical sets, alongside the traditional and core repertoire required for parades and public engagements.

We would particularly like to hear from experienced pipers and drummers who are interested in joining the main band and contributing to its musical development. Experienced players wishing to parade or undertake engagements with the Band will naturally be expected to have the standard massed-band tunes and the Band’s core repertoire securely prepared before doing so.

There is already a great deal of good work to build upon. The aim now is to bring people together, support our developing players, challenge our more experienced musicians, and continue raising the musical standards of the Band.

Above all, we want to build a strong, welcoming and sustainable pipe band for Sheffield — one with a clear pathway for the next generation and plenty to offer established players too.

I’m very much looking forward to what we can achieve together.

– David A Barnard, Pipe Major, September 2026.

André Rieu in Maastricht – Virjthof

Tom, Alan, David and Ian had the pleasure of being invited back to work with André Rieu for his concerts in Maastricht, during July. David oversaw the entire 12 performances with 150 musicians each performance (as pipe major) and the others managed to join him for the 13th – 16th July. It was a truly remarkable event to be a part of and the members of the band represented the City of Sheffield very well indeed!

The Maastricht performances will be shown in Cinemas around the world in August.

Edlington / Retiring Drum Major

This event was a particularly poignant occasion for us, as our Drum Major – Dave White would retire at the end of the parade. He has served the band for many years and always attracts photos and selfies with members of the public, wherever we are performing. At the RBL, the Deputy Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Adrian Hunt, gave a small presentation to our retiring Drum Major.

Thank you for all that you did for the pipe band, Dave – you will be missed!

Autumn Workshop 2022

Autumn Workshop – October 2022

After a well-earned summer break, the band has started an intense period of training and development and in October, this included a band workshop with Neil Clark and Stewart Gardiner – both of whom are wonderful teachers and great exponents of their instruments. A few of the pipers also played in a masterclass, held on the Friday night with Neil Clark, in Sheffield’s Victoria Hall. 

We were also truly honoured to receive a special High Sheriff’s Award, which was accepted by our current Drum Major, Dave White and President, Pearl McNulty, at the Autumn workshop. 

Finally, at the end of the October, a few members of the band travelled to Dunfermline to have a rehearsal with the Dunfermline Pipe Band, as we will travel to Nijmegen with this band in 2023. A wonderful evening and we look forward to getting together with the band again, soon.