On July 16, 2004 Bob Mitchell and his student Erik Abbott performed at ArtScape in Baltimore, Maryland. Bob and Erik received the Maryland Traditions Folk Arts and Culture Apprenticeship Award for 2004. Based on the recommendations of a jury of specialists from the Maryland State Arts Council, Bob was nominated and approved as a Master in the art of Piobaireachd (pronounced pea-brock), the classical music of the Scottish bagpipe, and Erik is his Apprentice, an especially gifted member of Rockville High School’s celebrated piping band. At ArtScape Bob and Erik demonstrated traditional Scottish bagpiping and Piobraireachd. The heart of Scottish bagpiping is Piobaireachd, a corpus of ritually potent pieces that must be passed on through individual one on one instruction. Piobaireach is regarded by most bagpipers as the highest form of their art. Bob himself apprenticed with the great John MacFadyen in Scotland, one of the vital links in the chain of teachers and pupils reaching back to the 16th century.
Bob has recently returned to competitions after a seven-year hiatus.
