Archive
We continue with the second and final part of our exclusive conversation with 2026 Highland Society of London Gold Medallists Calum Brown (Northern Meeting) and Sean McKeown (Argyllshire Gathering). Part 1 showed a tremendous amount of commonality between the two pipers, despite the 18-year gap between the 27-year-old Brown and […]
BBC Scotland has doubled down on its claim that it still hasn’t decided whether to livestream the 2027 World Pipe Band Championships, while the RSPBA has also reiterated that the BBC has axed the program due to budget cuts. After an ambiguous article in The Times and social media chatter […]
We got together with them by video to talk about their victories, each realizing a lifelong goal as they set their sights on new piping objectives, but with the satisfaction that they’ve already summitted their first major climb.
Like warming sunshine in the long Canadian Prairies winter, the Saskatchewan Pipe Band Association has scheduled a series of fall events for pipers and drummers, including online workshops with Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association judges Terry Lee and Duncan Millar and a November Mini Gathering. The two Zoom sessions will […]
Willie McCallum of Bearsden, Scotland, emerged as the Premier overall winner; Finlay Johnston of Glasgow won the Premier Grade Piobaireachd and the Captain John MacLellan Gold Medal; and Sarah Muir of East Kilbride, Scotland, won the Premier MSR and Captain John MacLellan Piper Statue at the 13th annual Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Piping Competition at the Army School of Bagpipe Music & Highland Drumming at Inchdrewer House.
Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Weston of Auckland emerged as the eighth New Zealand Young Piper of the Year, gaining the overall Under-21 title against 12 other competitors.
The long-running Northern Ireland Piper of the Year Solo Piping Competition returns to the Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, on Saturday, October 10th, with 10 pipers competing for the 2026 title. The event began in 1979 at the Tullymore House Hotel in Broughshane, Northern Ireland, when Norman Dodds […]
BBC Scotland has re-confirmed to pipes|drums that it has not decided on the World Pipe Band Championships broadcasts, including the popular livestream available free to a worldwide audience. The tentative status of the programming aligns with previous years, when decisions were not announced until much closer to the event. After […]
The leaders of the newly minted Grade 1 band discuss getting to the top level and how they plan to remain and thrive there.
The 10 contestants for the 2026 Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships on October 31st at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Scotland, are officially confirmed: Chris Armstrong, Glasgow – 2026 Northern Meeting Silver Star Former Winners’ MSR Callum Beaumont, Guardbridge, Scotland – 2026 Northern Meeting Clasp Alan Bevan, Abbotsford, British Columbia – second […]
Jimmy Begg, whose handmade sheepskin pipe bags have been played by generations of the world’s leading solo pipers and pipe bands, is retiring after more than four decades in the business. Begg established Begg Bagpipes in Glasgow in 1980, initially working from home before setting up premises on Robertson Street […]
Double Gold Medallist Ian K. MacDonald has left the Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders to rejoin the Grade 2 Toronto Police, the organization with which he has had a lifelong relationship. Continuing as pipe-major is Scott Russell, who commented, “Ian K. is a fabulous resource to have in any band, […]
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association has officially elevated Scotland’s Royal Burgh of Annan and the USA’s Ulster Scottish to Grade 1, bringing the total number of actively competing top-grade bands to 19. In Philadelphia-based Ulster Scottish’s case, the band joins Houston’s St. Thomas Alumni as one of the only […]
pipes|drums is pleased to present followers with performances by the five prize winners in the March, Strathspey & Reel at the 2026 Glengarry Cup, held on September 26, 2026, at the Army Ottawa Junior Ranks Mess in Canada’s capital city. Here are the videos in prize-list order, beginning with Andrew […]
Andrew Hayes of Nepean, Ontario, won the 2026 Glengarry Cup, the overall trophy awarded to the contestant by winning the MSR and placing fourth in the Piobaireachd. Colin MacLellan of Edinburgh won the Piobaireachd.
“What would it be like if we played together, and not just stood together?” That’s the central question that the new “100% Collective” wants to address by bringing together 30 women from the world’s Grade 1 bands and Celtic folk musicians from around the world, who will perform for the […]