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….

The 2021 Uista & Barra Professional Solo Piping Competition has been cancelled, it was announced last night. The contest had been scheduled for the first Saturday in March but has becomne a victim of the ongoing pandemic. The Uist & Barra was the last live competition before the mass cancellation of piping events in 2020. In a statement U&B Piping Convenor John Angus Smith said: ‘The U&B Committee has decided that…

The third batch of pictures today from Ronan Maguire of St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band, Dublin. There has been a considerable response to the earlier articles publicising Ronan’s work. Yves Tyson in Brittany has pointed out: ‘About Glen’s pictures, it is of Sandy Glen (son of David) and grandson of Alexander Glen. The young lad checking the pipes is not David (Sandy’s brother) but a young apprentice (unknown).’ Thank you…

A Perthshire school is providing online piping, poetry and prose for those interested in celebrating Robert Burns. Strathallan School, based in Forgandenny, took the decision to host its annual Burns Supper online this year but thousands of viewers from across the globe have already tuned in to celebrate the Bard. Hosted on YouTube, the 30-minute video was initially created to help Strathallan families celebrate Burns Night but the video has…