Malcolm McRae moving back to Australia

Malcolm McRae, the well-known piper, judge, and former-President of the Piobaireachd Society, has decided to return with his wife to their native country of Australia in October. He will make his new home in Runaway Bay, Queensland.

McRae had foreshadowed his return to Australia in his interview in the November 2002 Piper & Drummer magazine. After several visits to Scotland in the 1970s, he eventually made it his permanent home, studying piobaireachd with Robert U. Brown and Robert Nicol at Balmoral while working as a lawyer in the Highland region of Scotland.

Before retiring as a competitor, McRae amassed many piobaireachd prizes, including the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal at Oban and the Bratach Gorm. He has since served the art as a piping judge and as President and Music Secretary of the Piobaireachd Society.

He plans to spend his future summers in Scotland.

“I hope to be judging at some of the U.K. competitions,” McRae says. “I also intend spending time teaching and judging in Australia and New Zealand and anywhere else that wants me. As I am retiring at the end of October, I will have more time to devote to teaching and judging.”

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