Willie McCallum inducted into Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame (video)

For a lifetime of “services to performance,” legendary piper Willie McCallum was inducted into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame at an event in Dundee, Scotland, on the afternoon of December 2nd.

McCallum is probably the most successful competing piper of the last 50 years, winning virtually every top-level competition, most several times over. His nine Glenfiddich Championship titles are a record.

Since departing his career in accounting in 2010, he’s devoted himself full-time to being a professional teacher and promoter of piping, travelling the world and accessing the internet to impart his knowledge.

McCallum is the latest piper or pipe band drummer inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include Fred Morrison (2022), Gary West (2022), John Wilson (2019), Murray Henderson (2016), Martyne Bennett (2012), Roddy MacLeod (2012), Ian Duncan (2011), Jim Kilpatrick (2009), Rona Lightfoot (2009), Iain MacLellan (2008), Iain MacFadyen (2007), Donald MacPherson (2006), and, posthumously, R.U. Brown, John D. Burgess, Gordon Duncan, Donald MacLeod, G.S. McLennan, and Robert Nicol.

Still actively competing and winning, McCallum shows no sign of slowing down.

We managed to get five minutes during his busy teaching schedule to talk with Willie McCallum about the honour.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for more great conversations and full interviews with accomplished pipers and drummers.