Balmoral Classic US Amateur Championship Results

This competition was held yesterday, November 12, in the Gettysburg Room of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburgh, PA. There were eleven competitors in both Piobairachd and MSR. The overall winner was Paul MacKay who placed second in both events winning for himself a set of engraved McCallum Bagpipes. Pictured above are MSR winner Leland Reid, Balmoral US Amateur Champion Paul MacKay, and Piobaireachd winner Abby…

Inverness Cancels European Pipe Band Championships

The Inverness Courier newspaper is reporting today that the local council has withdrawn sponsorship for the 2023 European Pipe Band Championships due to be held the city’s Bught Park next July. The competition was seen as ‘no longer financially viable’ according to councillors. The report reads: ‘It is with deep regret that we must announce the cancellation of Piping Inverness 2023, incorporating the European Pipe Band Championship. ‘Due to the…

John MacFadyen on the Art of Judging – Part 2

We continue the recording of John MacFadyen talking about judging. We are once again grateful to reader Jack McLachlan for forwarding the recording, made by John Davidson, Parkview, Johannesburg, at his home on 12th August 1973. John MacFadyen was visiting to run a piping school for the Scottish Piping Society of the Witwatersrand and gave this lecture the week before it was due to start. In this part of the…

John MacFadyen on the Art of Judging – Part 1

We are grateful to reader Jack McLachlan for forwarding this recording of John MacFadyen discoursing on the adjudication of piping and, briefly, pipe bands. Jack writes: ‘The recording was made by John Davidson, Parkview, Johannesburg, at his home on 12th August 1973. John MacFadyen was visiting to run a piping school for the Scottish Piping Society of the Witwatersrand and gave this lecture the week before it was due to…

London Championship 2022 Results

A healthy number of pipers made the trip to the capital for the Scottish Piping Society of London’s 82nd annual competition held at the Caledonian Club, Belgravia. Bratach Gorm (7 tunes) 1 Bruce Gandy, Unjust Incarceration2 Iain Speirs, Colin Roy MacKenzie3 Alan Bevan, Salute to the Cairn at Borreraig4 Jamie Forrester, Phantom Piper5 Callum Beaumont, Daughter’s Lament Open Piobaireachd for the William Gillies Cup (6 tunes)1 Finlay Johnston, My Dearest…