Family connection in Shanghai-bound Celtic Pipe Band

A passion for Celtic music sees the Gilchrist family heavily involved in the Nelson-based Celtic Pipe Band, which has been invited to the Shanghai Tourism Festival in September.

Seven of the eight family members are or have been in the band, including Helen the drum major, secretary and wardrobe mistress, her son Leif was a piper before he left Nelson, while husband Bryce has been pipe major.

Bryce’s son Jayden was drum sergeant until recently, Callum took over as pipe major from Bryce last year, while Torrey is a strong piper and Tiffany, the youngest, plays tenor and bass, and is currently in Canada playing for one of the top world bands.

It doesn’t stop there. Jayden’s wife is a senior tenor drummer, while Callum’s girlfriend is the pipe major of the Grade 4 Celtic Pipe Band.

“It’s quite amazing really, we all have a common interest, and it has enabled us all to be together in many ways that are unusual for a blended family,” Helen says.

“My cousins in Shetland say I’m much more Scottish than they are.”

There are more than 70 people in the Stoke-based Celtic Pipe Band, ranging in ages from 10 to 80.

The Band, which started in 2007, has hosted and won national championships in the past.

Twenty-nine members will be travelling to the Shanghai Tourism Festival in China from 14 – 19 September.

The opening parade of the event is broadcast live on television and radio to an audience of more than 200 million people, which represents an excellent opportunity to represent Nelson on the world stage.

Band members are paying their own way to the Festival, while Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese is contributing money from her Mayoral Discretionary Fund, to go towards the cost of uniform shirts, which will include the City of Nelson emblem and Celtic Pipe Band logo, along with a City of Nelson flag.