Archive
Adam Aitchison, Sophie Stringer and Robin Alderslowe were the overall winners of the Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 events at the CLASP June 2026 competition held at the National Piping Centre.
About this relatively brief piece, Donaldson writes: “The tonal family to which ‘Salute on the Birth of Rory Mor’ belongs begins with the tune Colin Campbell called ‘Brian O duffs Lament’ (elsewhere known as ‘The Frenzy of Meeting’), and continuing through ‘The Brother’s Lament’; three nameless pieces; then ‘A Glass,’ ‘Aird’s Lament,’ and what Colin Campbell calls ‘Glass Mhoir’ (which is nowadays known as ‘The Finger Lock’), ‘One of the Cragich’ (‘Hiotrotra hinbainbain’) and ‘McNeil is tighearna ann.'”
Nine bands and exactly 100 soloists competed at the South-East Asia Championships at St. Xavier’s Institution, Georgetown, attracting entries from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia. Rockingham City from Western Australia was the top winner in Grade 4B, capturing both the Medley and Marches events against three other bands. Lion City was the only entry in Grade 4A.
Bruce Lazeroff was sick of and from testing reeds. Figuratively and literally. As the pipe-major of the An Còrr Pipe Band from Wilmington, Delaware, Lazeroff, like any pipe section leader, was responsible for trying and selecting dozens of chanter and drone reeds every year. Like the highly successful EBellaire he […]
With more than 50 years (and counting) of major contributions to piping and drumming, Colin MacLellan returned to Ontario, on May 29, 2026, to be inducted into the Glengarry Celtic Music Hall of Fame at the Bonnie Glen Pavilion in Alexandria, for his influence on piping in Glengarry County and […]
Liam Kernaghan, Wellington, won the overall Open/A-Grade award, and Maggie McConnochie, Christchurch, did the same in both the B-Grade and Under-21 categories at the 114th annual King’s Birthday Solo Piping Competition, held in unusually mild winter conditions.
More than 70 pipers competed in the Victorian Pipers’ Association’s solo competition at Scotch College, and the top winner was Jono Quay winning three of the four A-Grade events and the aggregate trophy.
With four firsts from the four judges, Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia easily won the 2026 British Championship held at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston, on the west side of Scotland’s capital city, against a field of eight other Grade 1 bands. The band also won the drumming in the first championships victory for Pipe-Major Emmett Conway and Lead-Drummer David Henderson.
Brady Webb of Nova Scotia, Canada, was the Grade 1 aggregate winner in the May 2026 CLASP Live Online competition, in which contestants performed live via video on May 1st and 2nd, with their performances recorded by proctors administering the event; their performances were then assessed over the next month.
After a few “minor” contests, the UK’s 2026 pipe band competition season really gets going in Ingliston, on the west side of Edinburgh, with the British Championships, where a total of 124 bands are entered across the nine grades. This year marks the return of the British to the RSPBA’s […]
“A lovely tune in all its versions,” the piece is widely known and a fine choice for pipers, whose teachers recognize its musical and melodic challenges for all levels of piobaireachd players.
Winning the MSR and runner-up in the Medley, Prince Charles from San Francisco was the overall Grade 3 winner at the annual pipe band competitions at Scottish Fest USA. City of Angels of Los Angeles won the Medley competition.
Ben Duncan, Edinburgh, won the overall trophy at the annual Blair Atholl Highland Games, which was held in splendid weather. There was the usual gigantic entry (with a good few scratches) in the open light music, which was split over four heats, followed by a 12-piper final for both the MSR and the Hornpipe & Jig.
In many ways, there are two distinct eras in the history of Highland piping: BNPC and ANPC
The first Scottish Grade 1 contest of 2026 to see more than one actual Grade 1 band compete turned out to be the Dollar Pipe Band Competition held on the grounds of Dollar Academy, the private school with one of the most successful piping and drumming teaching programs in the world.
“The Australian Ladies” by Willie Fergusson is one of the most popular 2/4 marches in the piping repertory, and the inspiration for the great tune will be suitably commemorated with a world record attempt in July in Melbourne. The piece was named for the Australian Ladies Pipe Band’s 1925-27 world […]