It’s Tuesday: a few highlight events at Piping Live! 2024

By Iain MacDonald

A regular contributor to pipes|drums, Iain MacDonald of Regina, Saskatchewan (don’t start to stutter) is one of Canada’s foremost pipers and contributors to the art. For decades, he has led pipe bands and taught dozens of newcomers to the pipes, many of whom have gone on to play and enjoy the instrument at the highest level. A pupil of Donald MacLeod, he still competes in solo events and with the Grade 1 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel). Iain will contribute his thoughts on various events during the next three days of this year’s Piping Live! festival.

The Maket Collective launch
National Piping Centre Auditorium
August 13, 2024 – free

The National Piping Centre launched the Maket Collective project as a new initiative “to showcase inspirational women in piping and drumming.” The program’s name refers to the first named piper in history, Lady Maket, who lived and piped 3,000 years ago in what is now Egypt.

The idea is to “promote and amplify the voice of influential female musicians” so that we are all generally more aware of what’s being done and, in particular, to serve as a guiding beacon to other women and girls learning and participating in piping and pipe band communities.

The launch featured National Piping Centre’s Dr. Andrew Bova as moderator, giving a brief biography of the women featured and interviewing them about their experiences and influences in piping. There were questions and comments from the roughly 40 people gathered for the event.

Without a doubt, the women nominated to this program have all achieved a great deal in band and solo work, and there is a banner on the NPC main page that links to a description of the program, the 2024 Market ambassadors and their many achievements.

While the launch of this program is laudable in that it amplifies the achievements of some very special musicians, it also seems like a first step to actual policies and actions that might materially affect the experiences of girls and women in the piping world. Two premier events this week are Pipe Idol, featuring just three young women out of 16 competitors, and the Masters event, which had one female piper. Looking across the top shelf of pipe bands, there are more females than in the past, but still a very small percentage overall.

It would be excellent if this program could help find ways to redress this imbalance so that more women might achieve at the highest levels of solo piping and pipe bands in the future.

Enjoy Your Piping with Gary West – Live!
National Piping Centre
Street Café
August 13, 2024 – free

When BBC Scotland dropped its long-running “Pipeline” radio program, host Gary West decided to launch his own piping show. The show is now a podcast with over 60 programs available, covering news, recordings, and some live events within the format’s more limited scope.

West’s mellifluous voice reaches over 90 countries each week, bringing an eclectic mix of bagpipe music to a growing listener base.

“Enjoy Your Piping” has been West’s show-ending catchphrase since his time on the BBC, and it has become the title of the podcast.

While we missed this live show’s first segments, we arrived in time to catch tunes and chat with San Diego piper Austin Diepenhorst, who played several sets on a great-sounding bagpipe. Austin has been in Scotland for several weeks and has had considerable success in solo events in July.

The event was well attended, and the audience was enthusiastic. The end of the show overlapped with the beginning of a public rehearsal of the Royal Army of Oman Pipe Band. Unlike many of their pipe band colleagues, the Royal Army wore their full uniform for public rehearsal, providing a visual as well as a musical experience.