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We Hear From Malta’s Very Own Pipe Band: Wallace Pipes and Drums
When you think of bagpipes Malta is not the first country to spring to mind, however during Edinburgh's festival season last year performers traveled from 48 different countries to take part inThe Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and one of the performers was Wallace Pipes and Drums from Malta. They first performed at the event in 2013 and decided to return again in 2017. We managed to catch up with one of the pipers in the band, Luke Pace, who told us all about the life as part of a pipe band.
Established in the year 2000 the band owes it's beginning to a rich British colonial and military history. Currently the band consists of a drum major, 15 pipers, 4 snare drummers, 3 tenor drummers and 1 bass drummer, amounting to a total of 24 uniformed members.
The Wallace Pipes and Drums are quite a young band, so the senior officers are considered the most mature, even though they are relatively young themselves, with Pipe Major Marlon Tanti only 36 and Drum Major Kevin Vella only 43. When it comes to the rest of the band the average age lies low in the 20's, our youngest piper is only 16 years old yet impressively boats 10 years of piping experience. Having such a young group pf people together offers an immensely dynamic and energetic band which we are all proud of.
Through hard work and perseverance the group has achieved international status, ever since they were first invited to play in Evian, France. A few of the more prestigious are the invitation to take part in the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Perth, Scotland in 2012 and of course the crown jewel, performing at The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Another great one to mention was The Basel Tattoo, Switzerland which was fantastic although the temperature was slightly hotter than expected. We enjoy performing at all the events and the performance is the highlight we all crave, however attending events like these allows us to make new contacts and friends whom we will cherish forever and hopefully meet them again elsewhere in the world. As far as this year goes we do not have any international events planned yet, but this does not mean we are not hard at work. The Malta Military Tattoo is taking place in September and preparations are in full swing. Throughout the calendar year we have multiple events which require our full attention and so we meet on a weekly basis to make sure our polished musical level stays bright and up to standard. A confirmed international event which we are all looking forward to is the participation of the Wallace Pipes and Drums Malta once again in the Basel Tattoo 2019, which we are sure it will be as superb and as hot as it was back in 2016!
We started off as a humble pipe band, but through personal sacrifice and countless hours of practice we have managed to climb to the top as a band, as the Wallace Pipes and Drums!
If you want to find out even more about Wallace Pipes and Drums, then check out their Facebook Page where they keep their followers up to date with all their upcoming events and even posts pictures and videos of their performances. If you want to co-ordinate with the Pipe Band uniform, then why not check out our Wallace Clan Page where you can see all the products available in the Wallace tartan.
