New Competition for Original Piobaireachd Works Offers Substantial Prize Money

The Shasta Piping Society (US) and the Burley Bagpipe Company (BC, Canada) have announced the following: Original Piobaireachd Music Competition Sponsored by Shasta Piping Society and Burley Bagpipe Company This competition calls for copies of original piobaireachds to be submitted by composers to a panel of qualified judges, Mike Cusack (USA), Bill Livingstone (Canada) and Robert Wallace (Scotland – chair).  The piobaireachds must be original to the composer(s), of any style, and…

PP Editor’s Blog: Grampian Placings/ Roddy Ross/ BB Letter/ Piobaireachd Analysis

Patricia Grant has sent the final placings in the John Milne Fine Arts Grampian Games Association Piping League 2016. Well done to all those pipers, junior and senior, who supported these important north-east games. Patricia writes: ‘It is encouraging to see that there are new names appearing on the League placings and hopefully the efforts of the Grampian Games Association to promote all aspects of Highland games is paying off.  I know that…

All Ireland Results/ London Reminder/ Band Regradings

Reminder: Andrew Hall, President of the Scottish Piping Society of London, has asked us to remind everyone that entries for this year’s competition close on September 30th and that late entries will not be accepted. The draw for the competition will be announced early next month. Andrew added: ‘We are particularly keen to encourage more juvenile entries.  There are three events in that grade which are all own choice tunes. …

Police Scotland Issue Statement on Greater Glasgow Police Pipe Band Drum Corps

Police Scotland have issued the following statement to Piping Press regarding the recent announcement of the departure of Eric Ward as Leading Drummer of the Greater Glasgow Police Scotland Pipe Band. It reads: ‘Statement from POLICE SCOTLAND MEDIA SERVICES which was endorsed at Assistant Chief Constable Level: ‘A decision was made recently by Inspector Niall West, the Officer in Charge of the Greater Glasgow Police Pipe Band, to appoint a new…

Hugh ‘Baggy’ MacMillan/ Duncan MacDiarmid/ Side Lights Review

We regret to have to report the passing of London stalwart Hugh ‘Baggy’ MacMillan and of Duncan MacDiarmid, of the Atholl Highlanders. On Hugh, Roddy Livingstone of the Scottish Piping Society of London has sent this: ‘Former SPSL President Hugh ‘Baggy’ MacMillan passed away after a short illness in Croydon University Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday 7th September. ‘He was born into a piping family, his father Malcolm…