Features
January 30, 2022

The pipes|drums Piobaireachd Panel – Part 3

We conclude the pipes|drums Piobaireachd Panel with Part 3, which follows an initial discussion about where Highland piping’s classical music is today as an artform, and in Part 2 we tackled thoughts on where ceol mor is likely to go in the future.

The pipes|drums Piobaireachd Panel – Part 1

The pipes|drums Piobaireachd Panel – Part 2

In Part 3, the panel gets person, with their individual wishes as to the what the future of the art should look like: how we the set lists might be adjusted to promote the music better, how composition and technology could affect what we play and what will be played, how we need to reach a wider and more appreciative audience to take the music to new ears and minds.

‘When you think about it, they’re not really new compositions, they’re just the same piobaireachds arranged with different notes.’ – Colin MacLellan

Our panel:

Colin MacLellan [Photo pipes|drums]
Edinburgh’s Colin MacLellan has won both Highland Society of London Gold Medals (Inverness 1982, Oban 1992), two Silver Chanters (1990, ’91) and a raft of other big prizes at the highest levels. He served as president of the Competing Pipers Association for nearly a decade in the 2000s, and is currently head of the Solo Piping Judges’ Association, which he co-founded in the 2010s as the UK’s first unified organization for adjudicators of piping contests. He’s in-demand worldwide as a teacher and judge of piping.

Derek Midgley [Photo pipes|drums]
Derek Midgley of Tinton Falls, New Jersey, is an active competitor at the Open/Professional level. He won the Silver Medal for piobaireachd at the Northern Meeting in 2012, the Dunvegan Medal at Skye in 2016, and both the Piobaireachd Society (Canada) Gold Medal and Bar to the Medal at the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ontario, in 2018. He was elected president of the Competing Pipers Association in 2020.

Jack Taylor [Photo pipes|drums]
Originally from St. Andrew’s Scotland, and for many years a resident of Aboyne, Jack Taylor was a pupil of the famed Bob Brown and Bob Nicol for more than a decade, beginning when he was a medical student at the University of Aberdeen. He won the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in 1973 and was a regular prize-winner in the Clasp. During his 12-year tenure as president of the Piobaireachd Society, he ushered in a new era of openness and tolerance for a wider variety of perspectives on the music. He’s a sought-after teacher and adjudicator at competitions of the highest levels.

Part 3 is perhaps the most open-minded and interesting discussion yet

We thank Colin MacLellan, Derek Midgley and Jack Taylor for sharing their views so constructively and honestly. When you listen to their thoughts, you can’t help but get more excited about the future, maybe even the next great renaissance, of the art of piobaireachd, the foundation on which all Highland pipe music was and continues to be built.

 

Related

The pipes|drums Piobaireachd Panel – Part 1

The pipes|drums Piobaireachd Panel – Part 2

Derek Midgley first non-UK-resident CPA president
August 16, 2020

Derek Midgley wins Piobaireachd Society (Canada) double gold
August 3, 2018

New Jersey’s Midgley wins Dunvegan Medal
August 2, 2016

Take a piob break: Dr. Jack Taylor
April 13, 2020

Taylor confirms resignation from Piobaireachd Society presidency
February 21, 2019

10 Questions With . . . Dr. Jack Taylor
July 31, 2007

Colin MacLellan: the pipes|drums Interview – Part 1
November 1, 2009

Colin MacLellan: the pipes|drums Interview, Part 2
November 30, 2009

Colin MacLellan: the pipes|drums Interview, Part 3
December 31, 2009

Colin MacLellan: the pipes|drums Interview, Part 4
January 31, 2010

Colin MacLellan: the pipes|drums Interview, Part 5
February 28, 2010

 

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