Archive

Glenfinnan, Scotland – August 20, 2022 – Sandy Cameron of Roy Bridge, Scotland, was the overall winner at the Glenfinnan Highland Gathering in Scotland’s west Highlands, where only 13 competed in more familiar weather: cold and windy with a few sunny spells. He tied Finlay Cameron in points, with the […]

After being alerted to an apparent compiling error, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association admitted that the incorrect result of the Grade 4B event was announced at the 2022 World Pipe Band Championships on August 13th, and the 1st Troon Boys Brigade of Troon, Scotland, was in fact the winner, […]

Chris Johnson, the well-known piper with more than four decades of constant participation on the Ontario scene, passed away on August 16th from complications from Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma. He had previously overcome Follicular Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a different cancer. Born in Woodstock, Ontario, July 19, 1960, Johnson rose quickly to be […]

Field Marshal Montgomery of Northern Ireland are the 2022 World Pipe Band Champions for the thirteenth time in their 32 years as a Grade 1 band, making Richard Parkes the most World’s-winning pipe-major in history. Under RSPBA rules, there’s no disputing that. Even with four different bands placing overall first […]

Since 2005, the Grade 4 Sons of Scotland Pipe Band of Ottawa have performed regularly for Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral, the royal family’s summer estate in Deeside in the northeast of Scotland. And the band will play at Balmoral for the fifth time on Wednesday, August 17th, in honour of […]

Piping Live! Closing Concert: Fred Morrison Trio with Paddy Keenan National Piping Centre Via live-stream 7:30 pm GMT, August 14, 2022 Reviewed by Iain MacDonald It’s a rare occasion when you can catch Fred Morrison and Paddy Keenan on the same stage. Demand was high for tickets and the show […]

Glasgow – August 13, 2022 – After two days of stressful competition under scorching sunny and hot conditions for Glasgow, Field Marshal Montgomery of Northern Ireland were crowned World Pipe Band Champions with the best combined results over four separate events – two Medleys and two MSRs – one of […]

After missing the last two years due to the pandemic, the World Pipe Band Championships returned to Glasgow Green in spectacularly warm, sunny and parched conditions. Sales of sun cream and tanning lotion were brisk, as temperatures soared (for Glasgow) to 29°C with many of the 14 Grade 1 bands […]

Glasgow – August 11, 2022 – Luke Kennedy of Dundee, Scotland, emerged the winner of the 2022 Pipe Idol solo piping competition for young pipers from around the world. Kennedy qualified for the final along with  Bobby Allen, Glasgow; Australia’s David Stulpner; and Jamie Brownlie, Lanark, Scotland, after each were […]

We continue our Piping Live! Photo Feature series with a selection of images from Thursday, August 11th, captured by photographer Alister Sinclair of Crieff, Scotland. Just click the pics for a full-size image. We hope you have enjoyed our series of exclusive images from and around the 2022 Piping Live! […]

Ballater, Scotland – August 11, 2022 – Xavier Boderiou of Landrevarzec, Brittany, was the overall winner at the Ballater Highland Games in lush Royal Deeside, where a total of nine competed in extraordinarily hot and sunny 29°C weather. Piobaireachd 1st Brian Lamond, Dunfermline, Scotland 2nd Xavier Boderiou 3rd Angus MacPhee, […]

Glasgow – August 11, 2022 – The eighteenth running of the Pipe-Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Recital-Challenge, the event that inspired the Piping Live! festival, returned to the 400-seat Strathclyde Suite of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and, ultimately, the five “covert” judges picked Matt MacIsaac of Aurora, Ontario, as the […]

For those from places like Florida, Texas, and Ontario, competing in intense heat is just part of the regular game. The thermometer hitting 27°C (80°F) suggests perfect conditions. But for those in the UK, that’s positively roasting. The city of Glasgow has had a week of spectacularly sunny and warm […]

We continue our Piping Live! Photo Feature series with a selection of images from Wednesday, August 10th, captured by Alister Sinclair. Although the Inveraray & District Pre-World’s concert, “A Night in That Land,” at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is not strictly speaking an official part of the festival, it’s […]

By Iain MacDonald One of the great things about Piping Live! – and something that has been a feature throughout the history of the festival – is the diversity of musical experiences on offer. There is always something new or different on offer, as well as the tried and true, […]

Legendary lead-drummer Gordon Brown of the Grade 1 Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia will retire after the 2022 World Pipe Band Championships, concluding an illustrious competing career that has spanned more than five decades. Longtime pupil and rising star on the world pipe band drumming scene, Kerr McQuillan, will […]