We are delighted to be hosting the 3rd Caritas Banner Piobaireachd Competition for pipers aged 18 & Under this coming Sunday (Nov.30), writes Ben Duncan.
The event will be held in the George Watson’s College Music School. (See map, music school circled yellow, top left.) Doors open 7.45am for an 8.30am start in all events. They are as follows: 14 & Under Urlar and Variation; 14 & Under Piobaireachd; 18 & Under Piobaireachd (submit 2 tunes)
We have had a record number of entries this year and would highly encourage people to come along to support the next generation of piobaireachd players. Entry is free for all, tea and coffee will be served throughout the day and there is onsite parking (see red arrow, bottom left on map).
The event is generously sponsored by the Piobaireachd Society, Kintail Bagpipes and our Watsonian donors. It promises to be a great celebration of our classical music. I look forward to welcoming you along on Sunday.
Mallaig Tune
Prizes have been awarded to the winners of the Mallaig, Ardnamurchan & District Pipe Band’s Annual Tune Composing contest, writes Allan J. MacKenzie.
Submissions were to be entitled The Mallaig Harbour Authority March. Marches of any time signature were accepted. Most were in 4/4 time, but there were also 2/4, 3/4 and 6/8 tunes. There were sixteen entries and multiple entries were permitted.
Judging was anonymous, Duncan Nicholson of the Police & Federation band, the judge. Duncan has local connections.
First prize of £150, for a two-parted 4/4, went Dougie Beck of Mallaig. Second prize, £100: Kenneth I. MacKenzie of Glasgow/Ardnamurchan for his four-parted 2/4. Third prize, £50, went to myself for a small 6/8.
The awards were presented at a ceilidh in the West Highland Hotel on Saturday afternoon, 22nd November 2025. A framed copy of the winning tune was presented to Jacqueline McDonell of the Mallaig Harbour Authority. The judge then played the winning tunes and the general consensus was that he had got the placing right.
Winner Dougie was asked about composing. He said: ‘I’ve written some truly awful tunes over the years, and I think that my mistake has been to be too rushed to get dots down on the page without thinking about the content or the end goal.
‘Once you’ve got a motif or a theme, everything falls into place to some extent. The competition is a worthwhile initiative. Tune submissions came from right across the Rough Bounds, or had roots here. To get 16 new tunes from an area with a population of about 4,000 people is pretty amazing.’
The band intends to run another composing competition next autumn and plans to use some of winning tunes in their medleys and sets.
CLASP Results
The Piping Centre’s latest amateur competition was held over two days, Oct 31 and Nov 1.
G1 Piob: 1 B Webb 2 J Nevans 3 CD Mitchell 4 O Woodman Carr 5 J Gallagher 6 A Aitchison
G1 2/4: 1 B Webb 2 CD Mitchell 3 D Small 4 C McNamara 5 C Turnbull 6 DC McIntosh
G1 S&R: 1 B Webb 2 D Small 3 CD Mitchell 4 O Woodman Carr 5 R Flanagan 6 DC McIntosh
G1 Jig: 1 B Webb 2 D Small 3 DC McIntosh 4 CD Mitchell 5 C McNamara 6 C Turnbull
G1 Overall: Brady Webb
G2 Piob: 1 A Kelly 2 M Arimoto 3 E Cho 4 R Rogers 5 A Beaton 6 K McSwiggan
G2 March: 1 R Curtin 2 J Bowers 3 A Bergen 4 L Reid 5 E Cho 6 A Kelly
G2 S&R: 1 J Bowers 2 L Reid 3 E Cho 4 R Rogers 5 M Arimoto 6 A Bergen
G2 Jig: 1 J Bowers 2 R Curtin 3 K McSwiggen 4 M Arimoto 5 A Robinson 6 A Bergen
G2 Overall: Jacob Bowers
G3 Piob: 1 R Peinado 2 K Greeley 3 S Stewart 4 S Vollberg 5 A Binder 6 R MacKenzie
G3 March: 1 A Bass 2 R MacKenzie 3 B Hunter 4 A Binder 5 C Dunbar 6 s Stewart
G3 S&R: 1 A Bass 2 R Peinado 3 C Dunbar 4 A Binder 5 R MacKenzie 6 A Wardrop
G3 Jig: 1 C Dunbar 2 R MacKenzie 3 C Davison 4 B Hunter 5 C Reiss 6 A Bass
Grade 3 Overall: Ronaldo MacKenzie
G4 Piob: 1 Brunelli 2 T Schroeder 3 L Lanaro 4 E de Jong 5 J Cairns 6 M Moore
G4 March: 1 T Schroeder 2 S McGuire 3 B Timberlake 4 K Madden 5 M Moore 6 K Gordon
G4 S&R: 1 K Madden 2 L Lanaro 3 S McGuire 4 T Shroeder 5 M Moore 6 J Curran
G4 Jig: 1 J Curran 2 M Moore 3 K Gordon 4 J Wilson 5 R Johnson 6 S Langford
G4 Overall: Maureen Moore
Judges: J Dew, S Leask, S Muir, D Murray, L Tannock. 2026 CLASP membership is now open at www.theclasp.co.uk
Classic 2/4 Competition Marches (A -I) – ‘Play Along’ Lessons
Some of the all time greats of the 2/4 march repertoire are listed here. Each is played in full on the practice chanter by Robert Wallace. Firstly he goes through the tune very slowly at a practice tempo and then he plays it a little more quickly, closer to performance speed. If the tune you need is not listed email pipingpress@gmail.com.
