International Bagpipe Day. It seems mainly a holiday today for Scotland, but there are also enthusiasts of the special wind instrument in Drenthe. Such as Chris Lubbinge (19) from Stuifzand, who is even moving abroad because of his love for the bagpipes.
The young Drent remembers exactly when he fell under the spell of the instrument with the characteristic pipes. “When I was 8 years old, my grandparents let me hear Rapalje,” says Lubbinge about the band that plays Irish, Scottish and Dutch folk music. “I liked that and then I started listening to other Scottish and Irish music. My grandmother then asked if I wanted to play a musical instrument, so that became the bagpipes.”
Yet it took years before Lubbinge could seriously work with the instrument. “From the Hoogeveen area you come to Groningen or Zwolle for lessons. The rehearsals are on weekdays until 10 p.m. and that was impossible if you have to go to school early the next morning. In the end, I went to Groningen 2.5 years ago I went and enjoyed my lessons there.”
After a year in Groningen, Lubbinge said he was ready for the next step. “Then I decided to go to Hengelo, to the Concord Pipe Band. They play at a higher level and I learn a lot more from that. I just enjoy doing performances with them. We also play competitions with the band. That’s all a lot of fun stuff.”
With the move to Hengelo, the advance of the young bagpiper is far from over. After his exams he leaves for Ireland to continue his studies. “At a certain point in the Netherlands you reach a point where you cannot get much further. Then you want to continue”, Lubbinge notes. “In Ireland I’m going to play in a Grade 2 band, that’s another level higher.” In fact, it is the second highest grade in the competition for bagpipe bands.
But what makes playing the bagpipes so addictive? “It makes me so happy myself. And you also make other people happy with it. You also have something else to do than play games all day,” Lubbinge replies. “A year ago I had a performance for a woman who had her birthday. Then I had to be there at 8 a.m., great fun. Maybe the neighbors thought ‘what a racket’. But that woman absolutely loved it.”