Archive
Clear skies and about 27 degrees greeted competitors and spectators over both days of the 120th annual Maclean Highland Gathering at the Maclean Showground. St. Andrew’s (Queensland) won the Grade 2 band contest overall, and Andrew Roach won the Gold Medal in the A-Grade Solo Piping.
Piping and drumming association leaders who proactively attend band practices and ask members, “How can we help?” This and other obvious but novel ideas are all part of Ian Aastrom’s Prairie Pipe Band Association of Manitoba.
The redoubtable Iain MacDonald, Regina, thinks back to 1965, when he began his piping odyssey as a very young boy in Saskatchewan
Greg Wilson of Tai Tapu, New Zealand, won his record eighteenth Former Winners Clasp to the Gold Medal at the Hastings Highland Games, an achievement that won’t be equalled for a long time, if ever. Wilson also won the aggregate A-Grade solo piping championship.
Seventeen-year-old Cameron Bonar of Surrey British Columbia, became the youngest winner ever of the MacCrimmon Cairn for Piobaireachd at the British Columbia Pipers Association’s 92nd Annual Gathering held at North Delta Secondary School.
The Sons of Scotland Pipe Band of Ottawa and their spirited leader, Bethany Bisaillion, are organizing a creative event in Canada’s capital city to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) on May 3rd, and their making a call to pipers and drummers to contribute their […]
From the creative genius who brought us “Lochanside,” “Southall,” “The Highland Brigade at Magersfontein,” and many more great compositions, we unveil another retreat march destined to be a classic
Six pipers so far are confirmed for the 10-piper 2025 Sun Belt Invitational Solo Piping Competition—”An Crios Gréine”—in Orlando, Florida, November 7th and 8th: Callum Beaumont, St. Andrews, Scotland – 2024 Sun Belt Champion Glenn Brown, Glasgow – sponsored by Patrick McBride Andrew Carlisle, Pittsburgh – sponsored by the New […]
The Prairie Pipe Band Association was established in 1969. It initially consisted of three branches: Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. In 1992, these branches became distinct associations, and the Prairie Pipe Band Association of Manitoba, as it is now called, has been led by Ian Aastrom for the past three years. […]
The four invited competitor-recitalists have been confirmed for the 2025 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Dinner & Recital Competition on Saturday, August 30th. Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh Jamie Forrester, Haddington, Scotland Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario Iain Speirs, Edinburgh MacDonald won the 2024 Captain John Medal. Speirs has won the […]
Blair Brown was the decisive overall winner, taking both events at the 2025 Agnew-Harrison Solo Drumming Competition at the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders of Canada’s armoury.
After gathering information from leaders and reliable sources, the Grade 1 competition at the World Championships once again should consist of 14 bands this August at Glasgow Green: Closkelt (Northern Ireland) Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland) Inveraray & District (Scotland) Johnstone (Scotland) Manawatu Scottish (New Zealand) Peoples Ford Boghall & […]
Though not much for competitions, Ali Hutton and Finlay MacDonald are two of the world’s most famous and accomplished pipers. The award-winning recording artists and performers are heading to British Columbia in June for an eight-day tour with 12 stops along the way. The tour dates include concerts, workshops, private […]
If their annual Pipe-Major’s Wheel of Fortune Competition is an indication, the Grade 2 City of Edinburgh must be one of the most fun pipe bands around, and this year’s lineup of players ready to set their hands alight, spontaneously respond to piping assignments, and demonstrate their stand-up comedy prowess […]
Alastair Donaghy of Beragh, Northern Ireland, won the overall trophy in the A-Grade piping after a tie with James Frazer was broken by the Piobaireachd result, and Dublin’s Stephen Creighton won the aggregate A-Grade snare drumming trophy at the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Northern Ireland Branch presented the Ulster Solo Piping & Drumming Championships at Cookstown High School.
The annual solo piping competition run by the Scottish Pipers Association was held at the National Piping Centre, and it was Angus MacPhee of Inverness, Scotland, who won the Donald MacLean Trophy for the overall championship across the top-level events. Brodie Watson-Massey of Edinburgh won both the Piobaireachd and 6/8 March events for those graded Premier or A by the Competing Pipers Association, and Gordon McReady of Renfrew, Scotland won the MSR for previous winners of the Premier / A-Grade March and Strathspey & Reel.