Great Music, Piping Legends, and a healthy dose of Donald MacLeod: Wednesday at Piping Live! 2026, with Iain MacDonald

Iain MacDonald (Regina) reports from the epicentre of piping (and drumming) . . .

Bracing for another full day of events, there seemed no choice other than to start the day with a visit to the small shop next to The Station Bar for a classic Morton’s roll with square sausage and brown sauce. Next up, a coffee from the Tryst bar at the festival site, and the day is off to a blazing 11 am start.

Just in time to hear some great tunes from today’s Pipe Idol contestants, and relieved to hear that the mics on stage were not too lively today. Pipes carried well and no odd sounds from the system. Perfect. Scotland, New Zealand and the United States were well represented in today’s event, with Kai Hay from Scotland getting the pass to the final.

The Pibroch Network was conducting The Big Sing 2026 in The Bothy, once again teaching the gathered community to sing canntaireachd – loudly, and with feeling! The strains of “The Lament for the Laird of Arnaboll” reached outside the tent to the food area and beyond.

A steady stream of punters moving into the National Piping Centre indicated it was time to get a seat for the lunchtime recital with Murray Henderson. The auditorium was packed—not an empty chair in the hall—and Murray did not disappoint. His instrument was impeccable from the start and hardly needed a turn of the drones throughout. He played classic MSRs with a master’s touch, and a firm nod to tunes from and about New Zealand pipers. He talked about 1958 when New Zealand pipers came away from Inverness with first prizes in march, strathspey and reel, and the Highland Society of London Gold medal, and the impact that success had on future generations of pipers.

The highlight for me was his performance of “Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay,” which he prefaced by describing it as a meaningful tune for his family. Murray won one of his six Inverness Clasps with that tune, and it was also the tune their daughter Faye played to win the gold medal at Oban in 2010. This was a sublime performance, full of emotion.

Murray finished by giving a tribute to the support he’s received from his immediate family: Patricia Henderson, with whom he’s shared a lifetime of music and learning, and their daughters Faye and Fiona, whose musicality and support keep him right.

Out into the festival proper again, and the Calum MacAskill Trio was holding court, ripping the tunes and keeping the large crowd of folk grooving where they watched. The sun was high and the heat a bit oppressive, and I was asked to head to The Bothy tent once again, this time for tunes with Conal McDonagh and Robbie Greig. The tent is hosted by Dougie Pincock, a bit of a folk legend himself, and he loves to point out that the tent is a bit of a break from “the rat-a-tat-tat and the he-drum-ho-drum” of the other venues. Fair enough, it was. McDonagh plays uilleann pipes, low whistle and Highland pipes in B flat, and he was amazing on all three instruments. If he’d jumped up and been a brilliant dancer, it wouldn’t be a big surprise. Greig is a brilliant fiddler, and the two of them played an hour of excellent music with good chat about the tunes and the sets.

By the time, one of the themes of the day was the impact and reach of the music of Donald MacLeod. Murray Henderson played a good few MacLeod tunes, as did this duo, including a very cool version of “The Cockerel and the Creel” on uilleann pipes and fiddle.

The Gordon Duncan Memorial Recital Challenge took place in the auditorium, with a full audience treated to four excellent young pipers, each playing three sets: Irish, Breton and Scottish. Between the sets, we heard updates on the various projects of the Gordon Duncan

Trust, and some great stories and lore about the amazing and greatly missed musician. The winner of the Scottish set, and the overall winner, was Bede Patterson, an Australian piper well known for his forays into new forms of expression with Highland pipes, and now a brilliant pipe bag maker.

The day ended with Tunesangs: Gary West and Annie Grace supported by Anna Massie on guitar. Annie Grace played whistles, bellows pipes and autoharp, and Gary West played bellows pipes and whistles. All three sang, lured the audience into participating, and delivered a great hour of music and stories of well-known Scots songs and tunes.

Meanwhile, the main stage kept rocking with the five-piece band Fras, delivering a high-octane blend of Highland music for the end-of-day crowd.

And that was the day; again, a few things that we could not get to see still spoiled for choice and honestly tough to keep up the pace. There were a lot of people in the space today, with lots of pipe band people showing up after rehearsals, and the barometer rising as we get closer to Friday and the first notes of the pipe band championships.

(With contribution from Barbara MacDonald)

Iain MacDonald is an all-too-often underappreciated treasure of the piping world. A tireless teacher, leader, competitor, judge, volunteer, writer, and all-round good guy, he has played with Grade 1 bands Simon Fraser University under Pipe-Major Terry Lee and Babcock Renfrew under Pipe-Major Iain McLeod. For many years, he was a pupil of the great Donald MacLeod. He served as pipe-major of Grade 2 City of Regina for more than 30 years, and during that time, was instrumental in starting the Conservatory Pipe Band for young learners. We could go on. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, and operates Reelpipes.com.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for Iain MacDonald’s daily reports from the 2026 Piping Live! Festival.