Archive

The MacCrimmon Cairn at Borreraig on the Isle of Skye is sacred ground for piobaireachd lovers and something of a piping Mecca, pipers making the trek to the site to pay some sort of homage to the dynasty credited with creating many of the greatest piobaireachds known to the art […]

For piobaireachd in New Zealand, no one contributed more to the advancement of the art than Neville and Ian McKay, and now Comunn na Piobaireachd (NZ) is launching a compositing competition to commemorate the brothers. The Sir Ian and Neville McKay Piobaireachd Composition Competition will award NZ$1,000 (about US$635) to […]

Adelaide – May 6, 2023 – With a win of the John MacDonald of Inverness Clasp, and high prizes in the A-Grade light music, Stuart Easton of Palmerston North, New Zealand, was the overall winner in the top grade at the annual R.U. Brown Piobaireachd Society Solo Piping Competition. Jonno […]

Winning both the Piobaireachd and MS events, Derek Midgley of Tinton Fall, New Jersey, was the winner of the Pipe-Major Ian Swinton Open Solo Piping Competition, a contest put on by the Midwest Pipe Band Association with a total cash purse of US$3,500. Avens Ridgeway of St. Joseph, Missouri, made a solid return to solo competition, finishing third overall. Eight pipers competed and the judges were Jack Lee and Bob Worrall for both events.

The Grade 2 City of Edinburgh has continued its successful rebuilding process under Pipe-Major David Clunie and Leading-Drummer Simon Grant by securing a three-year sponsorship deal with Unison Lothian Health Branch, a trade union that represents more than 12,000 members across the range of health professions. Terms of the deal […]

On the brink of the crowning of King Charles III, our intrepid piping and drumming historian Jeannie Campbell, MBE delves into the various coronations of UK monarchs that featured piping and drumming, including a highly inventive pipe band competition . . .

If you’re a piper younger than 21 and believe you have the chops to qualify for the 2023 Pipe Idol competition at Piping Live! in August, you have from now until June 2nd to prove it. Organizers are looking for private video submissions from any pipers interested in competing one […]

In Part 1, we got caught up on developments in MacLellan’s life over the past dozen years. In Part 2, we take a look at issues of judging, the Solo Piping Judges Association, and progress and failures he’s seen since our last interview.

Summerside, Prince Edward Island – April 30, 2023 – James MacHattie won both the Professional Piobaireachd and MSR competitions to with the 2023 Atlantic Canada Piobaireachd Challenge, and Gillian Blaney won both Grade 1 events to gain an invitation to the Sun Belt Amateur Championship in Florida in November. Professional […]

Since 2001, Dr. William Donaldson has been contributing his Set Tunes Series for pipes|drums readers. Now comprising more than 170 piobaireachds, the series is the world’s largest free online repository of ceol mor. Each piece includes all known published manuscripts, often from obscure publications only available from the National Library […]

Local piper Cameron Drummond was the popular winner of the Grade 2 City of Edinburgh’s Pipe-Major’s Wheel of Fortune solo piping competition held at Danderhall Miners’ Club in Midlothian. The event, which is hosted by the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band, requires pipers to play a medley of tunes determined by spinning a Golden Chanter on the Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel features 12 tune categories and competitors are required to play five of them, with the final tune category selected by a member of the audience as pipers take the floor.

Oban, Scotland – April 29, 2023 – Roddy MacLeod won the Premier / A-Grade Piobaireachd and Sarah Muir took the MSR at the Highlands & Islands solo piping competitions held at Oban High School as part of the larger Music & Dance festival. The events were held at the Corran […]

To help mark the one-hundredth anniversary of the sailing of the “Metagama” from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides to Quebec, the Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders of Ontario are returning to Stornoway to perform as the headliner in a Grand Concert as part of Tattoo Metagama on […]

According to our site traffic stats, markedly fewer readers worldwide seemed to pay attention to or care about the news that the Kincardine Scottish Festival tried to go it alone with an independently-run, non-association sanctioned band competition. It would be wise for everyone to be concerned. We say “tried to […]

A lighthouse on the shores of Lake Huron is emblematic of the Ontario town of Kincardine, and now North American Grade 2 competing pipe bands have made an apparent show of solidarity to avoid rockiness by not taking part in a proposed unsanctioned Grade 2 “Battle of the Bands” competition […]

The organizers of the 2023 Northern Meeting Solo Piping Competitions at Inverness, Scotland, on August 31st and September 1st have determined the judges for the various competitions, including the Clasp, the Highland Society of London Gold Medal and the Silver Star Former Winners’ March, Strathspey & Reel. The event accepts […]