Archive
The Raasay Restitution Competition at the Raasay House Hotel, Isle of Raasay, Scotland, on September 5th is one of the world’s most creative events for pipers, as 12 pipers will be assessed not simply on their technical and expressive ability playing traditional pipe tunes, but on their feel for step-dance […]
Inverness is set for two packed days of top-flight solo piping as the 2026 Northern Meeting brings the world’s leading players together for the most prestigious non-invitational gathering on the competition calendar. Entries and judges are set, with the action running Thursday, September 3rd, and Friday, September 4th, all events […]
Wilson Young, the legendary former Red Hackle leading drummer, World Solo Drumming Champion and highly influential adjudicator and educator, died in his nineties on August 24, 2026.
Kyle Shead of Glasgow won the Competing Pipers’ Association’s Bronze Medal for Piobaireachd, held at the National Piping Centre’s Otago Street branch.
William Lyons died following a short illness on August 28, 2026. Born on May 27, 1940, he learned to play the bagpipes as a boy with the Corbet Pipe Band, just outside Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland. He was taught in the post-war years in this quiet part of Ireland before enlisting in the British Army as an Infantry Soldier/Piper in the Irish Guards in 1957.
Cameron Bonar of Surrey British Columbia, won the overall trophy on Piobaireachd preference after a tie with Zephan Knichel of Lynwood, Washington, in varied results at the annual Birnam Highland Games, a popular competition for non-Scottish pipers.
Craig Sutherland, Vancouver, won the 2026 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Medal at another packed annual black-tie Dinner & Recital Competition at the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh, awarded the prize by sole judge Ian Duncan for a performance of “For My Lass, Fair, Pretty and Highland.”
pipes|drums’ intrepid photographer Alister Sinclair was on the prowl on the second day of the Argyllshire Gathering through the town of Oban and at Mossfield Park, the traditional venue for the Thursday events. We’re pleased to present to you a selection of his exclusive images.
Results from the second day of competitions, all light music events held outdoors at a sunny and warm Mossfield Park
Results from the first of the year’s major Scottish solo piping gatherings
The UK has no unified standards for its solo piping competitions. After 200-odd years, it’s high time that changed.
The 2026 Pipe-Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Challenge Recital was another spectacular night of jaw-dropping musical creativity and technical brilliance by five of the world’s greatest Highland pipers. Callum Beaumont, Alasdair Henderson, Finlay Johnston, Angus D. MacColl and Connor Sinclair each performed for 15-20 minutes, every second of which had the packed Strathclyde Suite at […]
As in the job world, pipe band members often quit because of management. Modern-day competitive pipe bands need to run as much like a business as a hobby. Yet, pipe band leaders are most often thrust into their role simply because they’re the most accomplished piper or drummer. On the job, so to speak, they either learn to be an effective leaders or eventually lose (or move on) from their position.
About 30 years ago, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band travelled to Scotland to compete in the World Championships. There was plenty of discussion (and ridicule from other bands) that every band member carried a large bottle of Evian water on the flight to Prestwick to stay hydrated. They had […]
The Irish Pub in Koblenz, Germany, will be the venue for the 2026 European Amateur Solo Piping Knockout Competition, 18:00, 20:00, November 28th, with six players involved (alphabetical by last name): Kian Johnston, Germany Witold Konopka, Poland Andrew Robertson, Scotland Martijn Selier, The Netherlands Garry Stevenson, Ireland Gil Vermeulen, Belgium […]
Next in our exclusive 2026 Set Tunes Series by Willie Donaldson is “The Pride of Barra,” a piobaireachd included on the Piobaireachd Society’s list of pieces eligible for submission to the Highland Society of London Gold Medal competitions at the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting. Willie Donaldson writes: “[The Pride […]