Archive
Several years after implementing a formal policy, the Competing Pipers Association is getting tough on members competing before and accepting prizes from their teachers. The association has sent letters to members whom they have identified as receiving awards from instructors informing them that these prizes will be expunged from their […]
Ross Miller has gained a reputation for creativity through his compositions and recordings, and now the Linlithgow, Scotland, native and member of Grade 1 Inveraray & District is gaining attention for his continuing series of fun self-produced Christmas videos of arrangements of classic carols and songs on the Highland pipes. […]
The Internet – November-December 2022 – The Fall 2022 edition of the World Online Piping & Drumming Championships took in more than 600 entries across 80 events with contestants submitting videos of their performances that were then assesses over several weeks by judges around the world. The top solo piping […]
We continue with Part 3 of the pipes|drums Interview with Jim Sim. In Part 1, the 40-year drumming leader and president of the Midwest Pipe Band Association for the last dozen years talked about his pipe band origins and influences. Now, in Part 2, he takes us through the genesis of the influential, regionally iconic […]
In Part 1 of our exclusive conversation with Pipe-Major Jimmy Banks MBE, the highly decorated piper and military man talked about his air “Salute to Willie, the Royal Fendersmith,” the piece requested by and played for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September. In Part 2, Banks discusses matters of copyright […]
On the heels of adding a piping instructor, St. Columba’s School in Kilmacolm, Scotland, is searching for a snare drumming instructor to teach part-time at the exclusive private school just outside of Glasgow. The successful applicant would be self-employed and must have experience working with school pipe bands and carry […]
In the 1970s, Vancouver’s Triumph Street rose to the heights of Grade 1 in non-uniform attire, with mismatched kilts, a variety of sporrans, shoes, buckles, and coverless bags. Almost 50 years later, the one-year-old Cascadia Pipe Band of nearby Seattle has been promoted to Grade 2, becoming the first band […]
The Internet – November 12-December 14, 2022 – The latest Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) competition was held online, with contestants performing live on November 12th and videos of their performances are emailed to judges who had a month to assess them. Each receiving a glorious silver medallion, […]
After the success of the inaugural Sun Belt Invitational Solo Piping Competition (“An Crios Gréine”) in Maitland, Florida, last November, the contest’s organizers plan to add a Grade 1 Amateur section, with 10 pipers to be invited. According to organizer Eric Stein, overall Grade 1 and aggregate champions will be […]
According to research, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on September 19, 2022, was watched live by more than four-billion people worldwide, making it the most-viewed event or program ever televised. At the culminating moment, when the Queen’s casket was lowered to her final resting place at King George VI Memorial Chapel, […]
Reigning and 13-time World Champions Field Marshal Montgomery of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, are making their biggest leadership change in 20 years, as Lead-Drummer Keith Orr has decided to retire from competing. Long-time Field Marshal Montgomery corps member and many-time prizewinner at the World Solo Drumming Championship Gareth McLees is taking […]
Palmerston North, New Zealand – December 10, 2022 – In addition to the pipe band events at the 2022 Jenny Mair Square Day, 12 top-flight snare drummers from across New Zealand competed in the Open Solo Drumming Championship at the Celtic Inn, and Georgia Eagle, leading-drummer of the St. Andrew’s […]
Solo piping competition impresario Eric Stein has put his organizational and sponsorship talents to work for a new invitational solo piping competition in Ardmore, Waterford, Ireland, on February 25th next year that promises to feature 10 players from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland: Glenn Brown, Glasgow Kris Coyle, Carrickfergus, Northern […]
Palmerston North, New Zealand – December 10, 2022 – Manawatu Scottish were awarded all first-place rankings by the Grade 1 judges at the first major competition of the 2022-23 New Zealand season. In Grade 2, St. Andrew’s Brisbane made the six-hour flights from Australia to Palmerston North worthwhile by winning […]
Grade 2 Wallacestone & District of Falkirk, Scotland, is in the market for a new leader after Pipe-Major Neil Henderson decided to step down after 11 years at the helm of the 135-year-old group, the world’s longest running civilian band. Under Henderson, Wallacestone went from Grade 4 to Grade 2. […]
A new ceol mor workshop in Pittsburgh will launch February 24-26 in commemoration of the late great piobaireachd teacher and performer Jimmy McIntosh, who died in February 2021 at the age of 95. Put together jointly by the Pittsburgh Piping Society and Carnegie Mellon University, the inaugural Jimmy McIntosh MBE […]