Archive
The last set of R.G. Hardie pipes that famed turner Duncan Campbell made in 2011 to conclude his 49-year career with the Glasgow bagpipe maker are up for sale by the original Alberta, Canada-based owner. The pipes were purchased by Michael McLetchie, who, until recently, has played the full-silver-mounted pipes […]
The second annual Skye K. Richendrfer Memorial Challenge was held again at Macalester College, the competition’s namesake’s alma mater. The winner was Justice Peterson of St. Paul, Minnesota, who played “The MacLeods’ Salute” for judges Andrew Douglas, Andrew Lewis, and Tad Myers.
Esteemed piping instructors Jori Chisholm, Margaret Dunn and Andrew Douglas lead a fascinating discussion on the benefits, concerns and opportunities of teaching older learners and more established players.
This year, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s Intercontinental Adult Snare Drumming Championship is moving to New Jersey on February 17th at the Holiday Newark Airport hotel as the first event in the organization’s Adult Snare Drumming Champion of Champions circuit. The contest will be hosted by the Eastern United […]
The Grade 1 perennial World Championship-contending ScottishPower Pipe Band is looking for drummers after departures from the band’s drum corps. The band did not discuss the change in detail, saying only, “A handful of members have left for various reasons, and our recruitment drive is to strengthen our position as […]
The final installment of our exclusive conversation with one of the great contributors to the art of pipe band drumming.
Bill Caudill discusses the benefits and challenges of the EUSPBA’s rule that its president can serve a maximum of two two-year terms in the role, his desire to encourage more members to become more involved with the association, and his view on the second and final year of his current term.
Under new President Andrew Giles and new Education Committee head Ross Davison, the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario is planning to hold a special summit on pipe band drumming to discuss ideas on how to “foster collective solutions to the general state of drumming and improve the current […]
Bill Caudill was elected president of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association in December 2022. Over the last year, he has settled into his role as leader of the world’s largest piping and drumming association by geography and membership. Representing pipers and drummers from Texas to Maine, with six […]
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association has informed member bands of the addition of the 2024 European Championships on Sunday, August 11, in Perth, Scotland. The event falls five days before the World Championships in Glasgow and will be the third championship secured this UK season. “I am pleased to […]
Frank commentary on the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario, the chronic shortage of drummers in Ontario, and the roots of his nearly 50-year tenure on the association’s Music Committee. Fellow drumming leader Doug Stronach – also one of the world’s great contributors to the pipe band drumming art – conducts the fascinating and historically important conversation..
According to several reliable sources, Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Chief Executive Colin Mulhern has resigned from his role with the world’s most powerful piping and drumming organization. If the reports are accurate, the move comes about six weeks before the RSPBA’s annual general meeting on March 9th and at […]
Grade 2 Rocky Mountain of Calgary has decided to sit out the 2024 competition season due to an inability to put enough players on the field. The band has struggled to maintain its numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown years. “We’ve had some tough and considered conversations, and sadly, a […]
One Great Circle is the name of the new nine-track album by the piper and multi-instrumentalist Fraser Fifield, who gets together with the duo of Shetland fiddler Chris Stout and Celtic harpist Catriona McKay to create another evocative recording. It’s the tenth album from Fifield, and follows his acclaimed Piobaireachd […]
Stuart Easton of Palmerston North, New Zealand, was the overall winner of the Open solo piping competitions at the Turakina Highland Games on New Zealand’s North Island. Easton won both light music events, while Rura, New Zealand’s Brendon Eade won the Piobaireachd. It was the 159th staging of the event, making it one of the world’s longest-running Highland games.
The National Piping Centre’s McPhater Street, Glasgow, auditorium will be the venue for the venerable Scottish Pipers’ Association’s annual Professional Solo Piping Competition on April 6th. There will be three Piobaireachd events. One for those classified as Premier or A-Grade in ceol mor by the Competing Pipers Association and “non-CPA-graded […]