This was the 25th anniversary of the NPC Junior Competition and the first time the event has been held online due to the pandemic and lockdown. While we missed hosting the competition in The National Piping Centre, the online format allowed us to add six more categories to the competition, including a new Freestyle competition. By Andrew Bova Additionally, we had a record entry this year with 132 competitors, including…

McCallum Bagpipes have produced a new catalogue for their Classic Bagpipes range. If you are a PP advertiser why not let us know about your new products and company developments. You’ll reach thousands of potential customers every day. Check out McCallum’s high quality catalogue here: Download a copy here. Elaine Lee at Balmoral Schools: ‘Balmoral has made some additions to our Winter Workshop curriculum that we’re hoping you might let…

There has been a considerable number of tributes paid to Jimmy McIntosh who passed away yesterday aged 95 and we thought it sensible to group them together so that they could be better appreciated. There are messages from former pupils and many others who knew him well throughout his long life. Gary Hanley: ‘Good bye my old friend. You changed bagpiping in America with a steady hand and soft voice….

As was reported in Piping Press yesterday, the National Piping Centre’s CLASP competitions for amateur pipers is attracting entries from all over the world, writes Joe Moore. There is a real fellowship between participants and a sense of belonging. This was demonstrated when, to mark the recent Burns Night celebrations, we held an online get together. ‘CLASPies and Friends’, is our Facebook group for pipers and their ‘groupies’ and our…

Fifty years ago three giants of piping were locked in a negotiation that was to change the face of the music in this country. Captain John MacLellan (l), John MacFadyen (centre) and Seumas MacNeill, our own ‘Three Wise Men’, were about to convince the civil service bods at the Scottish Education Department that the national instrument, the great Highland bagpipe, should be a suitable instrument for the country’s music exams….