This Saturday’s Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Piping Championship will once again be streamed live over the internet. The stream will be live from 09:45 on Saturday morning at www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/livestream. While the stream itself is free, donations are encouraged, with all money raised going to the Scottish Pipers’ Association (SPA), currently in […]
We received a query from a reader asking about the 1969 Scottish Pipers’ Association (SPA) competition. The contest that year was notable as a new system of judging was tried out, one that saw five judges – Pipe Majors Donald MacLeod, Peter Bain and Hector MacLean, Lieut. John MacLellan and […]
Entries are now open for next year’s Archie Kenneth Quaich amateur pibroch competition. The competition is organised by The Piobaireachd Society in memory of Archie Kenneth (1915-1989) who was a member of its Music Committee and almost single-handedly compiled Books 11, 12, 13 and 14 and most of 15. The […]
The weekend saw the annual Festival of Juvenile Solo Piping take place as well as the World Solo Drumming Championships. Both took place in the west of Scotland, Auchenharvie Academy in Stevenston, and Glasgow Caledonian University respectively. The results, firstly from the Festival of Junior Solo Piping, were: Chanter10 Years […]
Since its inception in the 1930s the London Championship has grown in stature and is second only to Oban and Inverness in importance. In this article, by John Shone, we chart the progress of contest from idea to major championship Back in 1932 a group of very keen pipers found […]
Jim McGrath, a volunteer at the College of Piping for many years, has died in hospital. He had been diagnosed with cancer of the liver recently and it had spread. James Prenty McGrath was born in 1942 in the Milton area of Glasgow. He was a supporter of all things […]
The National Piping Centre (NPC) this week finished its year-long programme of schools for youngsters under the age of 18 with its autumn Young Stars school. This school had 18 young learners on it, including three who were awarded scholarships from the Matt Brown Scholarship from Govan Schools Pipes and […]
By Stuart Letford I stood on the railway platform waiting for the train. My belly rumbled like a lion’s den. It was the postman’s fault for making me miss breakfast. He was early this morning. Despite this we had our usual intense and inspirational chat. We laughed, we argued. We […]
Iain MacInnes concludes his 2000 John MacFadyen Lecture One irony of the current pipe band situation is that, at the same time as civilian bands have carried the music round the globe, and have put down firm roots, the cultural institution that created pipe bands, the British Army, has slowly […]
Part 2 of Iain MacInnes’s 2000 John MacFadyen Lecture Competition is very much part and parcel of the piping culture here in Scotland, and its shaped not just the music, but also the style of performance. It all goes back to 1781, when the Highland Society of London started the […]
