Archive
The 161st Victoria Highland Games saw brilliant sunshine and perfect conditions in the afternoon at Topaz Park for Pacific Northwest pipers and drummers. Robert Malcolm Memorial 3 took the top competitive prize in the Grade 3 band competition. Alastair Lee of Surrey, British Columbia, won all three Open solo piping events, repeating his 2023 aggregate title, and Blair Brown won both Open solo snare drumming contests.
Campbell Naismith, the accomplished and well-known piper from San Diego, has published his seventh collection of music, this time a book dedicated to piobaireachd with his interpretation of the historic Compleat Theory of the Highland Bagpipe published by Joseph MacDonald in 1760. The Rising Sun Collection also showcases 24 piobaireachds […]
Until 2015, the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association published The Voice, a quarterly print magazine that reported on association activities and informative feature articles for its thousands of members. After a hiatus due to financial constraints, the organization is relaunching “The Voice” as a monthly podcast with regular features […]
After a successful trial run at the St. Louis Highland Games, the Midwest Pipe Band Association has decided to use audio adjudication for the rest of its sanctioned pipe band competitions in 2024, taking advantage of Competition Suite cloud-based software and thus becoming the first pipe band association in history […]
The weather was overcast, chilly and windy in the morning but bright and much warmer in the afternoon for the annual Saskatchewan Highland Gathering & Celtic Festival, held at the provincial capitol’s downtown Victoria Park. Seven bands competed, and St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg and Saskatoon Police Pipe Bands took the first prizes in the Grade 4 competition in which five bands competed, and the overall award went to St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg.
St. Laurence O’Toole of Dublin won the 2024 United Kingdom Championship, held at Ward Park. The contest was the first of the five major events of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s outdoor competition season. The association’s Northern Ireland branch was key in securing and running the event.
The May 18th weather forecast for the first major competition of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s 2024 season looks promising. Bangor, Northern Ireland, is predicted to have sunshine and a high of 19°C. Ten Grade 1 bands, the full complement from the UK and Ireland, will compete at Ward […]
Designed by Ontario’s Kate Dudek, the “katenor” is a new harness for tenor drummers that promises to distribute the weight of their drum, keep it stable, and maintain height. The $200 product is now shipping to customers around the world. A member of the Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders when […]
A must-see discussion on fundamental objectives and strategies implemented by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s Northern Ireland Branch, yet rarely, if ever, put into practice by many associations – for example, long-range planning and respecting and learning from other associations. This is, in many ways, a breakthrough conversation.
The 2024 edition of Piping Live! will tick all the familiar boxes, bring on the usual array of virtuoso artists, and add a seriously unusual twist with the presence of social media sensation “Ally the Piper” – Ally Crowley-Duncan – as a (not-so) “secret” judge of competitions during the week. […]
The ever-creative and charitable Peel Regional Police Pipe Band is at it again, planning to hold a “simulated Highland games” on May 26th, with all three of the organization’s bands playing in a competitive environment as realistic preparation for the upcoming Ontario outdoor season. Peel’s Grade 2, Grade 3, and […]
Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia got their 2024 campaign off to a good start by winning their first contest, topping four other Grade 1 bands, including reigning World Champions Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia.
Ian K. MacDonald of Whitby, Ontario, was the aggregate winner of the William Livingstone Memorial Solo Piping Competition, colloquially called “the Livingstone,” held again at the James Street Armory in downtown Hamilton. The Piobaireachd event, held throughout the day, was sparsely attended, but the evening’s light music contest drew a larger audience.
By Alex Gandy It is a day to celebrate the mothers who make it all possible. I’m fortunate to have had positive, strong women influence me and look after me in my 35 years, none more so than Beverley Gandy. Since day one, my mom has always been in my […]
With a revitalized approach to marketing and communication, he took time to speak with pipes|drums as part of our ongoing Association Leadership Spotlight series.
It’s an annual right of passage for the pipe band world: the official start of the outdoor competition season in the UK. This Sunday, things will get underway at Banchory and Gourock as bands finally air their new music, sound, and personnel to begin what is sure to be another […]