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By Iain MacDonald and Barabara 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 […]
Before a capacity crowd at the Strathclyde Suite at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Angus D. MacColl of Benderloch, Scotland, won the 2024 Pipe-Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Recital-Challenge Solo Piping Competition, the progenitor of Piping Live! and, for many, the crowning official festival event of the week. It was the eight time that MacColl won the event, beating his own record.
After four heats to determine four finalists, Bobby Allen of Glasgow emerged as the 2024 Pipe Idol competition winner for pipers 21 and younger. For his work, Allen received a set of Reelpipes from and made by Fred Morrison. Allen had qualified earlier in the day as the winner of Heat 4.
Our man with a cam, Alister Sinclair, is putting his lenses on Piping Live! this week. Here are his picks of pics from Wednesday’s events.
Bobby Allen of Glasgow secured the fourth and last spot in the grand final of the 2024 Pipe Idol competition by winning Heat 4 at the National Piping Centre’s auditorium.
“I’m sincerely telling it like it is, as best as I can, beginning my personal highlights with one word: marvelous.” Snare drummer Rita DeNobriga reviews the big Pre-World’s Concert by Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia. She liked it. A lot.
Checking in on a number of things in and around the festival
For the first time a mid-week event at Piping Live!, the 2024 Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition was won by Matt MacIsaac of Aurora, Ontario, Canada.
Reece Doherty of Donegal, Ireland, won the third heat to determine one of four places in the August 15th Grand Final of the 2024 Pipe Idol competition for young players.
Photographer Alister Sinclair was on the scene on the second day of the festival
Iain MacDonald, Regina, reports on a few events that caught his eye and ear on the Tuesday of Piping Live! 2024
The Strathclyde Suite at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was packed with enthusiasts, each paying £18.50 (about $33), heard and saw Scotland’s Inveraray & District win the annual International Quartet Competition for Grade 1 bands. It was the sixth time that Inveraray won the event and the first since 2017.
Eala McElhinney of Glasgow won Heat 2 of the four-round qualifying stages of the 2024 Pipe Idol competition for young players.
Our intrepid photographer, Alister Sinclair, captures images from the world’s biggest week of piping, drumming and craic, starting with the first full weekday of events.
Iain MacDonald of Regina reports on a few standout events on the first weekday of the festival
Alan Bevan of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was the overall winner of the 2024 Masters Solo Piping Competition and thus gained one of 10 spots at the 2024 Glenfiddich Championships in October. Bevan got the job done with two thirds in the two-event contest.