Archive
After a semi-final round of 30 total and five qualifying competitions during the year at various locations, Kerr McQuillan of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia won the 2023 World Pipe Band Snare Drumming Championship, held at Glasgow Caledonian University and staged by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association and Glasgow Life. The Final comprised 12 contestants, six from each of the Semi-Final groups.
After the extraordinary and confusing exclusion of piping judge Nat Russell’s results from the Grade 1 MSR competition on Friday, August 18th, at the 2023 World Pipe Band Championships, several pipe band associations are considering rules or policies to prepare for such an eventuality. While the Royal Scottish Pipe Band […]
Kevin R. Blandford Memorial of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Saratoga, Calfornia’s Silicon Valley won the Grade 3 Medley and MSR events, respectively, against a field of two other bands at the annual Seaside Highland Games in sunny Southern California. The Cameron Highlanders of San Diego won Grade 4 on ensemble preference over Long Beach, while University of California Riverside won the Grade 5 competition. Upland Highland was initially second on Saturday but was disqualified for not meeting the minimum numbers.
As long as there has been piping and drumming, the art has always endured, even risen above, during wartime. The Grade 4 Sons of Holyland & District of Nazareth’s members are persevering through the conflict and hardship that’s escalated over the last few weeks, which all hope can be resolved […]
A total of 51 of the globe’s best adult pipe band drummers will vie for a 2023 World Solo Drumming Championship title on Saturday, October 21st, at Glasgow Caledonian University in Glasgow, Scotland, as part of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s biggest solo competition of the year. The adult […]
Members of Grade 4 Sons of Holyland & District of Nazareth are reportedly safe amid the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7th. Following inquiries from several pipes|drums readers expressing concern for the band members, we contacted the group. “Yes, we are safe, and we appreciate your concerns about the […]
The annual Royal National Mòd (An Comunn Gàidhealach) was staged at Paisley Town Hall, and Roddy MacLeod of Glasgow won both of the top events for pipers graded Premier and A by the Competing Pipers Association. Angus MacPhee of Inverness and Bradley Parker of Milngavie, Scotland, won the B-Grade Piobaireachd and MSR, respectively, and Bannockburn, Scotland’s Arran Green scooped up both firsts in the events for pipers ages 16 to 18.
Grade 1 Police Scotland Fife have added top solo piper and reedmaker Greig Canning to their front rank as the band’s new pipe-sergeant. Canning takes over the front-left flank position from Bryan Spears, who held the spot for the last six years. Spears leaves on completely amicable terms, going on […]
The Argyllshire Gathering at Oban and Inverness’s Northern Meeting are possibly considering limiting entry to the prestigious Senior Piobaireachd and Clasp piobaireachd competitions, respectively, due to concerns about the number of competitors and duration of the competitions in 2023. Both events have traditionally been automatically open in perpetuity to pipers […]
The annual SunBelt Invitational Solo Piping Competition on November 11th in Maitland, Florida, is tapping into the popularity of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling by adding an audience-judged “BarRoom Brawl” event on Friday, November 10th, in addition to the Piobaireachd and Medley competitions on Saturday. Not only will the […]
How’d you like to win a brand new Infinity pipe chanter and other goodies from our friends at R.G. Hardie? All you have to do is enter pipes|drums’ annual Pick The Glenfiddich Five contest, where our super-canny readers get to submit their prediction for the top-five aggregate finishers (including the […]
The National Piping Centre has been named Glasgow’s Favourite Business 2023 in a public vote orchestrated by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s Glasgow Business Awards. The award was open to nominations from the general public via the Glasgow Times and then promoted by the awards’ media partner, the Evening Times. Most […]
Nearly 100 young pipers from across the Western and Southern Isles of Scotland competed in the 2023 Lewis & Harris Piping Society’s annual Junior Competition at Sir E. Scott School. Ultimately, Eilidh MacDonald of Harris and Benbecula’s Calum Beaton were the aggregate winners, respectively, of the Under 18 and Under 15 events.
Willie McCallum of Bearsden, Scotland, was the overall winner of the Premier grade events, accepting the Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Trophy at the annual solo piping competition named in honour of the late Capt. MacLellan. Inveraray, Scotland’s Stuart Liddell won the Premier Piobaireachd event, thus gaining an invite to next year’s Capt. John MacLellan Memorial Medal recital competition, a separate but connected event run by the Eagle Pipers Society in August. McCallum gained the aggregate prize by winning the MSR and placing fourth in the Piobaireachd.
Not only did Wellington’s 20-year-old Campbell Wilson win a record fifth consecutive NZ Young Piper of the Year solo competition, but he did so by taking all three events in his final year of eligibility. Wilson received a cheque for NZ$1,000 for his success. There were 46 competitors over the various events and 17 in the younger than 21 category alone. The NZ Young Piper of the Year award goes to the competitor with the most aggregate points across the Piobaireachd and MSR, the piob result as usual, giving preference in the event of a tie. There was no need for that, though.
At the St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Colin Forrest, Mission, British Columbia, won the 2023 Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Championship against a field of nine other North American pipers in the prestigious contest, held for the fortieth time since it started in 1982. The top five from each event had a certain number of points, the piobaireachd with the most value and the 6/8 march with the least.