Archive
Field Marshal Montgomery’s new medley for 2026 is a six-and-a-half-minute epic journey through Gordon Duncan’s incredible library of musical brilliance. The selection of tunes and their arrangements pays homage to one of the most popular and profound creators in the Highland piping canon. The medley is intricate, nuanced and compelling, perfectly suited for an elite pipe band like Field Marshal Montgomery. In our conversation, Matt Wilson, Willie Glenholmes and Ben Duncan guide us through the band’s thought processes and objectives, and open our eyes and ears to the behind-the-scenes inner workings of a band at the top of their own creative game.
The Grade 3 Greighlan Crossing was the overall winner in the top contests band event at the 2026 ScotFestBC Highland Games at Town Centre Park in warm and sunny weather.
The late, great John MacDougall was affectionately nicknamed “The Highland Hoover” for his knack of gathering up the prizes around the Scottish games circuit, but Ben Duncan of Edinburgh might be heir-apparent to the title with his latest success at the Aberdeen Highland Games. Duncan enjoyed a near-perfect day with three firsts at the Aberdeen Games, winning everything but the Piobaireachd, which was won by Norrie Gillies from Glasgow.
The Grade 2 Ottawa Highlanders won the top band competition, and Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario, won the Piper of the Day trophy in gleaming sunny and warm weather at the Northumberland Scottish Festival Highland Games held at the Agricultural Park close to the northern shore of Lake Ontario.
With a Piobaireachd win and a second in the MSR, Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, won the United States Piping Foundation Solo Piping Championship for a record ninth time against a field of 16 other contestants at Cedar Lane Unitarian Congregation. It was also the seventh time Gandy won the Piobaireachd event.
The Skagit Valley Highland Games & Celtic Festival in Mount Vernon, Washington, with the help of the late Celtic music mover-and-shaker Skye Richendrfer, and to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary this year, the total prize pool for pipe bands, solo pipers and drummers will be close to US$35,000. Not only that, […]
The Piping Live! festival is calling out to pipers (including practice chanter players), pipe band drummers and drum-majors of all ages and abilities to join the 2026 Big Band in aid of the My Name‘5 Doddie Foundation, the charity founded by a legendary Scottish rugby union player and prominent campaigner […]
The second part of our exclusive series of conversations with the musical leaders of the world’s top Grade 1 bands, discussing the construction, orchestration, arrangement, and intentions behind their new medley is Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia. The band was second at the 2026 British Championship at Ingliston, on […]
Dr. Donaldson says about the tune: “Another tune whose modern popularity seems to stem from its being set for the great annual public competitions. It was first published in Angus MacKay’s collection, and its appearance there probably militated against too frequent occurrence in the nineteenth-century manuscripts, since most serious pipers probably had access to MacKay either directly or through transcriptions.”
Fifty-eight bands competed in the five grades at the 2026 Chicago Scottish Festival at a hot and sunny DuPage County Fairgrounds, where reigning World Champions Inveraray & District won both Grade 1 events, with 16 firsts from the eight-judge panels, against St. Thomas Alumni from Houston.
Jono Quay of Melbourne continued his solo piping hot streak with an overall win of the A-Grade events at Haileybury College, the third of five annual Victorian Pipers’ Association contests. Tayla Eagle was the aggregate B-Grade winner, and Michael Stewart, Dylan Tran, and Fergus McKittrick won the overall C-Grade, D-Grade and Juvenile trophies, respectively.
Ian K. MacDonald of Whitby, Ontario, won all four Professional-grade solo piping events, and the 78th Fraser Highlanders won the Grade 1 band competition against Grade 2 Peel Regional Police, who won the drumming.
A total of 69 bands were entered across the nine grades at the United Kingdom Championships, and it was Field Marshal Montgomery who came away with the top title in the Grade 1 MSR contest.
Jack Taylorhas been made a Member of the British Empire in the annual King’s Honours for his lifetime of service to piping. ”I am quite astonished really, and pleased that the pipes and their music is being recognized in this way,” Taylor said about receiving the MBE. “i feel that […]
We received the following plan from Colin MacLellan, a frequent contributor to pipes|drums and a famous competitor, judge and teacher. While the plan is more specific to the Senior solo piping competitions in the UK, it is both noteworthy and applicable to the worldwide piping community.
In this final installment, John Elliott discusses changes he’s experienced while judging pipe bands, the importance of having walked the talk as a judge, Ontario’s need to attract and retain more young pipers and drummers, and even his dreams for his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.