Archive
There’s a new pipe band in the western Canadian city of Calgary that strives to play with meticulous attention to musical and technical detail . . . but not driven by competition. The Slainte Social Club comprises local pipers and drummers, not disenchanted, per se, with the pursuit of contest […]
It’s Thanksgiving for our many American readers in the USA and around the world. It’s a beautiful holiday of gratitude and gatherings, people coming together with the commonality of family, food, American football and fun. The most important aspect of the day is gratitude. Whatever one is grateful for, Thanksgiving […]
Highland piping supremo Bruce Gandy has unveiled his latest instruction service, this time aimed at the piobaireachd curious and more established players alike. “Essential Piobaireachd Foundations” consists of 37 separate online lessons by Gandy that take students through embellishments, canntaireachd, playing styles, and full piobaireachds, with possible additional courses to […]
Our panel discussion with four older pipers still sharp after decades in the art – we gather four veteran pipers who still enjoy actively competing despite the unique challenges they face. Charlie Martin, Brian Pollock, Iain Simpson and Anne Spalding share their wisdom.
Most pipers support the need to protect endangered animal species, going to lengths to ensure their African blackwood ivory-adorned antique instruments are authenticated with a CITES permit when travelling internationally, but trouble and confusion can still exist with unaware security and customs officers. Olof Nilsson’s story of an unfortunate and […]
Bruce Hitchings was made chair at the 2023 annual general meeting of the UK’s Solo Piping Judges’ Association, taking over from Colin MacLellan, who decided to step down after six years in the role. A native of New Zealand and resident of Scotland for nearly 50 years, Hitchings has received […]
The Deans Bowling Club was the venue for the charity LIVI Invitational Solo Drumming Competition, where Kerr McQuillan of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia won the MSR and Les Galbraith or Glasgow Skye Association took the Freestyle event. There was also a trophy awarded to the best piping based on accompaniment, which Donald Stewart won.
Against a field of nine other pipers from around North America, Cameron Bonar of Surrey, British Columbia, gained the 2023 George Sherriff Memorial Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Championship after accruing the most aggregate points over the three events held throughout the day at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in downtown Hamilton.
He’ll go down in history as one of the greatest pipe band drummers of all time, and J. Reid Maxwell’s recently released 118-page Taking No Shortcuts collection of 900 carefully honed exercises is already in its second printing. “The book is designed for any level of drummer,” Maxwell’s protégé pipe […]
The second annual Jimmy McIntosh MBE Piobaireachd Workshop run by Pittsburgh Piping Society and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is scheduled for February 9-11, with three of McIntosh’s most successful pupils, Andrew Carlisle, Mike Cusack and Amy Garson, instructing. The 2023 workshop attracted in 2023, 35 students of every ability, […]
By winning the recent Sun Belt Invitational, Nova Scotia’s Bruce Gandy has been invited to compete in the Ardmore Cup in Wexford, Ireland, on February 24th. The Ardmore Cup is the Sun Belt’s sister contest, each organized by Eric Stein and a team of volunteers as new independently-run solo piping […]
As the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association alluded to in the minutes of its October 7th Board of Directors meeting, the organization has reportedly cautioned that its 2024 competition season could see only two major championships taking place as the clock is running down on securing sponsorship from city councils […]
With most of the pipe band world in the Northern Hemisphere settling into its winter competition off-season, pipers and drummers in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and other countries are already getting into their summer competitions. Apart from Scotland, there’s perhaps nowhere else with as many top-quality bands and soloists […]
The 27th running of the George Sherriff Memorial Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Competition will return to St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, on Saturday, November 18th, with 10 of 2023’s most successful non-professional players going for a raft of prizes donated by sponsors. After both the Nicol-Brown and […]
The 2023 Sun Belt Invitational Professional Solo Piping Championship went to Bruce Gandy of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who gained the prize in an aggregate points tie with St. Andrews, Scotland’s Callum Beaumont by winning the Piobaireachd competition. It was the contest’s second year, organized by Eric Stein and supported by various sponsors.
The inaugural Sandy Jones Memorial Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Championship was won by Tom Cangelosi of Arlington, Virginia, who took both the Piobaireachd and MSR events against nine other pipers from around North America.