Tyrone aboard the SS Propeller, Whidbey Island.
 
Atholl Highlanders
(6/8 March)

Great Highland Bagpipe

The music of the Highland Bagpipe brings majesty and grandeur to the special events of life. Weddings, special anniversaries, birthdays and other celebrations, small or large, often require a signature touch that exclaims your intentions for all time. Here is a sampling of Tyrone Heade's clients and piping resume (and some video).

Playing his grandfather's bagpipe, Tyrone has won competitions in Glasgow and New York, winning the World Solo Amateur Championship, Piobaireachd in 2009.  His success in Glasgow was covered by the Seattle Times and other commentary.  In November 2010 he performed briefly for a segment on Oprah, The Farewell Season, and in December 2010 performed an hour-long prelude for the Solemn Installation of the Most Reverend Archbishop J. Peter Sartain at Seattle's St. James Cathedral.  In 2011 he performed in duet with singer/songwriter Bryan Adams (Cuts like a Knife) before a sold-out Paramount Theater in Seattle, performing the next morning for Palm Sunday procession at St. James.  His performance on the roof of the Space Needle for the 9/11 Anniversary September 2011 was covered by KOMO TV video and the Associated Press in this AP wire photo.
 
Highland bagpipe music falls into the categories of Light Music, a fun side of dances and marches, and Piobaireachd, on the serious, or classical, side.  Light Music is made up of lively and spirited jigs and reels, distinctive marches, upbeat hornpipes, lifting strathspeys and majestic airs describe this contemporary cornerstone of Highland Bagpipe music.  A sample is on this page, the link on the right (below the photo).
 
With Piobaireachd, the noble power of ancient classical music offers a wide variety of musical expressions to set the ambiance for your event.  These include Salutes, Laments, Gathering or Battle commemorations.  Passed down for the last millennia orally, these melodies were recorded without the use of music notation.

Performance instruments used by Tyrone include ca. 1900 Highland Bagpipes by R.G. Lawrie, ivory/German silver with wood projecting mounts, previously played by Tyrone's grandfather, Nicholas Patrick Heade, Sr.; 1890 Highland Bagpipes by David Glen, engraved silver with Thistle design; and, commissioned for this piper, Scottish Small Pipes made by David Naill, Somerset, in 1996, silver engraved with a Victorian design.