Archive

Dunedin, Florida – April 7, 2018 – The St. Thomas Alumni Pipe Band of Houston were the overall winner of the four-band two-event Grade 2 competition, after a tie with the City of Dunedin Pipe Band was broken on by the MSR event, which in itself had a tie broken […]

Brisbane – April 7, 2018 – Hawthorn City of Melbourne won the four-band Grade 2 event at the bi-annual Australian Pipe Band Championships, this time held in Brisbane at the Brisbane Boys’ College in Toowong. There was no Grade 1 competition for the first time in the 57-year history of […]

Stornoway, Scotland – April 6, 2018 – The annual P-M Donald MacLeod, M.B.E. Memorial Competition was won by Angus MacColl, with a first-place finish in both the piobaireachd and MSR events. The annual event invites top performers from the previous year’s competition season to compete in an event in which a […]

Ten bands are registered to compete in the Virginia International Tattoo American Pipe Band Championship, which takes place on Saturday, April 28 at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. The event is open to Grade 2 and Grade 3 pipe bands from around the world. Notable in this year’s entry is […]

There was a long-list of 20 pipers and drummers put forward by a nominating committee, and Pipe Bands Australia has whittled its list of final inaugural inductees to its Hall of Fame to 12. Nominations were open to all members of the various Australian state pipe band associations to make, […]

For the first time since the sanctioned event started in 1961, there will be no Grade 1 contest at the Australian Pipe Band Championships, but that’s not preventing what appears will be a first-class event. Close to 40 bands are entered to compete in the bi-annual competition on April 7th, […]

The Piobaireachd Society has released its lists of piobaireachds set for the major competitions, and, with few exceptions, each is a classic or even staple of any top-tier piper’s repertoire. Most of the pieces are analyzed in great detail in the pipes|drums Set Tunes Series by William Donaldson, featuring virtually […]

Hastings, New Zealand – March 31-April 1, 2018 – Stuart Easton of Palmerston North, New Zealand, emerged the overall winner of the New Zealand Open Piping Championship at the annual Hastings Highland Games held the over the Easter weekend, taking two firsts and two seconds, as well as the Gold […]

Delta, British Columbia – March 30-31, 2018 – The British Columbia Pipers Association’s Annual Gathering took to a new venue, North Delta Secondary School for its two-day event. Alan Bevan of Abbotsford, British Columbia, picked up another MacCrimmon Cairn for piobaireachd on the Friday night, and he also won the […]

Toronto – March 31, 2018 – The first larger contest of the Ontario season was again the Toronto Indoor Games at Moss Park Armoury in the city’s downtown, which enjoyed the usual strong attendance. Bands competed in concert formation, with nicely set-up staging and risers for the audience. The event […]

Scotland invented solo piping competition, grouping players by age, those 18 and younger playing in “juniors,” those older than 18 playing in “senior” and, by and large, the same system exists today. At first, the rest of the world copied it, and then tried to improve on it by creating […]

Born September 27, 1928, in Leslie, Fife, Scotland, Alexander “Sandy” Hain passed away on March 28, 2018, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the eldest of nine children. His interest in bagpipes started at the age of four after seeing a picture of his father in the paper playing the pipes. […]

pipes|drums continues our Throwback Thursday series with a curious item from 1968. Call it original social media marketing. Also known as a hand-written postcard. You know. With an address. And a stamp. At the time, it was a novel idea for the piping and drumming world. The band is of […]

The 2018 edition of the Toronto Indoor Games all day Saturday, March 31st, at Moss Park Armoury in downtown Toronto will be the usual clamour of more than 150 solo pipers and drummers, quartets and full band competitions overtaking the cavernous indoor training ground for the 48th Highlanders of Canada […]

We started our new series with Alex Gandy, and continue with a contribution from Nick Hudson, a rising star of American (and world, for that matter) piping.   Five favourite performances: Nick Hudson I think this series is an excellent idea (thanks, Alex). I’ve always loved the “Top Ten Tunes” or Top Album lists from […]

Only five years ago, the Dunedin Highland Games in Dunedin, Florida, saw, at most, only about six pipe bands and maybe 40 soloists entered. This year’s event on April 6-7 will have at least 18 bands and more than 150 solo pipers and drummers participating in events across almost every […]