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Eleven amateur solo pipers from Canada and the United States have accepted their invitations to compete at the 18th annual George Sherriff Memorial Invitational Competition on Saturday, November 16th, in Hamilton, Ontario. The players are nominated by their home associations as the top represenatives in the amateur Grade 1 category. The event is often a swansong contest for pipers moving into the Professional grade, and past winners have included Glenn Brown and Faye Henderson, both of whom have gone on to with Highland Society of London Gold Medals for piobaireachd. This year’s George Sherriff Memorial lineup: . . .

Harry McLachlan of Aberfeldy, Scotland, took both the Piobaireachd and MSR events in the annual Falkirk Tryst, a contest reserved for junior pipers. As the winner, McLachlan continued the tradition of marching three times around the tombs of the “Three Immortal Heroes,” which includes that of Sir William Wallace’s best friend and right hand man at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. The 10 contestants then marched from Falkirk Parish Church up Falkirk’s High Street, ending with the traditional “playing of jigs” at the steeple . . .

The Style Guy extends his heartfelt apologies to his loyal readers after being away for so long. Fresh from a world tour witnessing the crimes of fashion across five piping and drumming continents, The Style Guy has allowed the mailbag to swell to the size of the late Arthur Gillies’s […]

The more than 30-year tenure of Terry Lee as Pipe-Major of the Grade 1 Simon Fraser University Pipe Band is one of the longest in the history of top-tier pipe bands, and when he handed the reins on September 28, 2013, to long-time SFU member Alan Bevan it was a historic moment. Under Lee’s direction, SFU has been World Champions six times, runner-up nine times and finished in the top-three more in more than half of their appearances at the contest since 1983. In this exclusive video interview, pipes|drums hears directly from Alan Bevan and Terry Lee about the future for the band, some of the reasons for making the move now . . .

Gordon McCready of Renfrew, Scotland, was the overall winner at the new solo piping competition organized by and held at the Army School of Piping in Edinburgh. One competitor commented that it was an “Absolutely top-drawer event, probably the . . .

Because “the majority go to a pipe band concert and tend to judge instead of just listening and enjoying the performance,” the . . .

The fortieth rendition of the Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Piping Championships on October 26th will again be streamed live on the Internet, organizers have confirmed. According to Liz Maxwell, longtime coordinator and director of the event with . . .

Terry Lee, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band’s only Pipe-Major in its existence in Grade 1, has retired from the position, giving way to Alan Bevan, a member of the band for more than 15 years and who is well known as a successful solo . . .

The Grade 1 Toronto Police Pipe Band have confirmed that Mark Passmore has been appointed Leading-Drummer following the departure of Ken Constable on late-August. Passmore in his . . .

A stalwart pillar of the greater Montreal Scottish community, Kirk Johnstone died on the morning of September 24, 2013, peacefully this morning after a courageous battle with cancer. He was Pipe-Major of  the 306 Wing Air Force Association Pipe Band, 401 Squadron Pipes & Drums, Pipe-Sergeant with The Black Watch […]

Murdoch Maclean “Mac” Macleod, the well-known piper and piping event organizer and association leader, died on September 21, 2013, at the age of 89, in Newark, Delaware, following a battle with heart disease. Maclean Macleod was born on October 18, 1923, in Ullapool in the north of Scotland. In World […]

The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association has relegated three of their bands to Grade 2 status bringing the number of member Grade 1 bands to an all-time low of 11, eight being from Scotland. Following the organization’s Music Committee’s recommendations, which still need to be ratified by the RSPBA’s Board of Directors, Scotland-based Kilts & More-Dysart & Dundonald and Torphichen & Bathgate, and Seven Towers of Northern Ireland will have to contend with Grade 2 status in 2014. None of the organization’s Grade 2 bands were recommended . . .

They were two days to remember, and we continue with our special photo feature from the 2013 World Pipe Band Championships, with images from the Sunday, the second and final day of competitions from Glasgow Green, exclusively for subscribers to pipes|drums Magazine. Like the Saturday, the weather began with intermittent rain and strong winds hitting several bands, including, once again, Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia. Conditions in the afternoon improved considerably, with strong sunshine for the most part, except for a freak sudden downpour around 4 pm. We hope that you enjoys these images, which complement other 2013 World’s features, including our Sights & Sounds Video Highlights, all 12 performances on HD video video from the Grade 2 Final, and video highlights of 2013 World Champions Field Marshal Montgomery celebrating and discussing their success.

Angus MacColl was the overall winner at the fourteenth annual Springbank Invitational Solo Piping Competition, the only contestant to get a prize in all three events. The contest was held at the Seafield Hotel.

A strong turnout of pipers and drummers attended the All-Ireland solo competitions at Trinity Comprehensive in Ballymun. Kris Coyle and Ashley McMichael, both players with Field Marshal Montgomery, won the top piping prizes, while Chris McNicholl took the big drumming award . . .

They were two days to remember, and we bring pipes|drums Magazine subscribers a special two-day photo feature from the 2013 World Pipe Band Championships held August 17-18, 2013, at Glasgow Green, Glasgow. We start with images from the first day of competition, a day that began with intermittently wet – at times horrendous – weather that laid waste to bands that competed during a particularly drenching 45-minute period in the morning. Among the bands hardest hit were Simon Fraser University, Inveraray & District, the Toronto Police and, of course, Shotts & Dykehead, which was nearly blown off the park mid-way through their march, strathspey & reel. We hope that you enjoy these images from Saturday at the 2013 World’s, which will be followed by a similar feature of photos from the Sunday . . .