Looking back over the past 12 months it is hard to escape from the fact that the outstanding pipers and band of 2024 are Stuart Liddell, Alasdair Henderson and Inveraray.
Coupling success on the band field with that on the solo board is rare, yet only a few days after winning their third World Championships P/M Liddell and P/Sgt Henderson were excelling at the highest level taking major awards at Oban, Stuart the Senior Championship and Alasdair the Senior Piobaireachd. To that you can add their Leading Drummer Steven McWhirter who regained his World Solo Drumming title in October.
The band are headlining at Celtic Connections on January 25. A good opportunity to hear them on the concert stage at the height of their powers.
The blurb reads: ‘Combining tradition with contemporary flair, Inveraray & District will deliver an unforgettable afternoon at Scotland’s premier winter festival, showcasing their distinctive style and world-class talent. Don’t miss this highlight of Celtic Connections 2025!’ Tickets start at £16. Click here to book.
- Congratulations to P/M Christopher Armstrong of the Scottish Power band on his receiving the British Empire Medal for services to music in HM The King’s New Year Honours list.
PS Summer School
Record numbers for the 2025 school in June (31 students confirmed). Bill Geddes and Peter McCalister are coming on board as instructors, classes thus kept to a reasonable seven or eight per instructor. Peter is a Gold and Silver Medallist. Bill has been runner-up in the Gold Medal three times and is the holder of the Silver and Dunvegan Medals. Both have wide teaching experience.
To teach well is difficult and exhausting. One of the strengths of the school is that we have managed to deliver world class instruction each year since we started in 2022.
Hitherto it has been completely free to PS members. This year, due to the extra classes, they pay a mere £10 per day. Is there a better deal in world piping? I think not, and it is all part of the charitable work the Piobaireachd Society undertakes and is continuing worldwide.
Bob Hain
Bob’s funeral is at 11am on January 17th at Kirkcaldy Crematorium, Fife. Bob, renowned reedmaker and pipe major, died suddenly three weeks ago. He was 87.
Aberdeen Piping Society
The Piping Society is continuing quite healthily with usually good attendance, writes Duncan Watson. Recitals are held in the Gordon Highlanders Museum with seating restricted to 66 and it is always pretty full.
The latest players were a young chap Calum Pearson, who is about 16 or maybe 17. He gave a very good account of himself. The other piper was Calum Brown. He has genuine ability, no question. He was introduced by Stuart Samsom who mentioned his successes, both in pipe bands and solos. Different teachers were acknowledged, Calum’s father, John Stewart, Jack Taylor, Callum Beaumont, not to mention the influence of Stuart Liddell.
Calum’s playing was interesting in several ways. He used a silver and ivory bagpipe belonging to his father Graham in the first half. They had a pleasant, sweet, sound and he tuned them well. He played some light music and then gave us the Big Spree.
There are different ways of playing the tune as we know and for such a talented young player I thought he could have captured a bit more of the music. In the second half he used a different set of pipes, which produced a more strident sound, probably more suitable to a pipe band environment. He dipped into tunes from his experience with the Inveraray Pipe Band.
I hope this short report helps advertise the existence of the Gordon Highlanders Museum and indeed the existence and work of the Aberdeen Piping Society.
Ken Eller’s Pipes
Bob Worrall: I have been asked by Ken’s family to arrange the sale of his pipes. The drones are Henderson, late ’50s to 1960. Ken had the Sterling silver mounts (dragon design) added several years ago by David Naill & Co. The silver is stunning.
Ken was concerned with the problems associated with ivory and international travel so he had the pipe fitted out with high-end imitation ivory.
It comes with a solo blackwood chanter, drone reeds, and a synthetic pipe bag. I popped in a new reed yesterday. A truly stunning instrument. It has been an honour preparing it for its next owner and caretaker. We’re accepting offers over $7,000 CDN (plus shipping and insurance) until noon EST on January 10. Email robert_worrall@hotmail.com.
Happy New Year everyone; we’ll be back on Friday.
