Archive

The perhaps unlikely country of Germany boasts a fast-growing piping and drumming community, and its brightest star is 35-year-old Anna Kummerlöw. Born in Hamburg in 1989, she was initially taught by her father, Joachim Kummerlöw, a pupil of the late Duncan Johnstone of Glasgow, one of the great competitors and […]

Over the last 20 years, Jori Chisholm has introduced many products designed to improve playing experiences and quality for pipers. His latest innovation is the Endurance Practice Chanter, an instrument developed with R.G. Hardie & Co., which promises substantially longer practice sessions without interruptions and problems caused by moisture buildup. […]

Against nine other elite solo pipers, Callum Beaumont of St. Andrews, Scotland, was the winner of the 2024 Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships, held again at the Great Hall of Blair Castle in Scotland’s rolling and verdant Perthshire countryside during an always spectacular autumn. It was Beaumont’s second consecutive time winning the championship and his second time overall.

Regina’s Iain MacDonald shares a memory from his days in Scotland in the 1970s

According to several sources close to the matter, the Alliance of North American Pipe Band Associations (ANAPBA) has shelved the letter of concern that it had allegedly planned to send to the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) regarding the latter’s propensity to re-grade North American bands. In late September, […]

The twice Highland Society of London Gold Medallist does an audit of what he carries with him en route to competing for the world’s biggest solo prizes and playing with the 78th Fraser Highlanders

After two gruelling rounds and three plays, Inveraray & District Lead-Drummer Steven McWhirter gained the 2024 World Solo Drumming Champion title against 31 other elite pipe band snare drummers at Glasgow Caledonian University.

We continue with the ninth installment of 10 “Castle Recordings” piobaireachds in our exclusive series of performances captured on reel-to-reel tape at Edinburgh Castle in the early 1960s by the late Captain John A. MacLellan MBE. “The Battle of Bealach nam Brog” “The Big Spree” “The Black Wedder’s White Tail” […]

Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia Leading-Drummer Kerr McQuillan will defend his title, Inveraray & District Leading-Drummer Steven McWhirter will go for his twelfth trophy, and all of the other 30 of the globe’s greatest pipe band snare drummers – several of whom have been knocking on the door – […]

We take a look at the British Columbia Pipers Association’s recently formed Youth Committee and speak with three members: Grace Barnes, Aiden Fowler, and Jack Martin.

Saint Mark Presbyterian Church hosted the 41st Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Championship. After completing the three events, Gillian Blaney of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, emerged as the overall winner.

The popular Kincardine Scottish Festival in Kincardine, Ontario, has revealed that it plans to send the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario an official letter of no confidence in the PPBSO’s board of directors. According to a source close to the matter, the organizers of the event, which is […]

One-hundred-twenty-eight members – approximately 12% of the reported 1,100 total membership – of the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario attended an extraordinary general meeting held online on October 10, 2024, and voted to accept a new set of bylaws intended to make the organization compliant with the current […]

The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s Music Board is reportedly recommending that the Friday of the 2025 World Pipe Band Championships include a Grade 2 competition or competitions in addition to the usual two Grade 1 events. According to sources, the news was brought up at the RSPBA’s Glasgow & […]

As a member of the PPBSO, you have the right to actively participate in this meeting and use the tools available to delay or oppose the amendments. Here’s how you can exercise your legal rights.

Under the premise of a straightforward adoption of bureaucratic changes in order for the PPBSO to be legally compliant under the new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) to meet a “deadline” of October 19, the PPBSO is trying to slip through new bylaws that give its Board of directors sweeping powers that are not in the interests of its fair-minded members.