Archive
Kevin R. Blandford Memorial of Rancho Cucamonga, California, won both Grade 3 events at the Phoenix Scottish Games. Conditions at Gilbert Regional Park for early March in Arizona were ideal: 75°F (24°C) on Saturday, though an intense sun made it feel warmer, while a strong breeze on Sunday kept temperatures cooler, around 68°F (20°C). The event opened the outdoor contest season for the Western United States.
Alan Bevan of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was the winner of the 2024 Boney Music Memorial Invitational Competition & Recital held before a packed hall at the Seaforth Armoury as well as streamed live online by the British Columbia Pipers Association.
Bearsden, Scotland’s Willie McCallum was the overall winner of the 2024 Uist & Barra Invitational Solo Piping Competition after a tie with Sarah Muir of Glasgow, broken by a Piobaireachd preference. Only 50% of Hornpipe & Jig result counted toward the aggregate trophy.
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association membership brought in several new leaders for the organization at its ninety-third annual general meeting, held in Glasgow on March 9th. Robert Niven was voted in as the association’s new chairman, taking over from incumbent Kevin Reilly. Niven serves on the board of directors […]
Eilidh MacDonald asks female pipers and drummers: “If you imagine that it is 2044 and you think about women in pipe bands/piping/drumming: what does that ideal future look like, in particular at the highest level? What makes you hopeful? What do you wish for?” The responses are fascinating.
The Boney Music Memorial Invitational Competition & Recital was started in 2016 by Andrew “Boney” Bonar himself when he was waging his personal battle against cancer. The eighth rendition of one of the piping and drumming world’s most charitable events is set to take place on Saturday, March 9th, at […]
Callum Douglas is the new owner of the popular ES Session Chanter business, taking over production and sales from Lindsay Ellis, who co-created the product with the late Ross Scrim, both accomplished tool makers who crafted the unique instrument from stainless steel and aluminum. Callum Douglas is the pipe major […]
pipes|drums is delighted to include the first 10 piobaireachds in our exclusive Castle Recordings series of performances played and captured by Captain John A. MacLellan MBE in the early 1960s when he was head of the Army School of Piping at Edinburgh Castle.
The historically significant recordings made by Captain John A. MacLellan MBE of 151 piobaireachds, at the time, comprising all nine books in the Piobaireachd Society’s Collection.
The thirteenth annual Redding Bagpipe Competition attracted a solid entry from across North America, and ultimately Malachi Johannsen of Modesto, California, was the Grade 1 aggregate winner, gaining an invitation to compete at the Sandy Jones Memorial Amateur Championship on November 9th at the Sun Belt Invitational in Florida.
Some 28 prospective piping, drumming and ensemble judges attended an extensive online training course run by a new-look Adjudicators Panel Management Board (APMB) under recently-appointed Convener Robert Mathieson. The board’s Adjudicators Development Group is managing the training course, which had its first session on March 1st. The piping and drumming […]
The Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario has confirmed that its first-ever Drumming Summit will occur on March 30th as part of the Toronto Indoor Games. Joining the panel will be Jamie Alfred, Kahlil Cappuccino, Drew Duthart and Dave Fenton, each moderating discussions on various topics related to pipe […]
“Highland games are a partnership between the band association, bands and local organizers. Each is important to the end result, and none is more important than the others.” Dave Bruning, Pipes and Drums Chair for the Wisconsin Highland Games, discusses the challenges many of today’s competition organizers face.
The Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) held its latest in-person, live-in-the-flesh-and-wool competition at the National Piping Centre’s McPhater Street premises. It was John Frater who won the overall trophy in the Grade 1 class, while John Nevans and Kathryn McEwan took the aggregate trophies in Grade 2 and Grade 3, respectively.
Mike Cusack is beyond measure the greatest American competitive Highland piper in history. The winner of both Highland Society of London Gold Medals (Oban 1984, Inverness 1987), the Northern Meeting Clasp (1997) and Jigs (1981), the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering (1989, ’96, ’97, 2003), the Bratach Gorm (1997), the Glenfiddich MSR (1987) and […]
Reigning World Champions Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia will take the stage for the third time in the band’s 52-year history at the annual Pre-World’s Concert in Glasgow on August 14th. The Glasgow Skye Association Pipe Band will promote the “Cabar Fèidh” event, as they have every time the […]