Archive
The annual Virginia International Tattoo American Pipe Band Championship was won by Ulster Scottish of Philadelphia in a two-band Grade 2 contest after taking eight out of eight first-place rankings by from the judges in both the Medley and MSR.
Sarah Muir of Campbeltown was the overall winner of the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band’s annual Pipe-Major’s Wheel of Fortune competition, probably the funnest and most creative contests ever devised for Highland pipers.
The 29th Skagit Valley Highland Games & Celtic Festival in Mount Vernon, Washington, is upping the total prize money for solo piping and drumming, quartet, fanfare and pipe band competitions to more than US$30,000 over the July 11-13 weekend at the Skagit County Fairgrounds. Not only that, but the organizers […]
Edmonton, Alberta’s North Stratton has been an excellent success story since the band was formed in 2015. Most recently, it won Grade 2 at the European Championships and placed second and fourth at the World and British Championships, respectively, in 2024. Under Lead-Drummer Jeremy White, the band’s drum section won […]
Major-General David McDowall CBE died on April 24, 2025, in his seventy-first year after a brief undisclosed illness. McDowall had served as the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s president for one year following his official appointment at the organization’s 2024 annual general meeting. He was not yet well known to […]
Clear skies and about 27 degrees greeted competitors and spectators over both days of the 120th annual Maclean Highland Gathering at the Maclean Showground. St. Andrew’s (Queensland) won the Grade 2 band contest overall, and Andrew Roach won the Gold Medal in the A-Grade Solo Piping.
Piping and drumming association leaders who proactively attend band practices and ask members, “How can we help?” This and other obvious but novel ideas are all part of Ian Aastrom’s Prairie Pipe Band Association of Manitoba.
The redoubtable Iain MacDonald, Regina, thinks back to 1965, when he began his piping odyssey as a very young boy in Saskatchewan
Greg Wilson of Tai Tapu, New Zealand, won his record eighteenth Former Winners Clasp to the Gold Medal at the Hastings Highland Games, an achievement that won’t be equalled for a long time, if ever. Wilson also won the aggregate A-Grade solo piping championship.
Seventeen-year-old Cameron Bonar of Surrey British Columbia, became the youngest winner ever of the MacCrimmon Cairn for Piobaireachd at the British Columbia Pipers Association’s 92nd Annual Gathering held at North Delta Secondary School.
The Sons of Scotland Pipe Band of Ottawa and their spirited leader, Bethany Bisaillion, are organizing a creative event in Canada’s capital city to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) on May 3rd, and their making a call to pipers and drummers to contribute their […]
From the creative genius who brought us “Lochanside,” “Southall,” “The Highland Brigade at Magersfontein,” and many more great compositions, we unveil another retreat march destined to be a classic
Six pipers so far are confirmed for the 10-piper 2025 Sun Belt Invitational Solo Piping Competition—”An Crios Gréine”—in Orlando, Florida, November 7th and 8th: Callum Beaumont, St. Andrews, Scotland – 2024 Sun Belt Champion Glenn Brown, Glasgow – sponsored by Patrick McBride Andrew Carlisle, Pittsburgh – sponsored by the New […]
The Prairie Pipe Band Association was established in 1969. It initially consisted of three branches: Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. In 1992, these branches became distinct associations, and the Prairie Pipe Band Association of Manitoba, as it is now called, has been led by Ian Aastrom for the past three years. […]
The four invited competitor-recitalists have been confirmed for the 2025 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Dinner & Recital Competition on Saturday, August 30th. Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh Jamie Forrester, Haddington, Scotland Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario Iain Speirs, Edinburgh MacDonald won the 2024 Captain John Medal. Speirs has won the […]
Blair Brown was the decisive overall winner, taking both events at the 2025 Agnew-Harrison Solo Drumming Competition at the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders of Canada’s armoury.